MLB Trade Rumors confirmed Tuesday night that Scott Blewett has exercised the opt-out clause in his minor league contract with the Cardinals, walking away from the organization rather than riding out the rest of the season buried in Memphis.
MLB Trade Rumors broke the news of Blewett's opt-out.
This one's been building for a while. Blewett signed a minor league deal with St. Louis back on November 24, 2025, and actually made a real push for a bullpen job this spring, posting a 1.50 ERA with a 1.17 WHIP and a 7-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 6 Grapefruit League innings as a non-roster invitee. It wasn't enough. The Cardinals reassigned him to minor league camp before Opening Day, and he ended up pitching out of the Memphis Redbirds' bullpen instead, mixed into combined outings alongside prospects like Tink Hence and Ian Bedell.
That's the exact scenario opt-out clauses exist for. Minor league contracts routinely carve out a window where a veteran can force the issue if a big-league promotion never materializes -- either the team calls him up and adds him to the 40-man, or he's free to test the market elsewhere. With the deadline approaching and clubs desperate for bullpen arms, Blewett clearly liked his odds better as a free agent than as organizational filler in Memphis.
The 30-year-old right-hander has bounced around plenty already -- Kansas City drafted him in the second round back in 2014, and he's since gotten MLB looks with the Royals, Braves, Orioles and Twins, never quite sticking anywhere for long. That journeyman path is exactly why this kind of move matters more than it looks: for a guy like Blewett, opt-out season is the whole ballgame.
For the Cardinals, it's a minor subtraction, but not a nothing one. St. Louis has been picking through bullpen depth all year looking for the next find, and every arm that opts out for a fresh shot elsewhere is one less name in the pipeline heading into a stretch where relief pitching gets scooped up fast. Don't be shocked if Blewett resurfaces on another 40-man within days -- teams are always hunting for a 6-foot-6 arm with a track record of missing bats when big-league bullpens are running thin in July.