This story was excerpted from Will Leitch's Cardinals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

There were just a few days left in 2026 Spring Training when Cardinals prospect Cade McGee was given another task on his already busy plate. The utility infielder often joked with catching coordinator Ethan Goforth about getting behind the plate. The joke eventually became a reality.

This story was excerpted from Will Leitch's Cardinals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

MLB Pipeline's latest Top 100 Prospects list is full of youth. That’s always the case when it comes to Minor League players, but that’s especially true currently. Of the top 25 players ranked, 17 are not legally allowed to drink yet in the United States (under 21) and eight are

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Tai Peete was the owner, operator and main supplier of the electric factory at Scottsdale Stadium on Monday. Here’s just some of what the Cardinals’ No. 17 prospect accomplished in Peoria’s 5-0 win over Scottsdale: a 109.4 mph leadoff double, a 112 mph third-inning triple, a fifth-inning

The 2026 Rawlings Gold Glove Award finalists were announced on Wednesday, with the winners set to be unveiled on ESPN on Sunday, Nov. 1. Each league has three finalists at each position, including the utility spot, which was awarded for the first time in 2022.

This page will be updated throughout the offseason to reflect the team’s latest transactions and any injury updates. As a reminder, players can remain on the 60-day IL through the World Series, after which teams must account for those players on their 40-man roster.

You can only make one first impression. Organizations handle recent Draft picks in all sorts of ways. Sometimes, they’ll hold them back for lighter work at the Spring Training complex, work that continues into fall instructs or bridge-league play. Sometimes, they’ll push them out to an affiliate to get their

The most important thing for prospects is development: learning how to be a professional, acquiring new skills, sharpening tools or pitches. There often can be bumps in the road along the path to the big leagues, and it's important to note that performance and production in the moment isn't necessarily

It is one thing to say you are embracing a youth movement and another thing to have 13 different players make their MLB debut for your team in a single season. That’s what the Cardinals did in 2026. A truly stunning 13 different guys took their first MLB plate appearance

The 34th annual Arizona Fall League season is underway, and you can watch top prospects from all 30 MLB organizations throughout October and November as AFL matchups are once again streaming for free on both MLB.com (here and on the AFL site) and MLB.TV. All but five games of the

This story was excerpted from Will Leitch's Cardinals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

TUCSON, Ariz. -- It was Thomas Wolfe who popularized the claim that you can't go home again with his 1940 novel. Jon Bon Jovi argued against that thesis 65 years later with his song "Who Says You Can't Go Home?" The Arizona Fall League clearly falls in the New Jersey

The Minor League season may be over, but that doesn't mean the prospect action has stopped. The Arizona Fall League began its 34th iteration on Oct. 3, giving many of the game's future stars a platform to put their skills on display. Each week, we'll recap the circuit's top performers.

Last week, MLB Pipeline revealed its selections for Minor League Hitting Prospect of the Year and Minor League Pitching Prospect of the Year during the 2026 MiLB Awards Show on MLB Network. Brewers corner infielder Andrew Fischer won hitting honors after swatting 48 homers, the most in the Minors since

Rookies -- and big names at that -- made their impacts felt in 2026. Eighteen of the first 25 players ranked on MLB Pipeline's preseason Top 100 Prospects list appeared in the big leagues, and many of them had seasons worthy of hardware. There were eye-catching debuts, massive extensions, All-Star

St. Louis' Double-A affiliate, established in 2005 as the Springfield Cardinals, unveiled its new identity on Tuesday evening. The Ozarks Springbirds era has arrived. Springbirds general manager Dan Reiter, a member of the Missouri-based Texas League team's front office since its inception, said that the rebrand set out to accomplish

The Cardinals farm system was defined by its depth, built up through positive development from stars in the system, breakouts galore, a strong 2026 Draft class and notable Trade Deadline acquisitions. But when considering how to rank a system that felt like it was growing in talent by the month,

The Minor League playoffs have been completed. There are only a handful of players with prospect eligibility remaining left in the Major League postseason, and there will be fewer with each passing round. Time for us in prospectdom to go into offseason mode? Not so fast, friends. The Arizona Fall

ST. LOUIS -- A year ago, on the heels of a 78-84 campaign, as Cardinals Nation acclimated to a long-anticipated shift in the leadership of the baseball operations department, Chaim Bloom told fans what was coming. A winter sell-off saw the payroll evaporate as mainstay contributors were subtracted from the

Just as Tai Peete earned the promotion to Double-A Springfield on Aug. 4, another opportunity came his way. Cardinals Minor League outfield coordinator Ryan Ludwick approached Peete (Cards’ No. 17 prospect per MLB Pipeline) and told him the organization wanted him to play in the Arizona Fall League. As Ludwick

The 2026 Minor League season was one for the record books … literally. Across the Minors, dozens of exclusive statistical clubs were infiltrated by this year's crop of young stars. The Brewers' Andrew Fischer mashed 48 regular-season homers, the most in MiLB since 1982, (and two in the postseason). A

Action in the Arizona Fall League kicked off over the weekend with a full slate of games, with big names already turning heads. While a lot of attention is understandably given to the high-profile prospects -- the late additions of Sebastian Walcott, Aidan Miller and Angeibel Gomez created some fun