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

Frustrating: Michael McGreevy starting the year in Triple-A

Two things can be true — I can understand why Michael McGreevy is in Triple-A to begin the year, and I can also not like it. I can come to grips with the decision and not freak out about it while also believing there was a better solution out there.

I know it's "risky" from a depth perspective, but if the Cardinals are really going to let Liberatore run as a starter to begin the year, why not go ahead and rip the band-aid off with Miles Mikolas, send him packing, and let McGreevy get the rotation run he deserves? Or trade Erick Fedde to a contender in desperate need of another arm?

I do see why the struggles of Andre Pallante and uncertainty regarding Sonny Gray's health could give St. Louis pause, but even past those two, the Cardinals still have McGreevy, Liberatore, Matz, and Erick Fedde, as well as Quinn Mathews, Gordon Graceffo, and even Roddery Munoz as options. Apparently Zack Thompson won't be out long, so he's another guy they could turn to. Tekoah Roby was great during camp, and Kyle Leahy is stretched out too. I'm bullish on Cooper Hjerpe and think he could be an option soon too.

And hey, even if the worst-case scenario happened and injuries piled up and young arms weren't ready, Mikolas would probably still be sitting there as a free agent to bring back in. Lance Lynn is still available. So are Anthony DeSclafani, Marco Gonzales, Zach Davies, Spencer Turnbull, Dallas Keuchel, Jordan Lyles, and Julio Teheran. No, that would not inspire confidence in a team that wants to contend, but they would be insurance policies if the club needed aid.

Having 7-10 guys that you could put in the rotation today outside of Mikolas and Fedde tells me they do not "need" them to survive this season. If all of those arms fail or get injured, well, Fedde or Mikolas were not going to save them anyway.

The Cardinals need to know what they have in their young arms this year. McGreevy has proven everything he possibly could up to this point, and now it is time to give him that "runway" they love to talk about.