STL Cardinals: Bloom Says Cards will be Ready to React in Free Agency

With the expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and a likely lockout looming over the MLB offseason, transactions could come fast and furious over the next month before the Dec. 1 shutdown.

Regardless of the pace of things over the next four weeks, St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom stressed that his club is already full steam ahead and they are prepared for whatever the market may deal them.

Speaking on St. Louis’ KMOX on his weekly radio segment on Sunday, Bloom said he, his staff and manager Oliver Marmol have already started reaching out to free agents about the possibility of them playing for the Cardinals in 2027 and beyond. The Cardinals have made it blatantly clear that after finishing 77-85 and 26 games back of the eventual World Champion Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central Division, the rebuilding club still has a wide gulf to try and close.

“The offseason has already started,” Bloom told Tom Ackerman on KMOX. “We can talk to free agents – we can’t talk terms with them – but we’re able to express some interest and we’ve started doing that.

“We’re touching base with some teams and figuring out what they want to do. It’s going to be unusual with the CBA ending and to see which teams want to do what and when. The same thing with the players – do they want to do things under the terms of this CBA or do they want to wait and see what the next one looks like?”

Improvements are especially needed with a St. Louis offense that finished 10th in the National League in runs scored in 2026 and 15th in slugging and OPS. The Cardinals are also looking to bolster a bullpen that had the NL’s 11th best ERA, surrendered the fourth most walks and had the fifth fewest strikeouts. One reliever, Ryan Stanek, will not be a part of the process going forward after the team declined its option, allowing the veteran right-hander to become a free agent.

More specifically, the Cardinals are in the market for more offensive production and steadiness at third base at experimenting with Nolan Gorman, Blake Jordan, Jose Fermin, Thomas Saggese and Ramon Urias there this past season. Cardinals’ third basemen ranked 14th in the NL in hits (118), 14th in doubles (20), tied for 10th in homers (16), tied for 10th in RBI (68), 14th in batting average (.211) and 14th in OPS (.620) in 2026.

The Cardinals are expected to monitor the markets for Alec Bohm, Teruaki Sato and Luis Arraez, but those players figure to get more guaranteed money than the Cardinals are willing to commit in just the second year of their rebuild. Also, the Cardinals do not want to potentially block top prospect Rainiel Rodriguez and Jesus Baez, who is coming off a 39-home run season at High-A and Double-A.

More likely targets are former Cardinals’ infielder Edmundo Sosa, versatile switch-hitter Luis Rengifo or Brian Anderson – players who could likely be landed with one-year deals that include team options for a second season.

Bloom noted that the looming lockout could speed up negotiations with free agents or teams looking to make trades. He noted that the Cardinals will be ready for whatever is presented to them.       

“Knowing that we do have an artificial deadline on (December) 1st, with the CBA sun setting, I think you will see a little bit of a different pace, but it’s TBD to see what that will look like,” Bloom said. “We’re having all our conversations and if we line up on something that makes sense, we’re going to get after it and be willing to do it.”