JJ Wetherholt's return coincides with obvious offseason preparation from Cardinals

After a roughly three-week absence, JJ Wetherholt is making his triumphant return to the St. Louis Cardinals. He has been activated off the injured list and is expected to resume his starting duties at second base over the final stretch of the regular season.

Although this may prove to be too little, too late for the Redbirds' postseason hopes -- their magic number to be eliminated in the Wild Card race is down to just three games -- it does give Wetherholt one final chance to make a push for the NL Rookie of the Year. Sal Stewart has opened up a pretty commanding lead in that award race (at least according to oddsmakers), but the Cardinals' freshman phenom can insert himself back into the conversation by playing his usual brand of elite defense and making an impact at the plate over his team's final 10 games.

There is a balancing act that needs to be on display, however. Wetherholt suggested that he isn't "pain free" quite yet, and that he'll be playing while continuing to manage the tendinitis in his right wrist.

As fun as it would be to see him make a late push for the Rookie of the Year award, it's more important that he enters the offseason healthy so that he can prepare for a big 2027 campaign.

Cardinals part ways with Ramón Urías, Peter Strzelecki to clear out 40-man roster ahead of offseason

Speaking of preparing for 2027, the Cardinals clearly had next year on top of mind when activating Wetherholt. In conjunction with that move, they also designated Ramón Urías and Peter Strzelecki for assignment.

Both players will head to waivers, though neither is expected to be claimed. Urías created a lot of buzz early in the season as a diamond-in-the-rough find by Chaim Bloom, but he sunk to a 66 wRC+ before missing the majority of the season due to tennis elbow in his right arm. He'd barely played after being activated from the IL in late-August, notching just four hits in 32 trips to the plate. By designating him for assignment now, the Cardinals have put themselves on the hook for his $500,000 buyout this offseason.

As for Strzelecki, the veteran reliever struggled in 14 major-league innings this season, recording a 5.79 ERA and -0.1 fWAR. He was on the IL with forearm inflammation prior to be released.

Naturally, the big news here is that there are now two open 40-man spots on the Cardinals' roster. With the trade deadline long passed and few players of note hitting waivers this time of year, it's unclear how the team intends to fill those vacant spots, if they do at all.

Indeed, it seems likely that this is just the beginning of the pre-offseason house-cleaning that takes place every year. The Cardinals could award a 40-man spot to an organizational stalwart or two (Pete Hansen and Ramon Mendoza come to mind), but it's more likely that they keep their options open in order to protect Rule 5 eligible prospects and keep the runway open for free agents.

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