8 Cardinals who should be playing their final games for St. Louis this weekend

Miles Mikolas

I've written about this a ton already and will continue to do so until the Cardinals actually do it, but I think it's best for all parties involved that the Cardinals trade Miles Mikolas this offseason.

Obviously, they will not get anything of value in return and they will need to eat a lot of money, but there will be teams out there who would take a flyer on Mikolas if they only have to pay him between $5 million and $8 million next season, and any money the Cardinals can save on his contract is likely worth it to them.

St. Louis has too many back-of-the-rotation starters right now. Sonny Gray is still a front-line guy, but Erick Fedde and Andre Pallante are best viewed as number four or five starters, possibly a middle-of-the-rotation arm. Without even factoring in other veteran starters they could decide to keep, I'd rather see Quinn Mathews and Michael McGreevy over Mikolas, and I'd like to know what they have in Sem Robberse, Adam Kloffenstein, and Gordon Graceffo. Also, I'm thinking we may see Tink Hence at some point next year as well.

With so many back-end options already, why pay significant money to someone like Mikolas when you need to see what you have in your young arms? Again, having stability at the back of the rotation on a small number is valuable for a contender, but the Cardinals need to get information on their young arms, and you can't do that well if they are not pitching.

I'll get to this more later too, but if the Cardinals do move these veteran arms off their books who they don't really need, it does free up money for them to pursue another high-ceiling arm that they are truly missing. Sure, Mathews or Hence could be that someday, but they don't need that kind of pressure right now. They should be icing on the cake, not Plan A.

Part ways with Mikolas, and use that rotation spot to allow a young arm to sink or swim.

Matt Carpenter

It's bittersweet to write this as Matt Carpenter is one of my favorite Cardinals in recent memory. He's a class act, a great teammate, and represented everything you'd want in a Cardinal, especially in his early years.

However, as the Cardinals turn a new page with this roster and organization, the same should be done when it comes to Matt Carpenter's spot on the roster.

I'd love to see Carpenter return in some kind of capacity as a coach. Players like Alec Burleson have credited him with key adjustments in his game, and he's clearly someone that players respect. Having him around this club is a good thing; just not as a player anymore.

Carpenter has actually been better than most people would have expected from him this year, posting a 101 wRC+ on a .238/.322/.385 slash line. Even so, it's hard to advocate for him taking up another roster spot going into what would be his age-39 season.

Carpenter's limited defensive versatility also hurts his case. He's started 39 games at DH, and just six games at other positions. He's really just a first baseman at this point when he does hit the field, but the Cardinals already have other options you'd rather see there in Alec Burleson and Luken Baker.

I could see Carpenter trying to play one more year with another club, but I do not see why the Cardinals would sign him to another contract unless it is to become an actual coach. There just isn't a place for him anymore, and the Cardinals need to prioritize the playing time of younger talent next season.

Lance Lynn

Like Mikolas, Lance Lynn's presence is redundant with how many other back-end arms they have. I do find Lynn to be a more valuable starter than Mikolas at this point, but even so, I don't think it makes sense to have Lynn back for one more season.

When the Cardinals brought in both Lynn and Kyle Gibson this offseason, their main hope for both was that they'd post for 30+ starts and that they'd also provide them with a bunch of quality starts along the way. They did not need to be world beaters, but going six or more innings while allowing three or fewer earned runs each time was ideal.

Lynn did not provide the Cardinals with the number of starts they had hoped for or go deep into games very often, but he did manage to be a valuable member of their staff with his overall run prevention in 2024.

Lynn's crazy high 2.16 HR/9 came back down to earth this year, allowing him to work his way out of trouble frequently and post a 3.84 ERA in his 23 starts. He averaged just about five innings a start though, which wasn't ideal but wasn't the end of the world with the way he kept runs off the board.

There are a few issues with the idea of bringing back Lynn to me though. First, Lynn has been mostly on the decline for the last few years and will turn 38 midway through the 2025 season. It is hard for me to believe that he's going to continue to find success, especially since he outperformed his FIP by a good amount in 2024.

Second, is there enough of a benefit that Lynn can give the Cardinals in 2025 that makes him worth the $12 million they'd pay him and take away a rotation spot from a young arm? Probably not.

Even though I'd rather have Lynn than guys like Mikolas or Matz in the rotation, it does not seem like a worthwhile investment to bring him back for next season.

Paul Goldschmidt

There was a brief stretch in the second half where Paul Goldschmidt was hitting at a level that it would be foolish not to at least consider a reunion with the future Hall of Famer. But as September went on, Goldschmidt slowed down again, and unless he has a huge final series against the Giants, he will finish below league average as a hitter in 2024.

At the time of writing this, Goldschmidt is slashing .241/.299/.403 with 21 home runs and 61 RBI on the season, which grades out as a 96 wRC+ and 0.8 WAR season. Goldschmidt has completely fallen off as a hitter at this rate, and it's hard to justify bringing him back on the kind of contract I am sure he will get from somewhere.

Goldschmidt's struggles are not just a 2024 thing. The last month of his 2022 MVP campaign was ice-cold. He came into 2023 struggling a ton as well, and after catching fire in the summer, he really fell off in the second half. And now we've reached a season-long strugglefest from Goldschmidt, and it's been brutal to watch.

It has been especially hard to see how bad he has been with runners in scoring position. Goldschmidt just cannot seem to come through when it matters most, and that is a really big flaw for someone who is supposed to be a major run producer for this team.

151 games later and things never really changed for Goldschmidt. His hot streaks never really turned into sustained success, and while there may be gas left in the tank that he can unlock elsewhere, I don't think it is in the best interest of St. Louis to see if Goldschmidt can find that mojo with this organization again.

It is a shame, really. Goldschmidt has been a great Cardinal and individually has had a ton of success in St. Louis. But not much has really come from his time here in the postseason, and there was a real trajectory just two years ago for Goldschmidt to retire as a Cardinal and be inducted as a Cardinal into the Hall of Fame. I think him choosing the club as his "team" is out the door at this point.

I am sure both sides will talk about a reunion this offseason, but I think it is far more likely the club will go in a different direction and Goldschmidt will find himself with a team like Houston, Arizona, Seattle, or another contender that could use a bat in 2025.

Kyle Gibson

If Miles Mikolas is the clear addition-by-subtraction candidate and Lance Lynn was decent at run prevention but in shorter spurts, Kyle Gibson is the guy that I was envisioning all three of those names being for them in 2024.

I was always most skeptical of Mikolas when it came to that trio, but what Gibson did this year was the exact formula we thought could win St. Louis a lot of games this year - give them a ton of starts and innings while being just average enough at run prevention that a great offense and bullpen can win the game for them.

Well, the offense did not live up to its billing this year, making Gibson a far less valuable and effective member of the rotation as a result. Sure, Gibson kept the Cardinals in games frequently, but their inability to score at a high level meant that Gibson's 4.13 ERA was not going to be good enough to win a bunch in this league.

If the Cardinals did not already have both Pallante and Fedde penciled into their rotation for next year, I think there would be a good argument to bring back Gibson on his club option. He is a solid starting pitcher and someone they can depend on, but they need to prioritize upside and/or youth with their other rotation spots, leaving Gibson as a name that just does not make sense for their rotation construction in my eyes.

I really do think Gibson would get swooped up by a contender on the open market. He has more swing-and-miss in his arsenal than many of us anticipated going into this season, and he came up big for the Cardinals on a number of occasions.

While I like Gibson a lot as a player, it makes more sense for the Cardinals to move in a new direction.

Steven Matz

Steven Matz has got to be one of the most frustrating signings in recent memory for the Cardinals.

Obviously, the results have been bad and the contract has been a big waste, but what really adds to the frustration has been Matz's ability to capture real success at times both in the rotation and in the bullpen, but it never seems to last. He even gets injured again or completely loses that groove.

In theory, Matz could come back as a swingman for the Cardinals next year, filling into the rotation as needed but mainly being used out of the bullpen. Is that ideal for your $12.5 million man? Not at all. But it's a role that can provide value for the Cardinals in 2025 and that's all you can really hope for from Matz at this point.

Even so, if the Cardinals can find a suitor that will take on even just half of Matz's contract for 2025, that feels like the route to go. With the amount of injuries he has sustained in the first three years of his deal, it's hard to trust Matz will even be healthy enough to cover those innings as needed for the club.

Matz does provide more versatility than other Cardinal veteran starters with contracts. I can see how Matz finds a role in the bullpen next year for St. Louis, but I do not see Gibson, Lynn, or Mikolas being able to provide value there. Even so, that versatility should be used as a part of trade talks and getting someone to take some of his salary off your books, not a reason to hold onto him.

Turner Ward

This is cheating a bit, but how could we not throw Tuner Ward into the mix as someone who should be coaching his last series with the Cardinals this weekend?

If you want to throw Oli Marmol, John Mozeliak, Dusty Blake, or whoever else into this mix as well, go for it. But the only one that I have to say without a shadow of a doubt must be let go is Ward at this point.

Mozeliak, even if he steps aside next week and lets Chaim Bloom take control, will still be under contract and around in some capacity, so I don't think it makes sense to say he should be on this list. Marmol, I would argue, has done well this year, and while I wouldn't be opposed to firing him, I don't find it to be necessary. While the Major League pitching has not been amazing (at least in the rotation), Blake has been credited with helping transform how their minor league pitchers are developing.

Ward, on the other hand, has seen a talented group of bats underperform under his leadership for two straight seasons. Both veterans and young guys are seemingly regressing at the plate year to year, and their historically bad numbers with runners in scoring position is inexcusable.

This group of position players should not have been a bottom 10 unit in baseball this year. There is no way the front office can bring back their current group of hitting instructors, at least at the Major League level, and convince fans they want to turn things around.