The St. Louis Cardinals' back-of-roster pitching situation has turned into a revolving door, and Jared Shuster is stuck spinning through it. The lefty was designated for assignment on July 8, just weeks after St. Louis brought him back onto the 26-man roster.
MLB Trade Rumors broke the news that Shuster was designated for assignment again.
This isn't Shuster's first rodeo with the DFA paperwork this year, either. He'd already been designated for assignment and outrighted to Triple-A once before, and because he's out of minor league options, any time the Cardinals want to option him down they instead have to DFA him and hope he clears waivers. It's a clunky loop, and it's one he's now run through multiple times in a single season.
Shuster's path to St. Louis has been a long fall from where he started. Atlanta took him in the first round back in 2020, and he debuted with the Braves in 2023 to some hype before scuffling to a 5.81 ERA in 11 starts. He got flipped to the White Sox in the Aaron Bummer deal, worked mostly out of the bullpen in Chicago, then got lost on waivers to Oakland before landing in St. Louis's organization over the winter after the A's released him.
St. Louis's move to select Shuster came with a corresponding DFA of Bruce Zimmermann.
That selection itself was born out of roster churn. To make room for Shuster, the Cardinals had to designate Bruce Zimmermann for assignment, essentially swapping one fringe lefty for another. And just before that swap, MLB Trade Rumors had reported St. Louis was planning to select righty Luis Gastelum, another sign the back of the bullpen has been in constant flux all summer.
The Gastelum move was reported around the same stretch as the Shuster and Zimmermann shuffle.
None of this is franchise-altering stuff, but it's a good snapshot of what life looks like for replacement-level arms trying to hang onto a 26-man spot in July. Whoever the Cardinals plug in next, don't get too attached, because at this rate there's another transaction wire hit coming before the ice in the clubhouse cooler even melts.