Without the heavy salaries that other teams had to consider before Wednesday's deadline to offer contracts to arbitration-eligible players, the Cardinals chose to clear spots on the roster while keeping open the possibility of re-signing at least one player set free.
The Cardinals declined to tender a contract for 2021 to reliever John Brebbia. The righthander is now a free agent.
Brebbia started a throwing program this week as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. The Cardinals have expressed an interest in re-signing Brebbia to a minor-league deal. Driving their decision was the choice to remove Brebbia from the 40-man roster at a time when they are unsure how much of the coming season he'll miss.