Cardinals Could Move On From Former Gold Glove Winner This Offseason

The St. Louis Cardinals have secured most of their talented young players for the future, but will still have a few decisions to make on impending free agents.

Feb 26, 2021; Jupiter, Florida, USA; A general view of the St. Louis Cardinals logo on the stadium at Roger Dean Stadium during spring training workouts. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Cardinals have done well this season to rebuild, simultaneously securing the team's future while developing young, talented players.

St. Louis entered this season boasting the opening-day roster in all of baseball after selling off veteran stars like Nolan Arenado and Sonny Gray during the offseason as part of the team's rebuild. The Cardinals followed that up by primarily acting as sellers at the trade deadline, trading away veterans Dustin May, JoJo Romero and Lars Nootbaar. The only player St. Louis acquired that wasn't a prospect was veteran reliever Caleb Ferguson, who's on an expiring contract.

Surprisingly, Ferguson is one of only a few players who are impending free agents for the Cardinals after this season. St. Louis has done well to lock down its core of young players for the foreseeable future, like JJ Wetherholt, while others are still under team control and are arbitration-eligible for next year.

St. Louis' only other significant impending free agents are Ryne Stanek, who becomes a free agent if the Cardinals decline his $6 million team option, and former Gold Glove winner Ramón Urías, whom MLB.com's Theo DeRosa, Manny Randhawa and Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru called the team's "biggest impending" free agent.

"The Cardinals don’t have much in the way of pending free agents, as only Urías and Trade Deadline acquisition Caleb Ferguson are set to hit the market this offseason," DeRosa, Randhawa and Sepe-Chepuru wrote on Sunday. "Still rehabbing from lateral epicondylitis in both elbows, Urías has appeared in just 25 games for St. Louis with a .158/.279/.316 slash line. The versatile infielder -- a Gold Glover for the Orioles in 2022 -- should make it back before the end of the season, giving him a chance to showcase his skills for his upcoming free agency."

It would be surprising to see St. Louis bring Urías back

Apr 17, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Ramon Urias (29) takes batting practice before the game against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

While Urías is expected to return soon after missing significant time due to an elbow injury, he needs to showcase his skills toward the end of the season. Otherwise, it would be surprising to see the Cardinals even try to retain the 32-year-old. In his first season with the team, Urías has struggled immensely at the plate, batting .158 with two home runs and five runs batted in, and has only appeared in 25 games.

Though he remains a solid defender at third base, Urías does not necessarily fit in the Cardinals' future outlook. St. Louis is still a couple of seasons away from completing its rebuild and being fully ready to compete as true contenders, despite how successful the team has been this season.

Developing young talent is paramount to the Cardinals' success moving forward, so giving players like Blaze Jordan more opportunities at third base, or even prospects like Jesús Báez or Deniel Ortiz, would likely be more beneficial than keeping Urías, especially if the 32-year-old continues performing poorly.