Let's preview the St. Louis Cardinals for 2026 up next on Fantasy Baseball today.

Welcome to On the Beat hour mini team preview series here at Fantasy Baseball today.

I am Frank Sample joined by Jeff Jones, who covers the St. Louis Cardinals for the Belleville News Democrat.

Make sure to give him a follow on X at J.M. Jones and on Blue Sky at jm Jones.com.combe.

Let's start with the Cardinals offseason here.

Heim Bloom is in and it kind of feels like they're tearing things down a little bit.

They traded sunny gray to the Red Sox for Richard Fitz.

Brandon Clark, a player to be named later.

They traded Wilson Contreras also to the Red Sox for Hunter Dobbins and two prospects.

They recently traded Dolan Aronado to the debacks for right-handed pitcher Jack Martinez,

essentially a salary dump there. They signed Dustin May to a one-year deal. They signed

Reliever Ryan Stannick to a one-year deal as well. And as of recording, this, it sounds like they're still listening to offers for

Brendan Donovan. I myself would bank on him being traded before spring training or maybe before

the season starts. But 2026 could be a bit of a rough one. They look like they have their eye on

the future. Lots of interesting prospects coming as well. What do you think about this offseason so far and the direction of the Cardinals moving forward?

Yeah, you know, High Bloom is in and everyone else seemingly is out.

I think that when the Cardinals went into this winter, they were committed to at least

choosing a direction and going that way. And they have been pretty forthright about what that

looks like and sort of what they need to do to get there. You know, other than Buildewitt Jr., sort of in a kind of funny moment from the fan fest over the weekend, pointing out that, well, he wouldn't call it a rebuild. He would call it a build, which, hey, you know, he signs the checks, I guess. But, you know, it's been a decided winner of direction. It has been a

winner where it's very clear that they are not putting competitive success in the short term

ahead of whatever they might build for the long term. And they seem willing, ready to accept

the consequences of that. You know, it's been a couple generations here in St. Louis since we've

...