The 2026 season will forever be remembered as the first year that the St. Louis Cardinals plunged into a full-on rebuild in more than three decades. Despite mostly low expectations and low predictions, the Cardinals still showed plenty of fight and remained in contention for a Wild Card slot until the final two weeks of the regular season.

Even while providing opportunities to play every day for young players like Jordan Walker, Masyn Winn, Nathan Church and Ivan Herrera, pitcher Michael McGreevy and 13 rookies who made their MLB debuts, the Cardinals hit their high-water mark of nine games over .500 three times and they were an encouraging 50-45 at the break for the MLB All-Star Game. They promptly faded, losing their first six series out of the break and traded off veteran pitchers JoJo Romero and Dustin May to the eventual champion Milwaukee Brewers and Lars Nootbaar to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

At 77-85, the Cardinals finished only one game worse than in 2025, but with a losing record for a second straight season – a first since the 1955-56 Cardinals. St. Louis won the season series against the rival Cubs (7-6), but they were throttled by the champion Brewers (2-11).

Also, they have been out of the playoffs for each of the past four seasons, prompting hopes that ownership will pony up the funds needed to fill gaping holes in the roster at third base, the starting pitching staff and in the bullpen. Those pricey additions, however, aren’t likely to come until a year from now, president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom hinted. By then, the Cardinals youthful roster – one sure to be plied with several additions from a plentiful Minor League system – should be more mature and ready to contend for World Series No. 12 in the franchise’s storied history.

Before we move on to 2027 and beyond, let’s take one final look back at all the players who appeared in a Cardinals uniform at the MLB level in 2026 and the number of games they played:

Ivan Herrera (161); Leo Bernal (24); Jimmy Crooks (52); Pedro Pages (84); Yohel Pozo (18)

Alec Burleson (160)

JJ Wetherholt (139); Jose Fermin (118); Bryan Torres (74)

Nolan Gorman (85); Blaze Jordan (58); Ramon Urias (43)

Masyn Winn (136); Cesar Prieto (16)

Jordan Walker (158); Nathan Church (142); Joshua Baez (29); Lars Nootbaar (48); Victor Scott II (80); Everson Pereira (11)  

Nelson Velazquez (34)

Matthew Liberatore (31); Michael McGreevy (31); Kyle Leahy (30); Andre Pallante (29); Dustin May (21); Hunter Dobbins (11); Quinn Mathews (9)

Riley O’Brien (66); George Soriano (70); Ryne Stanek (70); JoJo Romero (44); Gordon Graceffo (62); Justin Bruihl (73); Luis Gastelum (34); Matt Svanson (41); Ryan Fernandez (17); Cade Winquest (11); Brycen Mautz (8); Cooper Hjerpe (4); Caleb Ferguson (9); Max Rajcic (6); Peter Strzelecki (8); Matt Pushard (6); Chris Roycroft (7); Jared Shuster (6); Hancel Rincon (3); Scott Blewett (1); Bruce Zimmerman (1)

With the World Series complete, players who are free agents will exit the 40-man roster. Teams have a five-day window to exclusively negotiate with their own players.

The Cardinals have no one who qualifies for free agency yet, although veteran reliever Ryan Stanek has a team option that is expected to be declined by the Cards, per a source with knowledge of the situation.

On Tuesday, free agency opens for all teams. With a likely lockout looming for Dec. 1, there could be a flurry of transactions before all business between teams and players is shut down until a new CBA is agreed upon.