Former 4-Year Cardinals Hurler Quietly Cuts Ties With Diamondbacks

An old friend hits the open market

Apr 4, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; A detailed view of an Arizona Diamondbacks hat at the game between the Washington Nationals and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images | Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images

As the dust continues settling on the Major League Baseball season, players who didn't have the campaigns they were hoping for are starting to seek new opportunities.

The St. Louis Cardinals will surely lose some players to free agency this winter. One of their former players, meanwhile, got a head start on free agency because he was outrighted off his team's 40-man roster this season.

Jake Woodford, who pitched for the Cardinals from 2020 to 2023, has bounced around to three teams in the last two seasons. He made 22 appearances for the Arizona Diamondbacks this year, but his results were far from what he was hoping they would be.

Ex-Cardinal Woodford leaves Diamondbacks organization

On Wednesday, according to the official transactions page, Woodford elected free agency. The Diamondbacks had designated him for assignment on Sept. 21 and outrighted him on the 23rd.

Woodford, 28, was the 39th overall pick in the 2015 MLB Draft, as the Cardinals selected him out of Plant H.S. in Tampa, Fla. He debuted with the Cardinals in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, and in 2021 and 2022, he was one of the team's more reliable swingmen.

In 184 2/3 innings for St. Louis, Woodford had a 4.29 ERA, 190 hits allowed, and just 119 strikeouts. He's gone backwards since then, pitching to a 7.97 ERA in the majors last season and a 6.44 mark this year.

Though the Cardinals once saw him as an important piece of their future pitching staffs, it would appear that Woodford's career is at a crucial inflection point. He can sign a minor-league deal with any club at his earliest convenience, while an unlikely major league deal would have to wait until after the World Series.

Would the Cardinals consider a reunion with their former draft pick on a non-roster invitation to spring training? New president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom was never in the organization at the same time he was pitching there, but perhaps someone on Bloom's staff still has a soft spot for the righty.

More MLB: Cardinals' Chaim Bloom Looking To Make Major Staffing Change: Report