Aug 28, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Chaim Bloom, Chief Baseball Officer of the Boston Red Sox on the field before the game between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images Winslow Townson-Imagn Images

Chaim Bloom’s First Big Cardinals Decisions Are Coming Soon

Originally posted on St. Louis Cardinals on SI
By Patrick McAvoy | Last updated Nov 2, 2025 10:01 AM ET

The Major League Baseball offseason officially is here and the St. Louis Cardinals will have a bit of time before they need to make their first big decisions.

For a good chunk of teams around the league, the first decisions that need to be made involve players with options in their contracts. Last year, the Cardinals had to decide whether to pick up club options for Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson, for example. That deadline is five days after the World Series, but the Cardinals don't have any players who fit that criteria this offseason.

So, for the Cardinals, the first big date to watch is Nov. 21st. That is the tender deadline. What that means is that the Cardinals have until Nov. 21st to give a contract to a player under team control with under six years of MLB service time. Clubs can also decide to non-tender players. In that scenario, the Cardinals could decide that it doesn't want to keep players under team control by not giving them a deal.

The Cardinals will have to make some decisions in the near future

Brett Davis-Imagn Images

For St. Louis, it has nine players who are arbitration-eligible: JoJo Romero, Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar, Andre Pallante, Matthew Liberatore, Jorge Alcala, Nolan Gorman, Alec Burleson, and John King. The majority of guys are in pre-arbitration, including Masyn Winn, Victor Scott II, Jordan Walker, Michael McGreevy, Iván Herrera, and Matt Svanson among many others.

The first big decisions of the offseason for the Cardinals will be who they end up non-tendering -- if anyone. Technically free agency begins five days after the World Series and teams are able to start trading, but typically, the vast majority of the transactions throughout the MLB offseason don't start to pop up until around the Winter Meetings, which start Dec. 8th.

The Cardinals don't need to worry about options, but the tender deadline will be here before you know it. The offseason is here and the clock is ticking for Chaim Bloom in his first offseason as the Cardinals' president of baseball operations.

This article first appeared on St. Louis Cardinals on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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