Cardinals' non-tenders highlighted by a fan favorite and key pieces from major trades

The St. Louis Cardinals have continued their busy first offseason under the leadership of new president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom tonight by clearing more clutter from their roster.

Tonight was the deadline for all MLB teams to tender contracts to players over whom they still have club control, and the organization decided to part ways with multiple names of note as Bloom seeks to shake up the Cardinals' roster. The club announced this evening that they are non-tendering C Yohel Pozo, LHP John King, and RHPs Sem Robberse and Jorge Alcala.

The Cardinals decided to non-tender Yohel Pozo, John King, Sem Robberse, and Jorge Alcala

Pozo, who burst onto the scene for the Cardinals this year due to multiple injuries to Ivan Herrera, quickly became a fan favorite due to his clutch hitting and fun style of play. His performance did fall off as the season went on, finishing the year with a 76 wRC+ in 67 games played, and if he doesn't land a big league opportunity with a different club, he could return to the Cardinals on a minor league deal.

It was always likely that Pozo wouldn't remain on the 40-man roster past this deadline, as the club now has Herrera, Pedro Pages, Jimmy Crooks, and Leonardo Bernal all on their 40-man roster as well. With the amount of catching depth the Cardinals have at the Major League and Triple-A level, Pozo was no longer needed on their 40-man roster.

Robberse and King, as fans will remember, were both pieces of two of the biggest trades the Cardinals made back at the 2023 trade deadline, with Robberse coming over in the Jordan Hicks trade and King as one of the pieces in the Jordan Montgomery deal. There are no zero pieces remaining from the Hicks deal in the Cardinals organization.

I have been predicting for a few months now that King would be non-tendered this offseason, as he is coming off a really poor year on the mound with a 4.66 ERA in 51 games, and his -0.4 fWAR was just not worth the arbitration bump he was getting.

Robberse was a bit of a surprise move by the Cardinals, but considering how many arms they have at the upper levels of the minor leagues right now, and how many of them are still hurt, having Robberse working his way back from an injury as well likely wasn't something the club wanted to navigate. Robberse just turned 24 in October and posted a 4.59 ERA in Triple-A as a 22-year-old. He will get a shot to try elsewhere.

It felt likely that the Cardinals would be non-tendering Alcala today as well after they designated him for an assignment on Wednesday when they made their 40-man roster additions. Alcala was a midseason pickup for the Cardinals' bullpen, who still couldn't figure out how to make his stuff effective. He will now hit free agency.