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

The next time we see the St. Louis Cardinals on the field, they'll be opening up the 2025 season against the Minnesota Twins. Opening Day at Busch Stadium may come with different expectations this year, but baseball is still back, and that's a great thing.

The Cardinals made their Opening Day roster official on Sunday, and while some of the decisions were pleasant surprises, others, well, were not. There was a world where they mostly made choices with that 26-man group that frustrated us, but they did give reasons for optimism that I personally did not think they would actually do.

Let's take a look at 4 frustrating Opening Day roster choices they made and 3 that fans should like.

Frustrating: Michael Siani sneaking onto the roster

Look, I get that manager Oliver Marmol loves Michael Siani and values his defense on the roster, but come on. Once Victor Scott II was named the starting center fielder, it made even less sense to have Siani on the roster.

Sure, he provides value in the late innings as a potential defensive substitute for Jordan Walker, but that is not enough of a reason to make this roster. It also sends the wrong message to young players in this organization who performed during camp while Siani was struggling big time.

Jose Fermin, for example (we'll talk about him more later), hit well in camp and was great in Triple-A last year. Jose Barrero, whom the Cardinals really liked this spring, can play all over the field, is a right-handed bat, and, again, actually showed something in camp to make you want to see him in St. Louis. Oh, and how about Matt Koperniak? His bat is big league-ready, and he just went 4-4 against the Cardinals in their exhibition game with the Memphis Redbirds on Monday.

Scott should play most days, so Lars Nootbaar would be a perfectly adequate option to fill in when needed in center field. That would also help get other young bats in the lineup from time to time. There are far more reasons to fill that 26th-man spot with someone else than force Siani onto the roster.

Siani does not belong on the Cardinals roster. He is someone that needs to earn an opportunity by figuring things out in Memphis.

Liked: Victor Scott II earning the starting center field job

I was good with Victor Scott II potentially beginning the year in Memphis, not because I thought Siani should be on the roster, but because I think Lars Nootbaar could have filled the center field role to begin the year and gotten both Alec Burleson and Nolan Gorman into the lineup, and more importantly, I wanted to make sure that when Scott makes it to St. Louis again, he is here to stay.

Well, the Cardinals put him on the roster, and it is hard to deny he earned the right to be there. In 43 spring training at-bats, Scott slashed .349./.451/.721 with four home runs and two doubles in the process.

Scott's rookie year was rough at the plate, but the 24-year-old was much better for St. Louis his second time around the block.

During the 22 games he played in the second half at the Major League level, Scott slashed .244/.278/.384 with an 84 wRC+, which, believe it or not, was a 106 increase in wRC+. Scott made tangible changes to his swing and approach during his time with Memphis and, after receiving some help from hitting instructor Ryan Ludwick, really seemed to find himself offensively.

With Scott already ascending at the end of 2024, it makes his hot camp feel even more encouraging knowing that he was already heading in the right direction. I am not expecting Scott to be a difference-maker at the plate, but I do think he has shown enough signs that he may now be able to hold his own enough to let his speed and defense become bigger factors.

It will be fun to see Scott with the big league club to begin the year, and I really hope he sticks the whole year.

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.

Liked: Steven Matz as the club's swingman

I wrote about this yesterday, but the club deciding to put Steven Matz in the bullpen was a pleasant surprise for many reasons.

First, the Cardinals are notorious for playing "the contracts." Sure, most clubs are, but the Cardinals are hardly aggressive when it comes to giving young talent opportunities when they've earned it over a veteran. And yet, they did so in this case.

Matthew Liberatore spent the entire 2024 season in limbo. Sometimes he was a reliever, sometimes he was in the rotation, and sometimes he was a swingman going back and forth between roles any given week. For a young arm who is still trying to find his way, that is not setting him up for success at all.

The Cardinals allowed Liberatore to come into camp and fight for a rotation spot, but from the very beginning, it never really felt like it was a real opportunity to me. He piggybacked guys during camp and threw multiple innings, but it wasn't even until the last week of camp that he actually started a game.

Liberatore was awesome all of camp, though, sporting a 1.62 ERA in 16.2 innings of work, and while that caught a lot of eyes, most of us anticipated him starting the year in the bullpen. In fact, John Mozeliak himself confirmed that would be the case a few weeks ago.

And then, something apparently changed. Liberatore got that official start, and then instead of being placed in the bullpen with the potential of starting later in the year, Liberatore was named the Cardinals' fifth starter over Matz.

Matz was actually quite good during camp as well, posting a 2.29 ERA in 19.2 innings of work. Most of us were under the assumption that the Cardinals would roll with Matz as their fifth starter, and if one of the young arms made the rotation, it would be as a sixth starter or swingman. Instead, the Cardinals placed Matz in the bullpen and will use him as a swing starter as needed.

This was the right call by the club. Matz is a veteran and is more than capable of handling a dual role. He's had three seasons to "earn" his rotation spot and has been unable to. In the final year of his contract, he provides the most value to St. Louis by pitching out of the bullpen and being an insurance option for their rotation if things go poorly.

This allows the Cardinals to get a good look at Liberatore as a starter. If it goes well, then the Cardinals have another young starter on their hands for the future. If he fails, he can move back to the bullpen and either Matz or one of the arms in Memphis can replace him.

But speaking of those arms in Memphis, as much as I liked this move, most of us are still frustrated about the reality it creates for another deserving arm.

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.

Liked: Moving Masyn Winn out of the leadoff spot

I'm not sure many people realize that Masyn Winn actually wasn't a good leadoff hitter last year. Maybe it is because the Cardinals offense was so bad last year that the excitement he provided is all we remember, or it's the fact that he was so good at the bottom of the order that we somehow forget he wasn't leading off in those games.

I do think how a player performs in certain spots of a lineup can get overblown. Sometimes people take that as gospel and believe that wherever their best numbers are in the order is where they must hit. Sometimes a player's approach or comfort level hitting in a spot does matter a lot, but I don't believe that to be the case every time.

Winn has played in 187 big league games so far in his career and is just 23 years old. There is no need to rush him into more responsibility if he's not fully earned it. The Cardinals have two highly capable leadoff hitters on the roster already in Lars Nootbaar and Brendan Donovan, so Winn does not need to be forced into that spot.

In 2024, Winn started 102 games at the top of the Cardinals' order. When leading off, Winn hit .248/.290/.402 with a 93 wRC+. He was a below-league-average hitter, which just is not good enough for your leadoff man. When batting sixth, seventh, eighth, or ninth in the order, though, Winn slashed .327/.382/.456, good for an eye-popping 134 wRC+. Now, that sample size is just 43 games, so I'm not trying to act like he will be elite at the bottom of the order, but we do know he was not good enough at the top.

The Cardinals are set to have Lars Nootbaar lead off to start the year, with Winn batting in the ninth spot behind Victor Scott II. I could see having Winn above Scott, but honestly, I love this. Winn will follow Walker and Scott and have the opportunity to drive them in. Winn's bat-to-ball skills could make for some really fun hit-and-run opportunites with Scott. And if Winn does get on base, he has Nootbaar, Contreras, and Donovan following him to drive him in.

If Winn excels at the bottom of the order and there is a need to move him up, they could try that again at some point. But after floundering in camp and slowing down during the middle and end of the 2024 season, I think it's wise to remove some of those expectations from Winn and let him play loose and try to do damage from the nine hole.

Frustrating: Nolan Gorman and Alec Burleson fighting for playing time

Having Scott start every day in center field creates a roster crunch for two non-center field options on the Cardinals roster. That may seem weird to say out loud, but it is the truth.

If the Cardinals went with Nootbaar in center, Nolan Gorman and Alec Burleson could both start every day. While I support the Cardinals' decision to go with Scott in center and hope he runs with the job, once again, it does not mean I can't be frustrated about what this is going to do to Burleson and Gorman.

Yes, had the Cardinals been able to trade Nolan Arenado, this would not be an issue at all. But here we are. And the Cardinals are actually rolling with Burleson as their DH to begin the year over Gorman, meaning now that one of the guys they said they wanted to see 600+ at-bats for this year is not going to get that opportunitiy.

I am not a Gorman truther. I'm not here to tell you he is going to bounce back in a huge way this year. But I do think if the Cardinals want him to become the guy they think he can be, it would be good for him to be in a lineup every day. Instead, I'm honestly not sure how often he plays.

Maybe it's a 50/50 split with Burleson to begin the year, but even that is hard to sell for me, as that breaks up rhythm as well. Burleson will likely sit against left-handed pitching, but isn't that where Luken Baker then would fit into the picture? Hopefully the Cardinals give Nolan Arenado more rest days this year, as that would help get Gorman in the lineup.

The DH spot is already crowded without those two having to share it. Baker is someone they will want to start at DH against left-handed pitchers, and guys like Arenado, Donovan, Contreras, Walker, and Hererra will likely see time at DH as well.

Injuries will help clear the jam eventually, but I am frustrated that two bats with potentially bright futures but have something to prove are now in odd positions to fight for playing time on this roster.