St. Louis Cardinals offseason news, rumors, 2023 payroll, and more

Cardinals 2023 Offseason Tracker: Stay up to date with St. Louis’ offseason

The St. Louis Cardinals had an exciting 2022 season that ended on a disappointing note. The final seasons for Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina will be remembered forever, the dominance of Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado was a welcomed sight, and the emerging young core took another step forward. And yet, the Cardinals have a lot of work to do this offseason.

The Cardinals have a variety of directions they could go to address their needs, whether through trades, signings, or internal solutions. But after printing money during the 2022 season, fans should expect to be rewarded with big moves to show for it. Will the front office come through though? Will the payroll actually experience a significant rise? Will the Cardinals part with the necessary assets to acquire help in the trade market? It all remains to be seen.

So many questions to be answered, but for now, here at Redbird Rants we are going to keep a tracker of all the news, rumors, payroll implications, and transactions fans need to know for the remainder of this offseason. Come back to this throughout the offseason to stay up to date on what has happened and is currently in the works with the Cardinals offseason.

Cardinals 2023 payroll information

Cardinals 2023 projected payroll as of today: $182,620,737

Cardinals 2023 projected payroll ceiling: $190 million

Available to spend: Approximately $8 million (will increase if players are non-tendered/traded)

Cardinals’ payroll info via Spotrac

Cardinals 2022-2023 transactions

• Signed C Willson Contreras to a 5-year, $87.5 million deal
• Claimed RHP Wilking Rodriguez off of waivers
• Signed RHP Guillermo Zuniga
• Resigned RHP Adam Wainwright to a 1-year, $17.5 million deal
• Added OF Moises Gomez to the 40-man roster
• Acquired INF Jose Fermin from the Cleveland Guardians for cash
• Signed OF Oscar Mercado and four others to minor-league deals

Cardinals offseason rumors

• Growing buzz of a Willson Contreras signing
• Cardinals expected to increase payroll this offseason
• Insider Katie Woo predicts Cardinals make blockbuster signing
• Cardinals linked to Willson Contreras
• John Mozeliak will give Paul DeJong another chance during Spring Training
• Four catchers rumored to be trade targets

Cardinals arbitration eligible players (and salaries for 2023)

• Jordan Montgomery: $10.1MM
• Chris Stratton: (Re-signed, 1 year, $2.8 million)
• Alex Reyes: (non-tendered)
• Jack Flaherty: $5.1MM
• Jordan Hicks: $1.6MM
• Dakota Hudson: $2.7MM
• Tyler O’Neill: $5.1MM
• Tommy Edman: $4.3MM
• Ryan Helsley: $2.4MM
• Andrew Knizner: $1MM
• Genesis Cabrera: $1.2MM

All projections provided by MLBTradeRumors.com

Cardinals free agents status

• Adam Wainwright (re-signed, 1 year, $17.5 million)
• Jose Quintana (signed a 2-year, $26 million deal with the Mets)
• Corey Dickerson (free agent)
• Aaron Brooks (free agent)
• Albert Pujols (retired)
• Yadier Molina (retired)

Cardinals top prospects for 2023

1. 3B/OF Jordan Walker
2. SS Maysn Winn
3. RHP Gordon Graceffo
4. LHP Matthew Liberatore
5. OF Alec Burleson
6. RHP Tink Hence
7. C Ivan Herrera
8. LHP Cooper Hjerpe
9. RHP Michael McGreevy
10. SS Jonathan Mejia

Rankings provided by MLB Pipeline

We’ll be updating this tracker throughout the offseason!