OF Tommy Pham - Pittsburgh Pirates, one year, $4.025 million
Tommy Pham has been a journeyman for most of his career, but he started his career off with the Cardinals, and he spent some time with them again in 2024. Pham has been a fiery player throughout his career, and he's been able to play all three outfield positions relatively well. Pham finished 2024 with a .248/.305/.368 slash line, but he excelled against lefties.
Pham has played for a total of nine teams, and he adds a tenth as he seeks to reach his tenth year of service time this year, thus locking him into MLB's pension. Pham will join the Pittsburgh Pirates on a one-year deal valued at just over $4 million, and he'll likely be their starting left fielder. Pham has been one of the few offseason additions for the Pittsburgh Pirates this winter.
LHP T.J. McFarland - Athletics, one-year, $1.8 million
The (Oakland? Las Vegas? San Francisco?) Athletics re-signed left-handed reliever T.J. McFarland to a one-year deal worth $1.8 million. McFarland was a Cardinal from in 2021 and 2022, and he had an impressive first year with the club. He posted a 2.56 ERA in just over 38 innings pitched that year. T.J. has also played for the New York Mets since 2022.
McFarland had a solid year last year with the Athletics. He appeared in a major-league-leading 79 games last year in Oakland, and he'll look to repeat that output again as a lefty specialist for the A's.
C Carson Kelly - Chicago Cubs, two years, $11.5 million
Carson Kelly was another young player back in 2017 for the Cardinals, and he seemed to be the heir apparent to Yadier Molina. That didn't pan out for Kelly, and he was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks as a part of the package that landed Paul Goldschmidt. He played with the Diamondbacks through part of the 2023 season, and he is now entering his second year in free agency.
Kelly will play against a key National League Central rival next year in the Chicago Cubs, so Cardinal fans will get to see their former backstop plenty of times in 2025. He will split time with Miguel Amaya behind the plate.