3 Cardinals at risk of being non-tendered before tonight's deadline

Tonight is another important deadline in the Major League Baseball offseason, as teams are required to tender a contract to players or see them hit the free agent market. The St. Louis Cardinals have some decisions they need to make regarding the futures of players in their organization.

While a "resetting" club like the Cardinals may not have as much urgency as other organizations to non-tender some players, there are a few different candidates who should be a bit nervous today as the deadline approaches.

Here are 3 Cardinals who are at risk of being non-tendered before tonight's deadline

1B Luken Baker

Starting out with a "bang", Luken Baker now finds himself in the same situation he was in prior to the 2024 season, sitting at third place on the first base depth chart (and he could be even lower).

Even with Paul Goldschmidt hitting free agency, there's a "new" right-handed bat slotting ahead of him on the depth chart with Willson Contreras making the transition to first base this offseason. The Cardinals are going to want Contreras' bat in the lineup every day, so expect to see him at first base or DH in 150+ games, as long as he is healthy. Alec Burleson also slots in ahead of Baker, and since he has the versatility to play in the outfield and is a left-handed bat, he provides more on the roster than Baker. It's hard to imagine the Cardinals having Baker on the bench as things currently stand.

I'm not sure if Baker is the "strongest" candidate to be non-tendered, but he's certainly a name I don't think fans realize could be gone.

LHP Zack Thompson

Entering Spring Training as the Cardinals' "next man up" if someone in their rotation went down, Zack Thompson immediately got the opportunity to start for St. Louis as Sonny Gray began the season on the injured list. Thompson imploded in his opportunity, posting a 9.53 ERA in five games (two starts) for the Cardinals.

Things did not go well in Memphis either, as Thompson struggled to regain the velocity he had lost and posted a 4.40 ERA in his 21 games down in Triple-A. Even after the list of veteran arms on the Cardinals roster, I think it is safe to say Thompson now falls behind Andre Pallante, Michael McGreevy, Quinn Mathews, and possibly even Tink Hence on the pecking order for the early 2025 rotation. This doesn't even mention others like Sem Robberse, Adam Kloffenstein, and Gordon Graceffo, who are all on the Cardinals' 40-man roster.

The Cardinals could see Thompson as a left-handed bullpen option again for 2025 or want to give him one more chance to start, but I really wouldn't be surprised if he is non-tendered today.

RHP Ryan Loutos

This is not all that fair to Ryan Loutos, but considering he only got to throw 2.1 innings for St. Louis last year and fell behind Chris Roycroft and Kyle Leahy on the depth chart, they may use his 40-man roster spot to make room for other young arms this offseason.

As things currently stand, the Cardinals only have one open 40-man roster spot. We don't expect them to be super active in terms of adding players this offseason in free agency or aggressive "buyers" trades, but I highly doubt that they don't make any moves, and even if they sell a player like Ryan Helsley, they may bring in players in that trade that require 40-man spots.