Cardinals release Matt Koperniak

Fernandez made 32 relief appearances for the Cardinals as a rookie last season and will open the year back in the minors as extra organizational depth. Naughton is one of the more prominent names here as he figures to be an option for St. Louis in middle relief at some point during the year. Jordan is a power-hitting corner infield prospect with some thunder in his bat and could wind up getting a look at some point later this season.

Koperniak was designated for assignment on Wednesday to free up a spot on the Cardinals’ 40-man roster for Dustin May. He’ll remain on the big league side of camp in spring training where he’ll compete for a spot on the Opening Day roster. Koperniak hit .246/.317/.382 with 14 long balls and 65 RBI in 536 plate appearances at Triple-A Memphis in 2025.

Koperniak gets removed from the 40-man roster to make room for Dustin May. The 27-year-old will hit the waiver wire, and a team that believes he can provide some outfield help in 2026 could put in a claim.

It’s been a rough season for Koperniak, who was added to the Cardinals’ 40-man roster last winter, but this will help. He has three homers in two days to improve to .230/.288/.360 with eight homers in 75 games overall. That .648 OPS is still down more than 200 points from last year’s mark of .882 at the same level. Barring a strong finish, he’ll probably be dropped from the 40-man at the end of the year.

As we head into the final days of spring training, you’re going to see every club trim down their roster like this. The Cardinals now have just 31 players remaining in big league camp. Saggese’s best chance of making the Opening Day roster was for the Cardinals to trade Nolan Arenado, but as that still hasn’t happened he’ll be ticketed for Triple-A Memphis to start the 2025 campaign.

Hence is arguably the highest profile prospect, especially from a fantasy persepctive, that needed to be added to a 40-man roster ahead of Tuesday’s reserve list deadline to protect him from next month’s Rule 5 Draft. the dynamic 22-year-old righty made significant strides last year in the upper minors, flashing some of the best stuff of any prospect in baseball, posting a stellar 2.71 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 109/26 K/BB ratio across 79 2/3 innings (20 starts) for Double-A Memphis. He’ll open next season on the doorstep of the majors and figures to force his way to St. Louis at some point.

Koperniak, 26, hit .287/.362/.437 between Double- and Triple-A last season. The outfielder was born in London and played for Great Britain in the WBC last year. He’s not really viewed much of a prospect, but he could be a stopgap for the Cardinals if injuries strike this year.