5 non-tendered players the St. Louis Cardinals should consider signing

The non-tender deadline was last week, and teams had the opportunity to extend a contract to their arbitration-eligible players. After the dust had fallen, 63 players were not tendered contracts by their respective teams. Each of these players now becomes a free agent, thus opening the opportunity for any team to sign them.

The St. Louis Cardinals had 9 players who were eligible to have a contract tendered to them: Dylan Carlson, Tyler O'Neill, Tommy Edman, JoJo Romero, Ryan Helsley, Andrew Knizner, Dakota Hudson, Jake Woodford, and Juan Yepez. Knizner, Hudson, Woodford, and Yepez were not tendered contracts and are now free agents.

St. Louis had seen enough of Jake Woodford to know that they could find a better swingman through free agency or internal promotion. Knizner was more than likely excess due to the promotion of Pedro Pages and the ascension of Ivan Herrera. Dakota Hudson was who he was at this point in his career, and St. Louis had plenty of other young pitchers who could fill his spot. Juan Yepez was an interesting non-tender, but his defense wasn't enough to justify a spot on the roster.

Of the other 59 non-tendered players, five of them should be intriguing players for the Cardinals to target. These players were non-tendered due to their high price tag, a severe injury, or underperformance in recent history. St. Louis is looking for starting pitching and relief pitching, particularly relievers with high-leverage experience. Additionally, St. Louis is looking for a bridge reliever who is able to pitch multiple innings in relief.

St. Louis will have to bid against other teams with these non-tendered players. Also, keep in mind that teams didn't find enough value in some of these players to sign them to a one-year contract that is a decent price compared to other contracts. These non-tendered candidates probably won't move the needle too much for St. Louis next year, but they could fill the holes that the team has. The Cardinals' 40-man roster currently stands at 36, so they won't be able to sign all five of these players.

All salary projections that I will use will come from MLB Trade Rumors.

Here are five non-tendered players who could be appealing to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Lou Trivino

Lou Trivino was a relief pitcher for the Oakland Athletics from 2018-2022. The New York Yankees acquired him at the 2022 trade deadline. As a reliever for the Athletics, Trivino was their primary closer and he racked up 36 saves during his tenure. He had Tommy John surgery in May of last year, and it is likely that he will miss at least half of the 2024 season to recover. Whoever signs Trivino this offseason must assume that A) he won't be able to pitch until at least August and B) he won't be the same as he once was before the injury.

The 32-year-old right-handed pitcher has a career 3.86 ERA, 1.342 WHIP, and has struck out batters at a 9.5 K's per nine innings rate. He has experience working at the back end of the bullpen, a position the Cardinals are looking to fill this offseason. MLBTR projected him to be tendered a contract at $4.1 million.

St. Louis could swoop in and sign him to a multi-year deal at a discounted price due to his injury this past year. While there is concern about signing a pitcher coming off Tommy John surgery, he has the track record of success that John Mozeliak is looking for.

Spencer Turnbull

Spencer Turnbull was a part of the ascendant Detroit Tigers' pitching prospect list. He, along with Tarik Skubal, Casey Mize, and Matt Manning, were supposed to be the rotation of the future. Injuries scripted a different story for those four pitchers. Turnbull has only pitched 302 innings in his 5-year career and only has one season with more than 56 innings pitched (148 in 2019). When he has been healthy, Turnbull has been an effective pitcher. He was projected to be tendered a contract worth $2.4 million.

Turnbull's career 4.55 ERA, 3.82 FIP, and 1.359 WHIP are all solid numbers, especially for a #5 starting pitcher. He has been used exclusively as a starting pitcher throughout his career. Spencer profiles as a groundball pitcher (I know, we just got rid of one of those through arbitration), and he favors his sinker and his slider. His fastball tops out around 93 MPH.

The main benefit to signing Turnbull would be to see if St. Louis can tap into something that Detroit couldn't. Spencer Turnbull definitely shouldn't be the team's flagship signing, but perhaps Busch Stadium could stifle some of the home runs he was prone to giving up last year.

Brandon Woodruff

The biggest fish of the non-tender group of players is Brandon Woodruff. Pitching is in high demand this offseason, and Woodruff joins an already stacked list of pitching free agents such as Aaron Nola, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, and Sonny Gray. In addition to these free agents, there are also rumors that Dylan Cease, Logan Gilbert, Shane Bieber, Tyler Glasnow, and even Corbin Burnes could be available through trades.

Woodruff was projected to be tendered a contract around $11.6 million this offseason by the Brewers. He is supposed to miss the entirety of the season due to a shoulder injury, but there is still a slight chance he will be able to return towards the end of the season. Milwaukee didn't see much sense in signing a pitcher to that expensive of a contract only to have him sit on the bench all year. Instead, they non-tendered him, thus making him a free agent.

The perennial Cy Young candidate has finished as high as 5th in Cy Young voting in 2021, and he has two All-Star appearances on his resume. Woodruff has a career 3.10 ERA, 3.19 FIP, 1.045 WHIP, and has averaged 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings. He has some injury concerns, especially with his recent shoulder surgery, but Woodruff pitched 179 innings as recently as 2021. He fits the mold of pitchers the Cardinals should be eyeing this offseason.

A multi-year contract is very likely for the free-agent right-handed pitcher. Given his age (30), Woodruff can command a contract around 5 or 6 years in length. Additionally, his average annual value will also be relatively high given his success as a starting pitcher. I could see a contract of around 6 years and $120 million for Woodruff. His first year of the contract will be a wash, so St. Louis could potentially backload the contract to allow more freedom for spending this offseason.

Brandon Woodruff would be a huge boost to the Cardinals' rotation for 2025 and beyond. He likely won't pitch in 2024, but it's not every day that a Cy Young candidate becomes a free agent.