St. Louis Cardinals -- 2025 and trying to contend

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MLB news: Nov. 25 -- K.C.'s Winn and Milwaukee's Dugan win Cy Young awards

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MLB news: Nov. 26 -- Toronto's Delgado and San Diego's Tatis collect MVP honors

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The St. Louis Cardinals have acquired right-handed pitcher Samuel Valerio from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for outfielder Carlos Carmona.
Valerio, 28, has split time between being a starter and a reliever over the course of his career.
Last season, he pitched in 29 games for the Royals, starting 20, and went 8-6 with a 4.76 ERA.
Over the course of his career, Valerio, who K.C. signed as an international free agent in 2018, has worked in 83 games/36 starts and gone 12-13 with two saves and a 4.51 ERA.
St. Louis is expected to use Valerio as a right-handed relief pitcher.
Carmona, 25, has spent part of the past four seasons in the majors with the Cardinals.
The 2029 campaign was a struggle, as he got into 101 games/87 starts and hit just .196 with four home runs and 22 RBIs.
For his career, Carmona, who St. Louis signed as an international free agent in 2021, has played in 299 games/246 starts and hit .225 with 15 home runs and 64 RBIs.

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The St. Louis Cardinals traded half of their 2029 Opening Day infield -- 1B Buddy Kennedy and SS Willman Diaz -- to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for utility infielder Nelson Pacheco and minor-league third baseman David Chicas.
Aqcuired from the Arizona Diamondbacks before the start of the 2029 season, Kennedy never seemed to find a way to fit in with the Cardinals and eventually lost his starting job to rookie P.J. Morlando.
When the season ended, Kennedy, 31, found himself hitting a career-low .214 with 14 home runs and 56 RBIs in 138 games/133 starts.
In his previous three seasons with Arizona, Kennedy had hit .255 and hit 91 homers and drove in 301 runs.
Diaz, who broke with the Cardinals in 2028, started 99 games/94 starts for St. Louis in 2029 and hit five home runs wirth 24 RBIs.
The 26-year-old had hit .189 in 2028 with three home runs and 23 RBIs, playing in 90 games/85 starts.
Pacheco, 25, played in 103 games/all starts in 2029 and hit .243 with two homers and 24 RBIs.
Signed out of the Mexican League in 2029, Pacheco played in seven games in AAAA, where he hit .318 with one home run and three RBIs before being called to the majors.
A plus defender at short and third, it is uncertain if Pacheco will probably be given a chance to compete for the starting job at shortstop.
Taken in 10th round of the 2027 draft by Cincinnati, Chicas was acquired by the third in a trade on Dec. 1, 2029.
Chicas, 23, split time between Class A Dayton and High-A Dayton in 2029.
He played in 118 games/115 starts and hit .261 with 20 home runs and 59 RBIs.

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The St. Louis Cardinals have completed a four-player trade with the Houston Astros, with each team chipping in a pair of players.
Acquired from Houston are 28-year-old outfielder Everson Pereira and 24-year-old left-handed pitcher Sean Troutman.
Heading to the Astros are 28-year-old outfielder Deundre Jones and 25-year-old minor league infielder Dean Curley.
Pereira began his pro career in 2017 when he signed as an international free agent with the New York Yankees.
He later spent some time in the Colorado farm system before being signed by the Astros in Nov. 2028.
Pereira played in 54 games/50 starts for Houston last season, hitting just .211 with two homers and 16 RBIs.
For his career, he has played in 413 games/329 starts and hit .228 with 12 home runs and 50 RBIs.
Troutman, a first-round pick by Houston in the 2026 draft, appeared in 25 games for the Astros last season going 2-1 with two saves and a 3.23 ERA.
He broke into the majors in 2028 and altogether has pitched in 39 games going 4-3 with the two saves and a 4.18 ERA.
Drafted by Boston late in the 2022 draft, the Cardinals acquired Jones in a June 2028 trade with the Red Sox.
Jones made his major league debut with St. Louis in 2029.
He got into 35 games/29 starts and hit .222 with two homers and seven RBIs.
At AAA Memphis in 2029, Jones hit .311 with 17 home runs and 44 RBIs in 72 games.
Taken with the 25th overall pick in the 2023 draft by St. Louis, Curley has struggled during his time in the minors.
Last season, he split time between AA Springfield and AAA Memphis.
In 79 games/76 starts, he hit .285 with 20 home runs and 50 RBIs.
Curley played nine games/eight starts with St. Louis in 2029, hitting .185 with two RBIs.

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The St. Louis Cardinals have announced the signing of left-handed relief pitcher Andrew Perez to a two-year contract.
Perez, 32, was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the eighth round of the 2018 draft.
He was later traded to the Toronto Blue Jays, with whom he broke into the majors in 2023.
He spent the 2026 season with Tampa Bay before being traded to Philadelphia.
Last season, Perez pitched in 64 games going 8-3 with 28 saves and a 2.85 ERA.
For his career, Perez is 40-30 with 85 saves and a 3.43 ERA in 443 games.

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The St. Louis Cardinals have announced the signing of Taiwanese infielder Jiu-Ling Chua to a minor league contract.
Chua, 30, has decided to make the move from his native country.
He is expected to be given the opportunity to win the starting job at shortstop in spring training.
If Chua makes the team, he will be paid $3.5 million.

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MLB news: Jan. 2 -- Zack Greinke and Carlos Beltran will head to Cooperstown

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The St. Louis Cardinals have signed outfielder Kerry Carpenter to a two-year deal worth $3.25 million, with a second season of $5.5M which features a team opt out.
Carpenter, 32, spent the 2029 season in Toronto where in 82 games/63 starts he hit .273 with 18 home runs and 44 RBIs.
Taken in the 2019 draft by Detroit, he broke into the majors with the Tigers in 2022 before being traded to Detroit before the 2028 season.
In his career, he has played in 778 games/676 starts during which he has hit .248 with 129 home runs and 410 RBIs.

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The St. Louis Cardinals have announced the signing of veteran player Jose Ramirez to a two-year contract worth $13 million.
The first season will pay Ramirez $5.5M. The second, which is worth $7.5M includes a team buyout.
Ramirez, 37, after spending 16 seasons in Cleveland, played the 2029 season in Detroit where in 144 games/142 starts he hit .259 with 23 home runs and 80 RBIs.
For his career, Ramirez has hit .278 with 396 homers and 1,371 RBIs in 2,215 game/1,686 starts.
Ramirez is expected to be primarily used as the team's designated hitter.

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The St. Louis Cardinals have acquired 2029 19-game winner Roansy Contreras from the Washington Nationals in exchange for 2028 first-round pick Chris Brinkerhoff, a starting pitcher.
The 30-year-old Contreras went 19-7 with a 3.32 ERA in 33 starts with the Nationals in 2029.
He broke into the majors with Pittsburgh in 2024.
In 234 career games, 231 stars, Contreras has gone 83-65 with a 4.14 ERA.
Taken with the 24th pick in the 2028 draft by St. Louis, Brinkerhoff has yet to pitch above high-A Peoria.
In 2029, during which he pitched in just three games after undergoing Tommy John surgery, Brinkerhoff was 0-2 with a 13.05 ERA.

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Cards news: February 1 -- Player Development Report

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MLB news: February 28 -- Preseason predictions at start of spring training

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MLB news: February 28 -- Preseason predictions at start of spring training

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MLB news: February 28 -- Preseason predictions at start of spring training

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Cards news: February 28 -- Spring Training -- Atlanta Braves 1, St. Louis Cardinals 0, (0-1)

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Cards news: March 1 -- Player Development Report

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Cards news: March 1 -- Spring Training -- Miami Marlins 5, St. Louis Cardinals 4, (0-2)

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Cards news: March 2 -- Spring Trainings -- Cincnnati Reds 5, St. Louis Cardinals 5, (0-2-1)

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Cards news: March 3 -- Spring Training - St. Louis Cardinals 3, Colorado Rockies 1, (1-2-1)