Cardinals' backstabbing roster cut raises serious questions about team's process

The St. Louis Cardinals have released their Opening Day roster for the 2025 season. After an off-season full of questions and uncertainty, and a spring training full of competition and position battles, the team has made their final decisions.

The biggest news to fans is that Victor Scott II is the starting center fielder with Michael Siani being assigned to a bench role. The rotation will be a six-man rotation with the surprise of Matthew Liberatore being the 5th starter after only starting one spring training game. The bullpen has filled their remaining spots with Chris Roycroft and Kyle Leahy, and the bench is filled with mostly outfield and first base depth. Fans and media are already questioning the organization's decision-making as they head into the final season of the John Mozeliak era. What is being disregarded is the lack of respect the organization has for its players, which has become a common trend over the last several seasons.

One of the players who did not make the 26-man roster for Opening Day is infielder Jose Fermin. Fermin was viewed as a lock for the bench role given he can relieve Masyn Winn of a full season workload and also shone in spring training with his bat. Fermin earned a spot on this roster and has a great case to prove it to the organization. The problem here is that the organization recognized this and even promised him a roster spot last week.

The Cardinals went back on their word with Jose Fermin, and that is a major issue.

Fermin was one of the bright spots on the team in 2025 spring training. He posted a .831 OPS across 48 ABS and played serviceable defense across the diamond. For a roster heavy in left-handed bats who also don't play the middle infield, it should be a guaranteed roster spot for Fermin to play as a valuable backup. After Fermin was told by the team that they viewed him the same way as the rest of us, they instead cut his spot 3 days later. In what would be a surprising move, it is not with this organization.

The Cardinals have had a repeating flaw in communication over the years. The most notorious is how they have handled Willson Contreras across his entire Cardinals career. He was signed long term to be the catching replacement for franchise legend Yadier Molina. After a short stint at catcher in 2023, several members of the pitching staff voiced their complaints about Contreras's pitch calling and framing. After considering feedback, the organization decided to pull Contreras off of catcher entirely. He was even hinted at moving to the outfield. Since then, he has found a home at first base and somehow has settled this dramatic storyline over the past couple of years.

Another example of poor communication has been with Jordan Walker. The organization has not figured out how to properly develop their top prospect. It has been a constant carousel to Memphis and back with no clear direction on what they want from him. It reached its climax in the 2024 season when John Mozeliak told Cardinals Nation that Walker would be an everyday starter going forward. When Walker was called back up and the expectation was set in place, manager Oliver Marmol decided to make Walker a platoon piece to the lineup. The lack of sense and direction reached its tipping point here, and it only continues from this organization.

Opening Day 2025 starts this week, and fans across MLB are excited for America's pastime to return. For Cardinals fans, it is feeling like another repeat season of smugness, lack of direction from management, and developmental failure from within. As we creep closer to the Chaim Bloom era in St. Louis, change is highly expected from the fanbase. But until that time comes, expect the same outcome from this current regime in place.