The 2026 Major League Baseball offseason has officially begun and it's going to be an interesting one for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Last offseason, it was Chaim Bloom's first one leading the organization as the president of baseball operations. There were a lot of moving parts and the Cardinals fully leaned into the idea of a rebuild by trading Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray, Brendan Donovan and Nolan Arenado. This winter, the Cardinals don't have the same veteran capital to trade away. On top of the trades last offseason, the Cardinals made a few smaller-scale moves in free agency as well, like signing Dustin May and Ramon Urias, among others.

With the World Series over and the offseason here, here is our first 2027 Opening Day roster projection for the Cardinals — before free agency begins.

Position Players

Catcher (2)

Leo Bernal, Pedro Pages

Arguably, the three-catcher experiment should be over. Ivan Herrera isn't great defensively, or at least hasn't been to this point in his career. If he doesn't take a big step forward this winter, the Cardinals should simply roll with Bernal, who will be the go-to guy to begin 2027, and a backup. In this case, we have Pages here. If Herrera is better defensively, it could be him in this spot. Or even Jimmy Crooks. But, for now, a Bernal and Pages tandem is very realistic.

Infielders (6)

Alec Burleson, JJ Wetherholt, Masyn Winn, Blaze Jordan, Thomas Saggese, Jose Fermin

Third base is the only real question for the Cardinals' infield. In this scenario, rather than adding, we stuck with what St. Louis has. Both Blaze Jordan and Thomas Saggese can play the position. Eventually, Jesus Baez is going to be ready. He'll have a real shot at the spot when he's ready.

Outfielders (4)

Jordan Walker, Joshua Baez, Nathan Church, Victor Scott II

No surprises here. Walker and Baez will have the corners and Church and Scott will duke it out for center field.

Designated Hitter (1)

Ivan Herrera

No surprises here as well.

Pitchers

Starters (5)

Kyle Leahy, Michael McGreevy, Andre Pallante, Quinn Mathews, Jordan Montgomery

In this scenario, Matthew Liberatore is no longer in the starting rotation. Instead, Mathews will be in it from the beginning of the season and the Cardinals could add a veteran. Old friend Jordan Montgomery would be a perfect fit.

Bullpen (8)

Riley O'Brien, Gordon Graceffo, Justin Bruihl, Luis Gastelum, Cooper Hjerpe, Ryan Fernandez, Jonathan Loaisiga, Matthew Liberatore

Liberatore moves to the bullpen in this scenario, as well as one big addition in Loaisiga. The bullpen drastically needs help.