May deal terms officially announced

[craviduce]

Welcome, Dustin May.

R.I.P. Matt Koperniak

You'll be missed. I think he'll get claimed.

[RunSup]

Welcome, Dustin May.

R.I.P. Matt Koperniak

You'll be missed. I think he'll get claimed.

Koperniak's DFA was inevitable. Matt we hardly knew you.

Long live Nathan Church as a Cardinal, ... at least for another year.

[82birds]

Welcome, Dustin May.

R.I.P. Matt Koperniak

You'll be missed. I think he'll get claimed.

Koperniak's DFA was inevitable. Matt we hardly knew you.

Long live Nathan Church as a Cardinal, ... at least for another year.

Koperniak, 28 in February, has been with the Cards since signing with them as an undrafted free agent in 2020.

He spent 2025 back at Triple-A on optional assignment and his results backed up. His home run tally dropped to 14, despite taking 23 extra plate appearances. His BABIP dropped to a more average-ish .283. He finished the season with a .246/.317/.382 line and 85 wRC+.

The Cards are rebuilding and will be giving playing time to younger players in 2026 but Koperniak wouldn’t have been at the front of the line after that performance.

[cardstatman]

The new face of the franchise has been signed. Cardinals 2026 marketing slogan: Come and see your Cardinals players be "dust in May"!

May has 6.059 years of service time and will be 28 in 2026.
He has never delivered more than $10.1M in value in any season so far.
So this is the Cardinals paying May $12.5M to be what he's never been before.

If he is successful for the 1st time, he will decline his option and leave as a free agent.
If he fails for the 7th consecutive time, they wasted $12.5M on a pitcher who has managed to throw more than 56 IP only once.

Fits with the Gorman/Walker theme of hoping for a dramatic turnaround.

[RunSup]

The new face of the franchise has been signed. Cardinals 2026 marketing slogan: Come and see your Cardinals players be "dust in May"!

May has 6.059 years of service time and will be 28 in 2026.
He has never delivered more than $10.1M in value in any season so far.
So this is the Cardinals paying May $12.5M to be what he's never been before.

If he is successful for the 1st time, he will decline his option and leave as a free agent.
If he fails for the 7th consecutive time, they wasted $12.5M on a pitcher who has managed to throw more than 56 IP only once.

Fits with the Gorman/Walker theme of hoping for a dramatic turnaround.

May is here to pitch innings in 2026 and let other arms develop in AAA. The team needs arms.

If the Cardinals stink and May is good they can trade him at the deadline.

If May is worthy they can work to extend him. Health risk accepted. Just don't eat salad.

[Ozziesfan41]

The new face of the franchise has been signed. Cardinals 2026 marketing slogan: Come and see your Cardinals players be "dust in May"!

May has 6.059 years of service time and will be 28 in 2026.
He has never delivered more than $10.1M in value in any season so far.
So this is the Cardinals paying May $12.5M to be what he's never been before.

If he is successful for the 1st time, he will decline his option and leave as a free agent.
If he fails for the 7th consecutive time, they wasted $12.5M on a pitcher who has managed to throw more than 56 IP only once.

Fits with the Gorman/Walker theme of hoping for a dramatic turnaround.

If he’s successful he gets traded at the deadline for prospects

[Melville]

Welcome, Dustin May.

R.I.P. Matt Koperniak

You'll be missed. I think he'll get claimed.

Probably.

[ScotchMIrish]

Thx strummer

I could get burned by this but I think May could be a huge surprise in 2026 as long a she stays healthy.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... du01.shtml

Looking at his numbers I'd say walks are a little high consider the strikeout numbers. Pitched 6 innings 11 times in 23 starts in 2025. Ceiling probably a #3 starter but the big if obviously is staying healthy.

[icon]

Thx strummer

I could get burned by this but I think May could be a huge surprise in 2026 as long a she stays healthy.

I don’t think there is anybody who doesn’t think he’ll pitch pretty well, if he’s healthy. But that is the BIG question!
Will he stay healthy enough to justify 12.5 million dollars. If he’s healthy, it’s a steal, but hasn’t been to date.
The Cardinals aren’t going to spend a lot of money on next year’s team, we all know they can afford to, but they’re not going to do it. So, what little money they are willing to spend, they just spent 12.5 mil of it on a big risk. This move really looks a lot like something Mo would do. Based a move on a hope and a prayer. Let’s hope Bloom has better luck at it than Mo did.

Yeah, his 2025 season ended with a forearm issue. I'm assuming he passed a physical for this contract?

[cardstatman]

The new face of the franchise has been signed. Cardinals 2026 marketing slogan: Come and see your Cardinals players be "dust in May"!

May has 6.059 years of service time and will be 28 in 2026.
He has never delivered more than $10.1M in value in any season so far.
So this is the Cardinals paying May $12.5M to be what he's never been before.

If he is successful for the 1st time, he will decline his option and leave as a free agent.
If he fails for the 7th consecutive time, they wasted $12.5M on a pitcher who has managed to throw more than 56 IP only once.

Fits with the Gorman/Walker theme of hoping for a dramatic turnaround.

May is here to pitch innings in 2026 and let other arms develop in AAA. The team needs arms.

If the Cardinals stink and May is good they can trade him at the deadline.

If May is worthy they can work to extend him. Health risk accepted. Just don't eat salad.

Pitching innings has not been his area of strength.

[icon]

The new face of the franchise has been signed. Cardinals 2026 marketing slogan: Come and see your Cardinals players be "dust in May"!

May has 6.059 years of service time and will be 28 in 2026.
He has never delivered more than $10.1M in value in any season so far.
So this is the Cardinals paying May $12.5M to be what he's never been before.

If he is successful for the 1st time, he will decline his option and leave as a free agent.
If he fails for the 7th consecutive time, they wasted $12.5M on a pitcher who has managed to throw more than 56 IP only once.

Fits with the Gorman/Walker theme of hoping for a dramatic turnaround.

Yeah, this is a major c*** shoot. We shall see soon enough.

[82birds]

The new face of the franchise has been signed. Cardinals 2026 marketing slogan: Come and see your Cardinals players be "dust in May"!

May has 6.059 years of service time and will be 28 in 2026.
He has never delivered more than $10.1M in value in any season so far.
So this is the Cardinals paying May $12.5M to be what he's never been before.

If he is successful for the 1st time, he will decline his option and leave as a free agent.
If he fails for the 7th consecutive time, they wasted $12.5M on a pitcher who has managed to throw more than 56 IP only once.

Fits with the Gorman/Walker theme of hoping for a dramatic turnaround.

"dust in May"
that's funny

[ScotchMIrish]

The new face of the franchise has been signed. Cardinals 2026 marketing slogan: Come and see your Cardinals players be "dust in May"!

May has 6.059 years of service time and will be 28 in 2026.
He has never delivered more than $10.1M in value in any season so far.
So this is the Cardinals paying May $12.5M to be what he's never been before.

If he is successful for the 1st time, he will decline his option and leave as a free agent.
If he fails for the 7th consecutive time, they wasted $12.5M on a pitcher who has managed to throw more than 56 IP only once.

Fits with the Gorman/Walker theme of hoping for a dramatic turnaround.

Yeah, this is a major c*** shoot. We shall see soon enough.

The money in baseball astounds me. $12.5 million for a pitcher with chronic health issues.

[AnExParrot]

The new face of the franchise has been signed. Cardinals 2026 marketing slogan: Come and see your Cardinals players be "dust in May"!

May has 6.059 years of service time and will be 28 in 2026.
He has never delivered more than $10.1M in value in any season so far.
So this is the Cardinals paying May $12.5M to be what he's never been before.

If he is successful for the 1st time, he will decline his option and leave as a free agent.
If he fails for the 7th consecutive time, they wasted $12.5M on a pitcher who has managed to throw more than 56 IP only once.

Fits with the Gorman/Walker theme of hoping for a dramatic turnaround.

Why would you consider the whole 12.5 mil wasted, is he not going to pitch in a single game in your scenario?

[AnExParrot]

The new face of the franchise has been signed. Cardinals 2026 marketing slogan: Come and see your Cardinals players be "dust in May"!

May has 6.059 years of service time and will be 28 in 2026.
He has never delivered more than $10.1M in value in any season so far.
So this is the Cardinals paying May $12.5M to be what he's never been before.

If he is successful for the 1st time, he will decline his option and leave as a free agent.
If he fails for the 7th consecutive time, they wasted $12.5M on a pitcher who has managed to throw more than 56 IP only once.

Fits with the Gorman/Walker theme of hoping for a dramatic turnaround.

Yeah, this is a major c*** shoot. We shall see soon enough.

The money in baseball astounds me. $12.5 million for a pitcher with chronic health issues.

Despite spending most of his career throwing fewer than 130 innings per season, Blake Snell got an AAV north of 36 mil for 5 years. That's why Dustin May gets 12.5 mil.

[sikeston bulldog2]

The new face of the franchise has been signed. Cardinals 2026 marketing slogan: Come and see your Cardinals players be "dust in May"!

May has 6.059 years of service time and will be 28 in 2026.
He has never delivered more than $10.1M in value in any season so far.
So this is the Cardinals paying May $12.5M to be what he's never been before.

If he is successful for the 1st time, he will decline his option and leave as a free agent.
If he fails for the 7th consecutive time, they wasted $12.5M on a pitcher who has managed to throw more than 56 IP only once.

Fits with the Gorman/Walker theme of hoping for a dramatic turnaround.

"dust in May"
that's funny

I got pieces of April. I keep them in a memory bouquet. I got pieces of April. But it’s a morning in - May.