Leo Bernal and other Cardinals are set to join Albert Pujols' winter league team

Albert Pujols had quite the reunion party in St. Louis when he was inducted into the Cardinals Hall of Fame this month, and now he's planning on bringing some of that band down to the Dominican Republic this winter.

Estrellas Orientales of the Dominican Winter League (LIDOM) recently announced that Cardinals catcher, Leo Bernal, would be joining their club this winter for their season. Pujols was named their president of baseball operations in April.

This is a big opportunity for Bernal to get more reps in this offseason, especially ahead of an uncertain winter where baseball may be delayed or cut short in 2027, and he won't be the only Cardinal to join Pujols' club this year.

Cardinals' Cesar Prieto, Hancel Rincon, and Angel Ovalles are joining Leo Bernal and Albert Pujols this winter

While more names may be added to the mix, as of now, Bernal will also be joined by fellow Cardinals Cesar Prieto and Hancel Rincon on the field, while Angel Ovalles, a Latin American cross-checker for the Cardinals, is already serving as the club's general manager.

Bernal is obviously the biggest name of the bunch, as entering play on Friday, he has slashed .282/.322/.459 with four home runs, seven total extra-base hits, and 18 RBI in just 90 plate appearances in his first taste of big league action.

The Cardinals have confidence that Bernal can become the true primary catcher for them, catching more like 70% of their games moving forward rather than a timeshare or platoon situation. Getting more reps this offseason should be good for his development, and hopefully they do a good job managing his workload so he doesn't have physical setbacks during the 2027 season.

Cesar Prieto has not found success with the Cardinals at the big league level yet in his career, so it will be interesting to see if he's able to work through some of those woes this winter. In 41 big league plate appearances, Prieto has posted a -57 wRC+. He has been productive at Triple-A, posting a 120 wRC+ in 2026.

Rincon, who was just recalled to St. Louis this weekend to pitch out of the bullpen, will also benefit from continued opportunity like Prieto and Bernal. Rincon had a really good year in the minor leagues, posting a 3.83 ERA in 47 games, but entering play Friday, had given up seven runs in his 1.1 innings of Major League baseball.

Rincon, as you may remember, was also at the center of the Doug Eddings umpire controversy earlier this month.

It's fun to see Pujols leveraging Cardinals contacts to field his winter league team. He has been very open about his desire to manage at the big league level, and while Oli Marmol is firmly in the manager seat for St. Louis right now, Pujols will likely get his first gig in the near future, maybe even this offseason. But for now, he's going from managing winter league teams and World Baseball Classic teams to running baseball operations this winter.

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