5 things the St. Louis Cardinals should do this offseason

4. Cut ties with Andrew Knizner

Poor Andrew Knizner. He’s just the latest of seemingly a million catchers who have been stuck behind Yadier Molina for most of their careers, furiously jumping on the scraps of playing time that they receive. But Knizner was able to cobble together 185 plate appearances this year, helped by Molina having to miss a couple games and getting a rest in the last couple meaningless games before the postseason.

Unfortunately, in Knizner’s largest sample of playing time to date, he didn’t inspire much confidence. An average of .174 and a slugging percentage at a microscopic .236 show that he either needs more playing time than the Cardinals can afford to give him, or he just isn’t cut out to be a big league hitter. True, the offensive production among catchers tends to be awfully meager, but a starting catcher should be able to hit at least over the Mendoza Line.

Ivan Herrera has inherited the throne from Knizner as “catcher of the future,” and while Herrera’s prospect star dimmed a bit this year, he still has the tools to be a solid backstop. I don’t see the Cardinals being able to get anyone meaningful for Knizner, so they should do the humane thing and let him run free into the wild open savanna, where any team can give him another shot.