Redbird Droppings: This Week’s Rumors

Redbird Droppings looks at non-tenders and rumors

Besides the normal chatter in baseball, today is the non-tender deadline; teams will decide if they’ll offer contracts to their players under club control. Most of the time, it’s arbitration eligible players who are non-tendered; you’ll find a handful of 40-man players with less than 3 years of service time that will be cut loose.

MLB Trade Rumors listed their expected non-tenders; the Cardinals have 3 players listed:

• Jorge Alcala, RHP: Alcala was a late season waiver claim and he’s already been DFAed; he’s gone for sure, either as a waiver claim again or he’ll be cut loose.
• John King, LHP: King’s 2025 was not up to his previous time with the Cardinals, but I expected him to be non-tendered after acquiring him in 2023. I’m 50/50 on this happening.
• Andre Pallante, RHP: Pallante has been on this “good every other year” streak, so 2026 might be a good year. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s cut loose after struggling all of 2025.

Now here’s some other rumors:

Brendan Donovan
Interested Teams: Astros
Formerly Interested Teams: Blue Jays, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Giants, Guardians, Mariners, Royals, Yankees

Since the last rumor update, the Astros are now confirmed to be in on Donovan; while he wouldn’t be the regular second baseman, he’d definitely find a way to play everyday moving around the diamond. There have been rumors that as many as 20 teams have inquired on him and he might be the most talked about player on the market.

Sports Illustrated has thrown out the Mariners, which have been mentioned in the past; they even feature some names the Cardinals could be interested in.

Nolan Arenado
Interested Teams: Diamondbacks, Phillies
Formerly Interested Teams: Astros, Red Sox, Yankees

This is more speculation than rumors, but the Diamondbacks could pursue Arenado if they aren’t convinced Jordan Lawlar is their answer at third. There are questions about how much salary the D’backs are going to add, if any; the Cardinals would have to send most of the $35M owed to Arizona to facilitate a deal.

The Phillies are an interesting name that popped up in the Arenado discussion; they’ve wanted to move Alec Bohm since the beginning of last off-season and could see Arenado as a likely replacement. They have a lot of money coming off the books (especially if they move Nick Castellanos), so they could take on some of the money Arenado is owed (but I still think the Cardinals eat most of it).

No really news on this one yet, but the Angels have made it known they are in the market for a third baseman; Arenado is an upgrade on Anthony Rendon (Arenado gets on the field, so instant upgrade, right?), but is he going to be enough to get them into the playoffs? Probably not.

Quick Hits: Max Scherzer has been brought up by fans, and Derrick Goold is shooting that one down…

Roster Updates: The Cardinals added prospects Joshua Baez (OF), Leonardo Bernal (C), Cooper Hjerpe (LHP), and Brycen Mautz (RHP) to the 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule V draft; in the process, the Cardinals designated Jorge Alcala for assignment.

Bernal is the best of the bunch and part of that catching logjam I mentioned last week. Baez took a step forward this year and earned the spot; he could be ready by the end of 2026, especially if Jordan Walker doesn’t take a step forward this year.

Hjerpe and Mautz were picks 1 and 2 for the team in 2022; both have had up and down careers up to this point, but they are trending in the right direction.

Alcala didn’t do himself any favors after being claimed from the Red Sox; his short stint with the Cardinals was forgettable. No loss putting him out there.

Former Cardinals:

• Harrison Bader, OF – the Phillies are interested in bringing back Bader, who they acquired at the trade deadline. With Kyle Schwarber a free agent and Castellanos on the way out, they need outfield depth and liked what Bader brought to the team.
• Miguel Cairo, Coach – Cairo ended 2025 as the National’s interim manager, and he’ll start 2026 as the Orioles infield coach.
• Zac Gallen, RHP – Gallen rejected his qualifying offer from the Diamondbacks, meaning he’ll have draft pick compensation tied to his free agency.
• Adolis Garcia, OF – the Rangers are making the outfielder available in trade; his tenure in Texas has been interesting: he’s been DFAed, broke out, then his production fell off. There is a possibility that he could be non-tendered if a deal isn’t made soon.
• Andrew Knizner, C – the Giants DFAed the catcher after acquiring Joey Wiemer; he’ll probably be a free agent in 10 days and sign a minor league deal somewhere
• Connor Thomas, RHP – signed a MiLB deal with the Braves; he’s expected to miss most of, if not all of, the 2026 season after UCL reconstruction.
• Ramon Urias, IF – the Astros designated Urias for assignment. He was acquired at the deadline from the Orioles and the team decided to move on rather than going to arbitration with him; he’s a utility player, so the Astros have cheaper options in house. He’ll probably find an MLB job.
• Jake Woodford, RHP – the Rays grabbed Woodford on a minor league deal; they’re inviting him to camp hoping that he’ll make the team. He’s bounced around between teams, and between the Majors and AAA.

I’ll be back next week with more rumors.