When the Cardinals acquired right-handed reliever George Soriano from the Nationals in a trade earlier this week, they became the 26-year-old's fifth team since early November.
Soriano began the off-season with the Marlins, then had brief stays with Baltimore, Atlanta and Washington before landing with the Cardinals last week.
In those previous stops prior to last week's deal, Soriano had been claimed off waivers in each case. So, from the perspective of those respective clubs, with regard to Soriano, he was a mere flier for which they didn't have to give up anything to take a chance on him.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
But St. Louis didn't get Soriano for free—it traded an actual contributor from their big-league bullpen to get him.
Andre Granillo produced a 4.71 ERA in 21 MLB innings last year and etched his name into baseball history when he became the first MLB pitcher ever to save one game and win another on the same day. But seeing Soriano available after the Nationals sent him to waivers—his fourth time on waivers in a three-month span—the Cardinals pounced, giving up Granillo to get him.
For every other organization that got their hands on Soriano this winter, he was easy come, easy go. So why did the Cardinals cough up a player with recent production and roster flexibility (two minor-league options remaining) to land Soriano instead of simply claiming him like everyone else did?
The answer is simple: They tried.
The Cardinals won 78 games in 2025, putting them at a lower priority in the waiver order compared to each of the teams that held Soriano for various points of the winter. Baltimore won 75 games, Atlanta won 76, and Washington won 66.
When asked by Belleville News-Democrat reporter Jeff Jones on Thursday whether the Cardinals had submitted prior claims on Soriano but had simply fallen victim to their place in the waiver order, Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom confirmed that was the case.
"We did,” Bloom said, grinning while expressing skepticism over whether he was meant to answer that question so candidly. “I don't know if I'm supposed to say that, but I think it’s okay."
So there you have it. While it might have been ideal for the Cardinals to get Soriano for free just like everybody else, their win total from 2025 kept preventing it from happening up until the point that the Cardinals decided to circumvent the waiver process and orchestrate a trade with Washington.
Since Soriano was going to need a 40-man spot, anyway, the Cardinals traded Granillo and Soriano occupied his roster spot.
While time will tell if Granillo was an overpay for Soriano's services—the latter posted an 8.35 ERA during his time in the majors last season—at least we now know why the Cardinals were the first team all winter to actually pay something of substance to acquire him.
Soriano's lack of minor league options does put a clock on the club's decision as to whether he'll stick around in the organization beyond spring training, but clearly, the Cardinals saw something in him that they believed was worth more than a flier.