The St. Louis Cardinals exceeded expectations in 2026, ending with a 77-85 report, which was good for 4th place within the NL Central.
Whereas a sub -.500 report isn’t essentially alleged to be thrilling, the Cardinals just about traded away their total group final offseason, so that they have been predicted/projected to lose 90+ video games.
Nevertheless, the Cardinals had a number of vibrant spots on each the offensive and pitching facet of issues in 2026. St. Louis will now doubtless be pretty energetic in participant transactions throughout this offseason, and they’re already rumored to be occupied with left-handed reliever JoJo Romero in a reunion signing.
Talking of participant transactions, the Cardinals very quietly launched a 21-year-old participant from their group this previous weekend.
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Cardinals Launch Pitcher Xavier Cruz
In response to MiLB.com’s transaction tracker, the Palm Seashore Cardinals launched pitcher Xavier Cruz.
It wrote (on 11/7):
“Palm Seashore Cardinals launched RHP Xavier Cruz.”
Cruz, 21, has spent the previous three seasons inside the Cardinals group, however he’s now eligible to signal with any of the 30 MLB groups.
The 21 y/o proper hander is from Santiago, Dominican Republic.
He spent each the 2024 and 2025 seasons with the Cardinals’ DSL group, and the furthest he made it within the group was A (Palm Seashore).
Throughout simply 61.1 IP within the group, Cruz logged an ERA of 4.11 with 78 strikeouts.
The strikeout numbers are definitely there, however he additionally issued 38 walks in these 60+ IP. Having a BB/9 over 5.0 simply isn’t going to be enticing to any MLB group.
Will probably be fascinating to see if he’s capable of land one other job shortly, or if his skilled baseball profession might be over.
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