St. Louis Cardinals: 30 worst players in team history

Jun 20, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Pete Kozma (38) leans on the batting cage prior to a game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

#30 Pete Kozma

The most popular yet  ineffective Cardinal of all time will be remembered for his insane month of production in 2012 near the end of the season and a memorable two run hit against the Washington Nationals in the National League Divisional Series.

Kozma compiled a .952 OPS in 26 games and 72 at bats in 2012. Extremely small sample size but the man turned on a freakish ability to collect hits at a great time for the Birds. It wasn’t until 2013 where Kozma put together one of the worst all time offensive seasons for a Cardinal.

He started over 140 games and in 410 at bats his OPS was .548. He had 20 doubles but nothing else on offense. He was a sure out most of the season. After hitting well in small doses in 2014, he was barely used in 2015 while riding the bench soaking up a roster spot. The team didn’t want to DFA out of fear of losing his wickedly inept bat but he made it through the end of the season.

If that isn’t bad enough, Kozma finished his career with Cardinals with a woefully bad wRC+ of 58. His strong defense and hot 2012 are the only things keeping his fWAR afloat at 1.1. While he may not be the worst Cardinals’ player ever, he was pretty bad.

Kozma will take his circus show to the New York Yankees, sporting better hair than baseball ability. His defense, as talked about as it was, never approached even Brendan Ryan status and his offense generated a career oWAR of -0.5. Whenever he started, it was a sad emoji all over again.

Dan Buffa

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