St. Louis Cardinals: 30 worst players in team history

Oct 12, 2014; St. Louis, MO, USA; San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Sergio Romo (left) and catcher Buster Posey (right) walk off the field after the game-winning home run by St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong during the 9th inning in game two of the 2014 NLCS playoff baseball game at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

#2 Jack Ryan C

I almost didn’t include Ryan on this list due to him playing so long ago. However, at the beginning of this project, I set a goal to include everyone from 1900-2015. So, Ryan fits those parameters, just barely, as he played for the Cardinals from 1901-1903 with the Cardinals.

In Ryan’s three seasons as a Cardinal he was exceptionally bad, as he finishes second behind Hector Cruz in worst fWAR among position players at -2.2 fWAR for his three seasons as a Cardinal. Where Ryan’s negative value mostly comes from is his offense, where he slashed a .203/.226/.251 with a 42 wRC+ which is the worst wRC+ of all position players with 500 plate appearances or more.

Another representation for how awful Ryan’s offense was, is his offensive value, which rated him being worth -63.4 runs above average over his 850 plate appearances. Like most on this list, Ryan didn’t have a very good career on the base paths either, having a base running worth of -2.2 runs above average.

Ryan did have a decent career behind the plate on defense, as he was worth 9.8 runs above average for his career. Had it not been for that his fWAR would have been higher and he could be on top of this list. However, Ryan is still the worst position player to ever play for the St. Louis Cardinals in my opinion.

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