Cardinals' Biggest Whiff of the 2026 Season Is Crystal Clear

The St. Louis Cardinals made a lot of good moves in 2026, and one not-so-good one.

Sep 1, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Ramon Urias (29) celebrates after hitting a home run during the second inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Over the last year, the St. Louis Cardinals have made a lot of moves with an eye towards the future.

Before the 2026 season, the Cardinals offloaded a handful of veterans to free up playing time for young guys throughout the roster. Chaim Bloom took over as the Cardinals' president of baseball operations in place of John Mozeliak and immediately ripped the Band-Aid off. The Cardinals traded Nolan Arenado, Brendan Donovan, Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray in the same offseason. That's a lot of talent and leadership out the door.

In total, that's 16 total All-Star nods, 11 Gold Glove Awards and five Silver Slugger Awards all gone in the same offseason. Arguably, it was necessary to trade them away to push this team towards the future. None of them are the Cardinals' worst move of the year. Once they were gone, the Cardinals did add a few pieces, including former Gold Glove Award winner Ramon Urias. Arguably, the Urias deal was the biggest miss of the year.

The Cardinals' Biggest Miss Of 2026

Sep 1, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Ramon Urias (29) celebrates in the dugout after hitting a home run during the second inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Again, the Cardinals didn't add a ton of pieces. Urias signed with St. Louis. Dustin May signed with the Cardinals, but was traded away to the Milwaukee Brewers with JoJo Romero in a deal that absolutely has favored St. Louis. Justin Bruihl was acquired in the offseason and was solid for the Cardinals. George Soriano was acquired from the Washington Nationals and had an up-and-down season with arguably more good than bad.

The Urias deal is the only one that seemingly just didn't work out. He was brought in to be a veteran utility man in the infield for the Cardinals after a good 2025 season. Last year, he slashed .241/.292/.384 with 11 home runs, 44 RBIs, and 17 doubles with the Baltimore Orioles and Houston Astros in 112 games played. He was a 2.2 WAR player. With the Cardinals, Urias slashed .151/.260/.326 with four home runs, nine RBIs and three doubles in just 43 games played. Injuries derailed his season and he was eventually designated for assignment and released.

The Cardinals spent the 2026 season giving opportunities to young guys. Because of this, they didn't go out and make a lot of splashes in free agency, or anything of the nature. There aren't a lot of moves to pick from, but the Urias deal is St. Louis' biggest miss of the 2026 campaign.