Cardinals' 2026 season viewed in a very poor light by a national outlet

The St. Louis Cardinals enter Year 1 of their rebuild under new President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom. Unlike the previous regime, Bloom traded away three veteran leaders from the 2025 season. Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras are now with the Boston Red Sox. Nolan Arenado is an Arizona Diamondback. The Cardinals’ lone 2025 All-Star, Brendan Donovan, was traded to the Seattle Mariners for rising switch-pitching pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje.

With an exodus of players who contributed to the 2025 season, and a lack of a bona fide star player, there is little optimism heading into this summer. FanGraphs’ Dan Szymborski released his ZiPS projections for the Cardinals last month, where he sees St. Louis’ floor “like on the level of that room near the start of Willy Wonka's factory tour.” So, it’s not high. 

Perhaps the Cardinals can catch lightning in a bottle in 2026? Not according to Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report. 

Cardinals are one of five 2026 teams listed as “already screwed.”  

Given the transactions this offseason, Kelly has a hard time being a competitive ball club this year. However, Bloom was given a pass this year because of his previous work with the Red Sox in developing prospects into MLB contributors. Yet, as a Cardinals fan used to consistent winning seasons, it is hard to read that “losing 90-plus games feels like a certainty.”

There is also this paragraph:

“It's rare that a team is so devoid of talent that there's nothing to watch for. The Cardinals have some quality players, particularly in their lineup. As a team, though, they could become the first St. Louis squad to lose 95 or more games since Miller Huggins' squad went 51-99-3 in 1913.” 

One of those players Kelly mentions is JJ Wetherholt, a player who Oliver Marmol mentioned as a potential leadoff hitter for Spring Training. Back on February 3rd, ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel touted Wetherholt as the potential NL Rookie of the Year. 

While this team has a bleak outlook for the 2026 season, I have a hard time believing the Cardinals will be on par with the Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies, Minnesota Twins, and Washington Nationals.