Former first-round pick arrives as Cardinals' newest stocking stuffer

Chaim Bloom can't stop and won't stop acquiring pitchers.

The St. Louis Cardinals are scouring every nook and cranny for pitchers with upside this offseason as they rebuild their roster through trades and free agency, and new president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom has just added another once-promising arm to the Cardinals' toolbox.

The Cardinals just signed former highly touted pitching prospect Jared Shuster to a minor league contract.

The Atlanta Braves drafted Shuster 25th overall in 2020 as a relatively finished project out of Wake Forest. The left-hander, whom Baseball America ranked as the Braves No. 3 prospect prior to 2023, boasted a strong fastball-changeup-slider mix and held strong control in the minor leagues. Before the 2023 season, Shuster had a minor league walk rate of just 6.8%. Unfortunately, he was smacked around in his initial major league go-around that year, holding a 5.81 ERA in 11 starts.

Atlanta traded Shuster to the Chicago White Sox following that season in the deal for Aaron Bummer, and Chicago mostly used him out of the bullpen, with him starting just 6 of 51 games in 2024 and 2025. His latest season was a disaster, as he allowed 14 earned runs in 15.2 innings, but his low FIP of 2.94 suggested that there were ridiculous levels of misfortune at play.

The rebuilding Cardinals can easily afford to take a flier on Shuster in hopes that his FIP is a more accurate indication of the pitcher he can still be, and if we assume JoJo Romero is moved soon, Shuster will have every opportunity to get right in the major leagues, likely out of the bullpen.

If the Cardinals can get Shuster back on track, Bloom could trade him at the deadline for even more prospects, much as the team will likely do with fellow free agent signing Dustin May on his one-year contract. Alternatively, the Cardinals could opt to keep Shuster around as future bullpen help, as the 27-year-old could later serve as a veteran presence for the next competitive Cardinals team.

A silver lining to rebuilding is that there is no risk involved in signing players. If they don't work out, the Cardinals and the other party can head their separate ways with the player leaving no major effect on the team's fortunes. As Bloom continues the teardown, expect more wheeling, dealing and signing to occur in what is becoming a foreign offseason to many Cardinals fans.