4 frustrating decisions the Cardinals made with their Opening Day roster, 3 fans like

Frustrating: Revoking their promise to Jose Fermin

In a vacuum, Jose Fermin not making the Opening Day roster doesn't fluster me. To be honest, I was not expecting him to do so most of the spring, nor did I think he really should.

Here's the issue though — Fermin was told by the Cardinals that he had made the roster and would be coming back with them to St. Louis just days before they decided to demote him to Memphis. Nothing happened between that conversation and his demotion that should have changed that; it just seems like the Cardinals jumped the gun on this and potentially hurt a relationship with the player.

Siani should not be on this roster, as I stated earlier, so there was no reason to revoke Fermin's place. If they decided last minute that Scott needed to be on the roster, okay, plans then change, but it should not have been at the expense of Fermin.

What does this communicate to other young players? Yes, it is a business, but it's also hardly a good look to tell a player one thing and change your mind a few days later, especially when Fermin put up a .831 OPS in camp.

I also don't like the decision because of how much pressure this puts on Masyn Winn to play every day now that there is no backup shortstop on the roster. Yes, he should play most games, but having someone to spell him would be wise considering he is already having a wrist issue this year and dealt with back concerns last year.

This also means Brendan Donovan is someone that they cannot afford to have to sit either. Unless they plan on starting Scott or Siani in the corners some days, Donovan is the backup corner outfielder when he is not at second base. The club has refused to put Alec Burleson in the corner outfield this spring. This means their bench has two guys who only play first base, one who is just a catcher, and one who plays outfield.

The optics are bad and the lack of a backup shortstop is bad, and the Cardinals had better routes they could have gone.