6 ways the St. Louis Cardinals can win this week's MLB Winter Meetings

#5 - Take a flyer in the Rule 5 Draft

The Cardinals currently only have one open spot on their 40-man roster, which does severely limit what they could do in the Rule 5 draft his week. While the Rule 5 Draft won't have the same fanfare as the Draft Lottery will, the results of Wednesday's draft could result in the Cardinals ending up with an intriguing young piece for their roster in 2026.

White Sox right-hander Peyton Pallette seems to be the arm most people are talking about right now, and with the Cardinals picking 11th in the Rule 5 Draft, he may not even be there when it is time for them to select. But whether it is Pallette, Yordanny Monegro, Tyler Vogel, RJ Petit, Zach McCambley, or other intriguing arms, the Cardinals should be ready to add an arm to their mix in the Rule 5 Draft.

It would be a surprise in my opinion if the Cardinals went with a position player, but perhaps an outfielder like Kyler Fedko, Yohendrick Pinango, Justice Bigbie, or Andrew Pintar could be of interest to them as well.

As we saw two years ago, betting on upside with a Rule 5 pick can pay major dividends. Back at the 2023 Winter Meetings, the Cardinals selected Ryan Fernandez from Boston in the Rule 5 Draft, and he went on to be one of their best relievers in 2024. Now, we all know things went poorly for him in 2025, but he was still a huge win of a selection. He cost the Cardinals nothing to acquire, and they got one great season out of him and still have multiple years of control with him, so he could provide even more value moving forward.

Worst-case scenario, the Cardinals select someone and they don't pan out. They can easily move on then. This is low-hanging fruit that they must take advantage of this next week. During this part of their rebuild, they have to take advantage of every opportunity to add talent to their organization, and over time, it will help them get back to where they need to be to contend long-term.