Cardinals Lose Hurler to Free Agent After Disappointing 2026

The St. Louis Cardinals lost some pitching depth to free agency on Tuesday.

Apr 12, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jared Shuster (68) pitches against the Boston Red Sox during the seventh inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The offseason has officially begun for the St. Louis Cardinals and one hurler has already opted to leave the organization.

Former Cardinals reliever Jared Shuster officially elected free agency from the Cardinals organization on Tuesday, per the official MiLB transaction log.

Shuster signed with the Cardinals last offseason on a minor league deal ahead of the 2026 campaign. At the time, Shuster looked like a bargain. Shuster joined the organization with 62 big league appearances under his belt across three seasons, at the time. In 2025, he had an 8.04 ERA in 12 outings with the Chicago White Sox, but that ERA number was skewed. He allowed one or fewer runs in 10 of his 12 outings. At the time, he seemed like he could be a veteran left-handed option for St. Louis at a low price. But he made just five appearances in the majors and had a 9.00 ERA.

The Former Cardinal Is A Free Agent

May 6, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jared Shuster (68) pitches against the Milwaukee Brewers during the seventh inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Shuster made 37 appearances with Triple-A Memphis and didn't move the needle much with a 5.65 ERA in 63 2/3 innings pitched. He spent pretty much the entire 2026 season with the Cardinals. He didn't pitch for another organization, but was designated for assignment multiple times.

At the end of the day, Shuster didn't hurt the Cardinals. He was brought in on a minor league deal, which is very difficult to actually be bad. They're cheap and easy to offload. He got a few shots in the big leagues, but wasn't able to establish himself with St. Louis and didn't have a big enough season down in Triple-A to warrant more shots with the club.

Now, he's heading off to free agency.

For the Cardinals, the bullpen is the biggest question mark — and weakness — heading into the offseason. Shuster wasn't the answer, so losing him right now doesn't change the perception of St. Louis' bullpen. The Cardinals need multiple arms this offseason, both right-handed and left-handed. It would've been great if Shuster could've established himself as a left-handed option to help this club beyond the 2026 season, but that just wasn't the case.

Hopefully, he's able to find his next opportunity and the Cardinals are able to upgrade. There's a lot of work to do for St. Louis and it would be a shock to see some sort of big investment now. It wouldn't be surprising to see more dice rolls on minor league deals, like the Cardinals did with Shuster, this winter. In a perfect world, the Cardinals will strike gold with someone cheap.