Before play resumes from the All-Star Break, the St. Louis Cardinals will have a decision to make about their bullpen. Four-year veteran reliever Scott Blewett exercised his opt-out clause with the Cardinals, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on Wednesday evening.
Blewett signed a minor league contract with the Cardinals back in November of last year, but did not make the major league roster out of spring training. In the first half of the season with Triple-A Memphis, Blewett had a 5.18 ERA but 63 strikeouts in 48.2 IP. The Cardinals have the option to add him to the MLB roster, or he will become a free agent.
Blewett’s Career Path
In his four years in major league baseball, Blewett has yet to appear more than 14 times for a single team.
Beginning with the Kansas City Royals and making his major league debut in 2020, he made five appearances across two seasons with the team before being sent back to the minors and bouncing between a couple of teams trying to get his career back on track.
He would return to Major League Baseball with the Minnesota Twins in 2024. Appearing in 12 games that season and two games the following season. Blewett would spend 2025 with three teams: the aforementioned Twins, the Baltimore Orioles, and the Atlanta Braves.
The right-hander made 26 appearances last year across the three teams, but with a 5.89 ERA and a WHIP of 1.421, he was granted free agency by the Orioles in September and landed with St. Louis on a minor league deal two months later.
Cardinals Options
The Cardinals’ bullpen has few solidified spots and is ranked No. 17 in baseball. They only have a few pieces they could shuffle around to give Blewett a chance.
Jojo Romero, Riley O’Brien, Ryne Stanek and George Soriano lock up four of the bullpen spots. Four spots remain a possibility, but with Justin Bruihl out of options and being one of two left-handers in the Cardinals’ bullpen, it seems unlikely that they would opt to DFA him in favor of Blewett.
That leaves Matt Svanson, Luis Gastelum, and Gordon Graceffo as the three options to send to Memphis to give Blewett a chance. Gastelum was brought up just before the break. With his performance in Memphis versus Blewett’s, it seems far-fetched that the Cardinals would send him back.
Even if the Cardinals found a suitable option to send back to the minors, they would have to create a 40-man roster spot for Blewett. With suitable options currently on the roster unfit for a DFA, it would almost have to be either Tekoah Roby or Richard Fitts. Both of whom are on the injured list.
At 30 years old and with little success in Triple-A, it is hard to see the Cardinals keeping him around at the cost of their younger arms.
4-Year MLB Veteran Exercises Opt-Out Clause From Cardinals