5 Cardinals who are on bargain contracts, 3 who are massively overpaid

The St. Louis Cardinals are now in the business of cutting payroll while remaining competitive. This is a tough balance that very few clubs have been able to accomplish. The Milwaukee Brewers, Cleveland Guardians, and Tampa Bay Rays have been among the best in the league at keeping payroll low while still consistently making postseason appearances in the last decade.

There was once a time where the Cardinals were able to do that, too. Since the turn of the century, the Cardinals have ranked somewhere between seventh in the league in payroll to fifteenth in baseball, according to Cot's. Within that span, they've won two World Series, four pennants, and 11 division titles. What a run for the team!

However, some bad contracts remain with the Cardinals that were agreed to years ago by players and the front office. Conversely, thanks to pre-arbitration and arbitration limitations on player salaries, the Cardinals have several players who are also bargains right now given their production.

These St. Louis Cardinals are overpaid and underpaid next year.

Right-handed pitcher Miles Mikolas is not worth his salary.

This one was obvious. Mikolas is on the books next year for over $17 million. At that price, he should be a middle-of-the-rotation pitcher with some upside, right? Wrong.

Last year, Mikolas led the team in quality starts, innings pitched, and games started, but his 5.35 ERA was the highest among all starting pitchers last year. He allowed a team-high 26 home runs, he struck out only 122 batters, and he ranked in the first percentile in generating whiffs. Mikolas often got rocked last year, and his only redeeming factors heading into 2025 would be his ability to pitch every five days and his minuscule walk rate of just 3.5%.

At this point, the Cardinals should treat Miles Mikolas as a sunk cost. They have plenty of "innings eaters" in Sonny Gray, Erick Fedde, Andre Pallante, and even Michael McGreevy for next year. He also blocks several young players from getting consistent starts in 2025, a stated desire of the organization. The market for Mikolas is probably slim to none, but cutting him or trading him for whatever they can at this point would be better for the team both now and in the future.

Third baseman Nolan Arenado is far too expensive given his production.

Let's start with the numbers here.

Nolan Arenado will be 34 on April 6th. His OPS+ has gone from 151 in 2022 to 108 in 2023 to 101 in 2024. He's failed to eclipse 20 home runs for the first time since 2014 (2020 excluded), and he's owed $32 million next year, $5 million of which will be sent to the Cardinals from the Colorado Rockies.

Yes, he's overpaid, but that's what happens to future Hall of Fame players when they enter free agency. The back end of a multi-year deal almost always sours on a team because free agents typically hit the market around the age of 30 — though Arenado was given an extension during arbitration prior to the 2019 season.

Nolan Arenado is still a good player, and he probably makes the Cardinals better in 2025 if he stays on the roster. However, he's quite pricey given his recent 2-WAR seasons.