St. Louis Cardinals: 5 players who shouldn’t be on the team at year’s end

#5 Mike Mayers

Mike Mayers has had a great story of making it in the Majors. When he started his MLB career, it was about the worst start I have ever seen. Against the Dodgers in 2016, Mayers threw 1.1 innings and gave up 9 earned runs. From there, Mayers has made a name for himself as a solid relief arm after regaining his confidence pitching from the bullpen for the last couple years.

That being said, he is out of minor league options and in my opinion, there are better options in the minors. While his 2.61 Spring ERA this year was great, his career 6.96 ERA in the majors is not very confidence inspiring. If the Cardinals have any pitchers that are lighting it up in the minors, he would be my first pick to go.

#4 Brett Cecil

Here comes the same old drum, something that may be repetitive in this article, but Brett Cecil should no longer be on the Cardinals roster. Ok-he’s not technically on it right now as he is technically on the 60-day IL with carpal tunnel syndrome, but I believe Rotoworld.com has said it best, “His four-year, $30.5 million free agent deal with St. Louis has been a borderline disaster.”

I wrote at the beginning of Spring how his losing weight was a great thing, and then again how his time was running out when he continually had reasons why he wasn’t performing. Now, I’m fully aboard the ‘cut Cecil’ train. There has been absolutely zero reasons why Brett Cecil, healthy or not, should replace any of the young guys or current players. The only reason he is still around is because of his contract. Cut him loose.

#3 Dexter Fowler

Dexter Fowler is sitting in a very similar spot as Cecil. I came into 2019 with an open mind about Fowler and the will to give him another chance even though his 2018 season was so bad (-1.4 WAR, .180 BA). That being said, I believe he shouldn’t be on the roster by the end of the season. Why? Because Fowler has been all talk and zero walk in 2019. Spring and Regular season together, he has not shown any progress from the player he was last year.

At the end of Spring, Fowler (an OBP guy for his career) was hitting .200 with just a .231 OBP and two homers he hit in one game during the last week of Spring. So far in the Regular season? Two hits in 17 plate appearances (.167 BA).

Ironically, what Fowler has done this regular season is take walks, he has a .412 OBP thanks to four walks, but walks can’t save Fowler’s numbers and can’t save him from the ax in my opinion. It would be different if Fowler had killed it in Spring, or had come out on fire in the Regular season, but so far, both Spring Training and the Regular season have looked just like 2018. Swallow the money and move on.