St. Louis

Cardinals

The 28-year-old outfielder is working his way back from surgery on both heels and is currently going through a running progression on an altered gravity treadmill. The issue is that the Cardinals have not had one delivered to their spring complex yet, so Nootbaar will continue to rehab at home until it arrives. His availability for Opening Day remains in question.

Hopefully this ends the carousel ride that Soriano has been on this winter — going from the Marlins, to the Orioles, to the Braves, to the Nationals and now to the Cardinals as spring training begins. The 26-year-old hurler should be able to secure a middle relief role in the Cardinals’ Opening Day bullpen with a strong showing in Grapefruit League action.

The 22-year-old hurler spent the 2025 season in the Braves’ organization where he compiled a troublesome 5.86 ERA, 1.47 WHIP and a 44/28 K/BB ratio over 43 innings between Single-A Augusta and the club’s Rookie League affiliate. He’ll add organizational pitching depth for the Cardinals.

Ramos was traded to the Orioles earlier this week and then designated for assignment just a couple of days later. The 23-year-old hit .216/.309/.396 in Triple-A last season, but he posted impressive exit velocities and could get a chance at playing time on a rebuilding Cardinals team.

Saggese has a big opportunity to win a starting spot in Cardinals camp with Nolan Arenado and Brandon Donovan gone, but he’ll take a little time away in the process. Italy is looking at a lefty-heavy lineup of something like this in the WBC: CF Jakob Marsee, C Kyle Teel, 1B Vinnie Pasquantino, LF Zach Dezenzo, DH Dominic Canzone, RF Jac Caglianone, 2B Saggese, 3B Miles Mastrobuoni and SS Jon Berti. Aaron Nola and Michael Lorenzen will lead the pitching staff, with former Team USA reliever Adam Ottavino coming out of the pen.

Madris failed to appear in the majors last year for the first time 2021 and wound up hitting .238/.328/.410 in 60 games for Triple-A Toledo. The 29-year-old former Pirates prospect has hit .204/.273/.286 with two homers and two steals in 228 career MLB plate appearances.

The pick is lined up to 68th or 69th overall. Donovan was connected to Seattle all winter, and the Mariners get him arguably without including any of their top five prospects. As things stand now, he’d seem to project as their third baseman and leadoff man. However, if top prospect Cole Emerson makes a run at the third base job in spring training, Donovan could play second or left. That versatility makes him an especially nice fit in a lineup with a few question marks. Donovan hit .287/.353/.422 and made the NL All-Star team last season. He’s never been a big fantasy infielder because of his lack of homers (career high of 14 in 2024) and steals (career high of five in 2023 and ’24), and moving to Seattle doesn’t figure to help him any. Randy Arozarena could also lose some fantasy value here; he ended last year in the leadoff spot but could drop as low as fifth in the lineup now. Cole Young’s status as the favorite to start at second base is also probably a little shakier, but he’s not a mixed-league guy anyway.

Three prospects and two picks, which are set to be 68th or 69th and 72nd or 73rd overall, seems like a fair return for Donovan, who departs two years before becoming eligible for free agency. The move comes just one day after the Mariners revealed that Cijntje, the switch-pitching 2024 first-round pick, would focus on being a right-handed starter this spring and would likely be limited to throwing bullpen sessions left-handed. We’ll have to wait and see if the Cardinals feel the same way. Cijntje throws considerably harder right-handed and projects as a mid-rotation starter used traditionally. He had a 4.58 ERA in 74 2/3 innings in High-A and a 2.67 ERA in 33 2/3 innings in Double-A last year, and he’s probably still a full season away from contributing in the majors. With Donovan joining Nolan Arenado in exiting, the Cardinals now have two starting infield spots available for Nolan Gorman, José Fermín, Thomas Saggese and top prospect JJ Wetherholt. It seems likely that Gorman will get one of them against righties, no matter how little he’s done lately to deserve it.

Peete is just 20, but his second full year in the Mariners system was pretty disappointing, as he hit .217/.288/.404 with 162 strikeouts in 529 plate appearances at High-A Everett. A converted infielder, he shows plenty of speed in center, and he definitely still offers ample power potential. However, his swing-and-miss tendencies have dropped his stock.

Ledbetter, who turned 24 in November, hit .265/.337/.378 with seven homers and 37 steals in his first season in Double-A last year. He showed more power in 2024, finishing with 16 homers and a .484 slugging percentage in High-, and he’ll need that to come back in order to have a realistic chance of landing a gig as a platoon guy against righties in the majors. The Cardinals figure to put him in Triple-A this year.