Scott Blewett triggers an opt-out test for the Cardinals’ bullpen depth

Scott Blewett has exercised an opt-out clause in his minor league contract, a move that puts a ticking clock on the St. Louis Cardinals’ 40-man planning and bullpen depth. Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, as relayed by MLB Trade Rumors, reports that St. Louis must decide whether to add Blewett to its MLB roster or grant him his release. The immediate baseball question is straightforward, what the Cardinals do with a reliever who has already spent the season at Triple-A.

The context matters because Blewett’s season at Triple-A Memphis has kept him on the outside looking in with respect to the Cardinals’ major-league relief group. According to MLB Trade Rumors, he has been at Memphis all year. The same report notes a 5.18 earned run average across 48 2/3 innings, a workload that suggests he has been used with enough regularity to influence a parent club’s internal evaluation, even if the results have not been the kind that make a promotion inevitable.

In practice, an opt-out clause like this usually exists to protect the player’s opportunity window. For the Cardinals, it shifts an otherwise slow, end-of-season bullpen decision into something closer to an immediate roster-management problem. If the organization wants to retain Blewett’s services, it needs to make a roster move that can be tied to the team’s needs over the final stretch of the campaign. If it does not, releasing him becomes the clean alternative that ends the contract’s remaining leverage.

The Cardinals’ roster decision is also shaped by the nature of MLB relief pitching in July and August. Even without discussing any specific injuries or transactional chain reaction, clubs typically weigh bullpen availability against the opportunity cost of using space on the 40-man roster. A reliever promotion can be about immediate need, but it can also be a way to preserve roster flexibility for whatever comes next. An opt-out clause compresses that evaluation timeline.

For Blewett, the opt-out also underscores a broader career reality for minor league relievers. Being assigned to Triple-A for an entire season often means a player is on the cusp but not yet fully embedded in the major-league plan. The 48 2/3-inning sample at Memphis, along with the reported 5.18 ERA, becomes the evidence St. Louis will rely on when determining whether his stuff and command translate well enough for late-season MLB usage.

Beyond the roster mechanics, there is the question of what “adding him” would actually look like for St. Louis. The organization could choose to promote Blewett for bullpen depth, potentially as a multi-inning option or setup coverage. Alternatively, it could determine that his season results do not match what the Cardinals want to lean on in higher-leverage outings, leading to the release path and an opportunity for Blewett elsewhere.

What to watch next is whether the Cardinals’ front office treats this as a retention move or a clear break. If St. Louis adds him to the MLB roster, it would likely be announced as part of the team’s day-to-day roster updates. If not, Blewett’s opt-out could quickly change the market for pitching depth, with other organizations able to pursue him after his contract is ended.

Because the reporting here centers on a reported opt-out and a reported organizational decision framework, there may be additional details once St. Louis makes its official move. Until then, the only certainty is the choice that the opt-out forces, keep Blewett on the major-league side by adding him to the roster, or let him go by granting his release.