The St. Louis Cardinals are in the midst of what CEO Bill DeWitt Jr. termed a “period of transition.”

Longtime front office executive John Mozeliak will be replaced after this season by GM-in-waiting Chaim Bloom, a former Red Sox and Rays executive. Paul Goldschmidt signed with the Yankees, creating a void at first base.

Whether St. Louis would trade third baseman Nolan Arenado loomed as a question all spring. It is against that background that the Cardinals will try to bounce back from consecutive years missing the playoffs, the first time that has happened since the 2017-18 seasons.

They did little to upgrade the roster during the offseason, preferring instead to count on a bevy of younger talent to retrace their playoff steps from years ago, according to a preview capsule from The Associated Press.

Shortstop Masyn Wynn was an exciting revelation last season while righthander Ryan Helsley emerged as arguably the best closer in baseball, so there are reasons for optimism in St. Louis.

Their top hitters include Arenado (.272, 16 HRs, 71 RBIs), Wynn (.267, 15, 57), infielder/outfielder Brendan Donovan (.278, 14, 73), designated hitter Alec Burleson (.269, 21, 78), catcher/first baseman Willson Contreras (.262, 15, 36), outfielder Lars Nootbaar (.244, 12, 45) and catcher Ivan Herrera (.301, 5, 27).

Righthander Sonny Gray (13-9, 3.84 ERA) tops a rotation that includes right-handers Andre Pallante (8-8, 3.78), Miles Mikolas (10-11, 5.35), Erick Fedde (2-5, 3.72) and Michael McGreevy (3-0, 1.96).

Helsley (7-4, 2.04, MLB-best 49 saves and 62 games finished) anchors the bullpen, which also will feature left-handers Matthew Liberatore (3-4, 4.40) JoJo Romero (7-3, 3.36) and Steven Matz (1-2, 5.08), and right-hander Chris Roycroft (1-2, 4.19).

St. Louis will open the 2025 season at home on Thursday, March 27, against the Minnesota Twins. Game time at Busch Stadium is 4:15 p.m. EDT.

Here are the sites where you can purchase tickets and the lowest price you can grab as of 5:30 p.m. EDT on March 26.