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

#2 Marcell Ozuna

Marcell Ozuna was one of the most disappointing players of 2018 in my mind and 2019 thus far has only made that disappointment more prevalent. Ozuna’s tenure with the Cardinals as well as the next player was something I discussed in my ‘5 bold predictions’ piece here back during Spring Training, and the trends I referenced there have only gotten worse in 2019.

Discipline is something that the St. Louis Cardinals (as all teams do) value in their players, and when you unpack everything that is happening with Ozuna, there seems to lie the issue. Ozuna has not remained disciplined in fixing his bum shoulder that has nagged him since before the Cardinals have signed him. That has resulted in him not only being worse at the plate (strike one), but has led him to lose all fear any other teams had of his throwing arm (strike two).

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If you look back at videos of Ozuna throwing while he was a member of the Marlins versus a throw from this season, Ozuna looks like a completely different player. Check it out here.

The other result of Ozuna’s lack of discipline has been a bit of weight gain. Weight gain isn’t always a bad thing, but in Ozuna’s case, he has gone from a plus defender to a liability that struggles to move around out in left field. During Spring and now the Regular season, there have been multiple balls that have gotten past Ozuna that should’ve been cut off or caught. It’s embarrassing.

It’s safe to say the Cardinals won’t have any interest in bringing back Ozuna this winter as he is a free agent, but I am not ashamed to argue that this fractured relationship will lead to Ozuna being moved for whatever the Cardinals can get for him by the trade deadline. The Cardinals have too many outfielders, young or experienced, to let an out of shape, noodle-armed player continue to roam the outfield if he does not produce at the plate, something he hasn’t done in 2019.

Even if Ozuna does turn it around offensively, something I would expect he would do, I would love to see the team flip him as a rental regardless.

#1 Adam Wainwright

This is the player that makes me the saddest to predict, but one that I think makes the most sense. Adam Wainwright deserves a ton of praise as a leader and a star pitcher who had a fantastic career. That is undisputed. The problem is that he isn’t that player anymore and he is going to be the last one to admit that.

If we are being honest, Wainwright has not been a quality starting pitcher since 2015. Starting in 2016, Waino has put up an ERA+ of 88, 83, and 88 in 2018. Now, he averaged about 86 on his fastball and struggled to throw strikes in his first start of 2019. I am going to give him a pass for that because it was 37 degrees and it was his first start after a solid Spring, but again from my five bold predictions article, I predicted Adam Wainwright was going to crash and burn this year.

For at least the last 2 years, Waino has stuck around on reputation after his great career, not because of how good he was. This year, I believe his time is just about up and that he will retire before the year is done. The team has too many good young pitchers that could outperform Waino.

Some of you may disagree with this list, some may think I really am overreacting to the way this season has started, but in all honesty, If the St. Louis Cardinals moved on from these five players and replaced them even with players they already have on the roster and they will perform better.

Adam Wainwright is going to be the hardest player to let go out of all of these because of the history he has with the team, but he very well could be the most necessary. Brett Cecil and Dexter Fowler would already be gone if they didn’t have the contracts they are owed, and Ozuna and Mayers could be replaced with better options.