5 things Cardinals fans should know going into GM meetings in San Antonio

3. Arbitration and Rule 5 eligibility

Ryan Helsley is entering his final year of arbitration. He is expected to get a big payday after a season in which he earned 49 saves as a closer for the Cardinals. He deserves a pay increase, but will he get that from the Cardinals? Helsley is another candidate mentioned as possible trade bait this offseason.

Jojo Romero and John King will be in their second season of arbitration eligibility. While Lars Nootbaar, Brendan Donovan, and Andre Pallante will enter their first seasons of eligibility.

The non-tender deadline is Nov. 22. The Cardinals must decide who they want to protect ahead of the Rule 5 Draft on Dec. 11, the final day of the Winter Meetings in Dallas. Tink Hence and Tekoah Roby will top that list of players to be added to the Cardinals' 40-man roster.

2. Coaching and coordinators?

As noted above, the Cardinals will add farm and player development directors. Once these roles are filled, the Cardinals should hire coordinators to help develop players throughout the minor league system. This has been Bloom, Cerfolio, and the Cardinals' signature offseason project. It should be interesting to see how this comes to fruition over the next few weeks.

They have hired Brant Brown as their new hitting coach to replace Turner Ward. Jon Jay was hired as an assistant coach after Willie McGee decided to step back into a special assistant to Mozeliak role. This will allow him more freedom to do as he pleases regarding coaching and travel. While Jay was a fan favorite as a player, having some new faces help with the team will be nice. The Cardinals are also expected to hire some behind-the-scenes people, including an embedded analyst for the Major League team. It will be interesting to see who they hire for this role and what it will entail. It will be interesting to see who could be employed as a coordinator and if Skip Schumaker, Albert Pujols, or Yadier Molina could be considered.

1. Free agency?

It can safely be assumed the Cardinals will not test the waters for any big-name free agents this offseason. While they could look to bring back a free agent or two, it's not likely they will be in on Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes, or any one of the top-tier free-agent pitchers available this offseason.

The Cardinals' starting rotation includes Sonny Gray, Erick Fedde, Miles Mikolas, Steven Matz, Andre Pallante, and Michael McGreevy. Trading Fedde, Mikolas, and Matz would likely make acquiring one of those free agents possible while keeping Gray, Pallante, and McGreevy. It's not likely, but seeing the Cardinals rid themselves of the Fedde, Mikolas, and Matz contracts would be nice, considering the organization's desire to shed payroll.

Going into these GM meetings with low expectations for anything huge to occur is best. Fans should know what Bloom and Cerfolio have planned and how the current roster could change. While deals may not get done, we should see what the organization has planned. Fans have seemed discouraged about this offseason, so it will be good to have some actual work being done instead of the wild speculation.