As was noted by ESPN MLB Insider Jeff Passan earlier this week, the St. Louis Cardinals are at the bottom of baseball in a very important category this offseason: Spending.

Now, we know that the Cardinals are in a rebuild and that they aren't likely to spend much, but still, to see the figures portrayed this way is jarring.

According to Passan, the Cardinals have actually saved $43 million this offseason. The next closest? The Los Angeles Angels, who have saved about $6 million. On the flip side? The Toronto Blue Jays, who have spent $277 million in guaranteed money as they chase a World Series title.

Spending doesn't guarantee success, but it certainly doesn't hurt.

The bottom five, per Passan:

Washington: $5.5M

Colorado: $1.1M

Houston: -$1.7M

Los Angeles Angels: -$5.7M

St. Louis: -$43M

How did we get here?

Well, the Cardinals traded Sonny Gray to the Boston Red Sox, so they are saving about $10 million this season and about $5 million in a potential buyout. Then, they traded Willson Contreras to the Red Sox in a separate deal, saving about $33 million in contracts for 2026 and 2027 plus his potential buyout of $5 million. 

That's only $53 million in savings, whereas Passan has it at just over $55 million, but you get the gist. The Cardinals then went out and spent $12.5 million on Dustin May, bringing us to the net of $43 million saved.

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Why are the Cardinals paying players who won't play for them?

The Cardinals are going to pay a portion of Gray's salary ($20 million) and Contreras's salary ($8 million), and the reason they did this? To acquire better prospects from the Red Sox. This is something that Chaim Bloom did when he was running Boston's front office: Pay more money in an effort to receive better players in return.

The Cardinals received top prospects Brandon Clarke and Yhoiker Fajardo. Both players are now in the St. Louis Top-10, per MLB.com.

How will the Cardinals utilize the savings?

This is always the million dollar question for fans. It's understandable that the organization wants to reign in spending when it isn't expected to compete, but once the team is ready to compete? Fans expect that savings to be redirected into the roster again.

Luckily for the Cardinals fans, Bloom did this in Boston, signing Masataka Yoshida ($90 million) and Trevor Story ($140 million) to big-money deals.

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