The St. Louis Cardinals and president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom will spend this offseason laying the groundwork for the next several years of the franchise.

And the Cardinals made the decision to part ways with several players via non-tendering them.

St. Louis announced Friday it non-tendered catcher Yohel Pozo, right-handed pitchers Jorge Alcala and Sem Robberse and left-handed pitcher John King.

Those players are now free agents and the Cardinals' 40-man roster stands at 37 players.

Pozo played 67 games with St. Louis this past season. It was his first time in the majors since 2021 with the Texas Rangers.

Pozo scored 16 runs and hit eight doubles and five home runs with 19 RBIs. He slashed .231/.262/.375 with a .637 OPS.

Alcala had an eventful 2025. He began the year with the Minnesota Twins, was traded to the Boston Red Sox on June 11 and designated for assignment by Boston on Aug. 5. The Cardinals claimed him off waivers two days later.

Alcala posted a 5.02 ERA with 15 strikeouts in 14.1 innings pitched across 15 outings.

King had been with St. Louis since 2023 and was one of the team's better relievers in 2024, posting a 2.85 ERA across 56 appearances.

This year, King had a 4.66 ERA and fanned 28 batters in 48.1 innings pitched across 51 outings.

Robberse, like King, has been with the Cardinals since 2023. He was with the Toronto Blue Jays organization from 2019 until Toronto traded him to St. Louis on July 30, 2023.

Robberse wasn't able to break through to the major league roster and spent all of 2025 with the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds. He had a 7.36 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 14.2 innings pitched across four starts. 

Robberse underwent Tommy John surgery in May, which will likely keep him out through most of, if not all of 2026.

With these recent moves, St. Louis now has enough open spaces on the roster to facilitate trades without many additional transactions.

Cardinals veterans and past All-Stars like third baseman Nolan Arenado, starting pitcher Sonny Gray and infielder Brendan Donovan have all been floated around as potential trade candidates in the rumor mill.

RELATED CARDINALS STORIES

MLB INSIDER DISCUSSES POSSIBILITY OF TRADE INVOLVING CARDINALS INFIELDER: Brendan Donovan seems to be getting mass interest from teams around the majors. CLICK HERE

FORMER CARDINALS PITCHES PROPOSES INTERESTING RULE CHANGE: On the Card Territory podcast, two-time All-Star Lance Lynn suggested the MLB should introduce a winter trade deadline. CLICK HERE

FORMER CARDINALS RELIEVER EXPECTS TEAM TO REACH OUT THIS OFFSEASON: Right-handed reliever Ryan Helsley, who ended the season with the New York Mets, isn't ruling out a reunion with St. Louis. CLICK HERE

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