ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Tuesday marked a somewhat busy day for the baseball world, from qualifying offers decision being due and the announcement of the winners for Manager of the Year in both the American and National League.
Tuesday also marked the deadline to set their 40-man rosters and protect players from the Rule 5 Draft, which is set to take place on Dec. 6, the final day of the Winter Meetings.
The St. Louis Cardinals did just that Tuesday, announcing that they have added 3 minor-league players, two of them being starting pitchers to the 40-man roster ahead of the 5 p.m. deadline.
The team announced that they added starting pitchers Sem Robberse and Adam Kloffenstein, along with catcher Pedro Pages to the 40-man roster.
In corresponding moves, left-handed pitchers Packy Naughton and Connor Thomas were outrighted to the minors and designated for assignment respectively, while the team also outrighted Wilking Rodriguez, the teams Rule-5 pick last year, but Rodriguez chose to enter free agency instead.
Robberse and Kloffenstein were both acquired by the Cardinals at the 2023 MLB Trade Deadline that sent relief pitcher Jordan Hicks to the Toronto Blue Jays. Both players had different seasons after being acquired by the Cardinals, with Kloffenstein having a career season, pitching a career-best 128 innings across Triple-A and Double-A and posting an overall ERA of 3.16 in the minors, while Robberse had some struggles, posting a overall 4.28 ERA in the minors, including pitching a 4.84 ERA in Triple-A Memphis after being traded.
Robberse and Kloffenstein were very likely to be protected by the Cardinals ahead of the Rule-5 Draft, and it was very unlikely the team would've let two pitchers they just acquired to be eligible to be taken away so fast.
Pages was also likely to be protected too, after posting an .806 OPS and hitting 16 home runs in Double-A Springfield. However, with the Cardinals set to have four catchers on the 40-man roster at the moment, Pages inclusion could potentially spell the end of catcher Andrew Knizner's tenure who is eligible for his second year of arbitration and projected to make $2.6 million.
One name that wasn't added to the team's 40-man roster was pitcher Ian Bedell. Bedell had faced some injuries troubles to start his career in the Cardinals minor-league system, only pitching 8.1 innings to begin his professional career, but the former Mizzou pitcher was able to stay healthy in 2023, pitching a good 2.44 ERA in 98 innings in High-A Peoria.
Bedell being unprotected could mean his time with the Cardinals is coming to an end, even though it is unlikely a team would pick him during the major league portion of the draft.