Story byJohn LathamSat, January 17, 2026 at 11:45 AM UTC·9 min readWith the Nolan Arenado trade in the books, the Cardinals roster is coming into focus. While we are likely to see a few more transactions before the buses roll into Jupiter, this feels like a good time to give a zoomed-out look at the 40-man roster and the upper-minors depth. Regardless of what happens with Brendan Donovan and JoJo Romero before spring training, 2026 will be a year with a significant amount of roster churn as Chaim Bloom and the front office sort through a roster full of unproven players and a top farm system with a number of significant players set to graduate. I think the term “runway” has been retired by the Cardinals marketing team, but it may actually be more relevant now than at any point in 2025.
