Update, Dec. 17, 3:15 p.m. CT: Jeff Passan of ESPN has the details on May's deal. It's a one-year deal for $12.5 million and there's a mutual option for 2027 at $20 million. There is a buyout of $500,000, per reports.

For someone of May's injury history and recent production, that seems like a high-value deal.

It also seems extremely unlikely that the Cardinals will have a difficult call to make on that option. If he's pitching well enough to warrant that option being picked up, it's highly likely that the Cardinals will have traded him at the trade deadline, leaving the decision up to May and his next team.

Monday, Dec. 15:

This weekend, the St. Louis Cardinals came to an agreement with free agent starter Dustin May, who spent the 2025 season with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox. It's a one-year pact, though the money is unknown at this point.

About May

Now 28 years old, May is a six-year veteran of the Dodgers and Red Sox. Formerly a top prospect, he's gone 19-20 in his career with a solid 3.86 ERA. He's dealt with numerous injuries, and he missed all of 2024. 

He had never thrown more than 56 innings in a season until 2025, when he threw 132.1 combined innings. He went 7-11 with a 4.96 ERA, but the 25 appearances were certainly a welcome sign in his return.

He struck out 123 batters in those 132.1 innings. He features a mid-90s fastball and uses a power two-seamer.

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Why this move was predictable

We told you weeks ago what Chaim Bloom was going to do in his first offseason at the helm of the Cardinals' front office, and so far, it's played out exactly that way.

He's traded away an established veteran in Sonny Gray for an MLB-ready piece (Richard Fitts) that can help keep the major league team afloat, and a prospect (Brandon Clarke) who serves as optimism in the future. He'll continue to make moves like that, and the Cardinals are expected to trade away Brendan Donovan in similar fashion. They could also move Lars Nootbaar, Willson Contreras, Nolan Arenado, JoJo Romero and Alec Burlelson if they want to, expediting the rehab process.

We also said that while the Cardinals are rebuilding, Bloom is not looking to bottom out. He will make the Cardinals a place where veterans and re-tread players can come, get innings and at-bats, and look to rebuild their values. 

He will sign players like May to one-year deals, and if they are playing well, he'll trade them at the deadline for additional prospect capital, or, in the best-case scenario, they'll help spur a surprising run to the playoffs, like happened with the 2021 Red Sox.

What's next

Likely a trade of Donovan, as the Cardinals are said to be in conversations with both the Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants for his services. Once that is done, Bloom can go back to filling holes with additional stop-gap pieces.

With nine days before Christmas Eve, the baseball world could be active, because once the holiday hits, we may not see much activity until after the new year.

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