5 free agents the St. Louis Cardinals shouldn’t bring back

Carlos Martinez

Carlos Martinez threw his last pitch for the Cardinals on July 4 and we didn’t even know it!

Martinez had a horrible outing on June 2 in Los Angeles, giving up 10 runs in the first inning. He only managed two outs in that game. For the remainder of June, he had several good outings and seemed to be turning things around. And then the calendar flipped to July.

Martinez exited the July 4 game at Colorado after 3.1 innings. He landed on the 60-day injured list with a thumb injury and that was it.

If you paid any attention to his social media, you could tell in August that baseball was the furthest thing from Martinez’s mind. There were no baseball rehab posts as he does in the offseason. He was living his best life in a tropical locale. While the Cardinals were struggling during that rough time in August and September, Martinez could not be seen with the team.

Over the years, Martinez was frustrating. While some moments he would be great and you would think maybe things had turned around for him. He would have moments where he was having fun and being a joy in the clubhouse. And then, there were other moments he would not appear present, not focused, and was generally all over the place. He would be pouty and frustrated to an extent Yadier Molina would have to make a trip to the mound to get him focused.

But the organization stuck with him. They were supportive of him. They helped him through the loss of his best friend, Oscar Tavares. They worked with him to find the right fit for him.

It honestly appears he quit on the team in July. If not before then.

The team is expected to turn down his team option for 2022, opting for a $500,000 buyout.

The Carlos Martinez experiment is over. Martinez and the team must go their separate ways. While the Cardinals will find an option to take his spot on the pitching staff, it is not clear if Martinez will land with another team. It will be curious to see what team would want to take on that baggage.