4 Cardinals players who will make the Opening Day cut but remain on the roster bubble

Michael Siani

After coming into Spring Training last season as a minor league depth piece, injuries, and an underwhelming performance from Victor Scott II, Michael Siani took advantage of the opportunity and became the team's go-to center fielder. Even with an injury knocking him out for an extended period in the middle of the season, Siani still put up elite defensive value in the outfield.

The knock against Siani is he provides little to no value with the bat and that is hardly worth trying to argue against. Despite the Cardinals being out of playoff contention in September, the former Red was still drawing the majority of the starts over Scott, who came into the season as an exciting future piece for the organization.

As is the case with Burleson, Siani finds himself in the midst of the outfield competition heading into the year. In a November discussion, St. Louis Post Dispatch writer Derrick Goold said the team viewed Siani as the preferred option in center, but do seem willing to at least give Nootbaar a fair shake. Nootbaar's spring performance and the presence of Donovan in the outfield may put Siani's offensive limitations to light when breaking camp. For a team that struggled to get anything at the plate in the outfield, the organization may opt to sacrifice defense for a more potent offense. He would provide minimal value as a bench piece and could end up seeing most of his time as a late-game defensive replacement.

In a different way than the last two players, an early season struggle from Siani could spell some question marks regarding his role with the organization. With more exciting prospects needing more time to develop at the upper minors, a Siani demotion would not likely result in more playing time for the 25-year-old. Depending on the performance of the Memphis outfielders and the 40-man roster construction, the Cardinals may find it better off to send Siani elsewhere and receive any value back in a trade. The team is high on the defensive specialist so it would not be a surprise to see the organization hold onto him as depth, but his lack of an offensive ceiling may limit his longer-term future with the Cardinals.