How are the Cardinals non-tendered players doing elsewhere?

The St. Louis Cardinals did not tender contracts via arbitration to 4 players this past offseason. Right-handed pitchers Dakota Hudson and Jake Woodford along with catcher Andrew Knizner and infielder/DH Juan Yepez became free agents after not receiving a contract offer from the organization.

Dakota Hudson and Jake Woodford were no longer effective starters, and their release granted Mozeliak freedom to sign players like Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn, and Kyle Gibson. Andrew Knizner's non-tender was mostly due to Ivan Herrera's ascension. Herrera's offensive abilities paired with his dedication to his craft defensively made Knizner expendable. Juan Yepez was a non-factor defensively, and his offensive output -- in theory at least -- was replaceable.

Each of these players signed deals with major league teams. Jake Woodford and Juan Yepez received minor league deals; Dakota Hudson and Andrew Knizner signed major league deals. You'll notice most of these players signed deals with largely non-competitive teams.

Let's take a look and see if they are outperforming the current players on the Cardinals roster.

RHP Jake Woodford - Chicago White Sox

Jake Woodford signed a minor league deal with the Chicago White Sox in early January. Woodford has not made a major league appearance this year, and he is struggling mightily in the minors. In 6 starts, Woodford has an 8.06 ERA, 1.792 WHIP, and he's allowing 12.3 hits per 9 innings and 2.8 home runs per nine innings for the Charlotte Knights, Chicago's Triple-A affiliate.

In just 25.2 innings, Woodford has allowed 25 runs in total. He has struck out 26 batters, but he has also walked 11 of them. Woodford's showing thus far in Charlotte has been terrible. Even though the White Sox themselves are a bad team (yes, the Cardinals did just lose a series to them), Woodford probably won't see a promotion anytime soon.

When the Cardinals non-tendered him, he had just pitched 47.2 innings in St. Louis to the tune of a 6.23 ERA, 1.741 WHIP, and only 5.5 Ks per nine innings. His walks per nine were also elevated (4.2). After signing Lance Lynn, Kyle Gibson, and Sonny Gray, Woodford didn't have a spot on the major league roster in St. Louis. His release made complete sense. The Cardinals should not regret this move.

RHP Dakota Hudson - Colorado Rockies

Dakota Hudson signed a 1-year, $1.5 million contract with the Colorado Rockies. Historically, Hudson has been a groundball pitcher; it made sense that he would go to Colorado, a place where fly-ball pitchers go to see their careers die. Hudson has always been good at limiting home runs with a career 0.9 HR/9 innings ratio.

Dakota has been unable to be successful thus far in the Mile-High City. He has pitched in 6 games, all starts, and he has logged 30.1 innings so far. Hudson has the most losses (5) in all of baseball, he has a 5.93 ERA, 5.02 FIP, 1.681 WHIP, and he is waking nearly as many batters (17 BBs) as he is striking them out (19 Ks).

While Hudson is throwing the same five pitches he has always thrown, his usage of these pitches has changed. He is using his curveball and sinker less often, and he is now using his changeup more often. It may behoove Hudson to go back to using his sinker more frequently to generate ground balls and keep the ball out of the air in Denver. It also happens to be his best pitch according to run value on Baseball Savant. Hudson's fastball averages a hair above 90 MPH, so using the 4-seamer less often may benefit him.

Once again, the plethora of starters brought in by John Mozeliak made Dakota Hudson superfluous; he isn't pitching well, he hasn't pitched well recently, and he would be able to find a spot in the St. Louis rotation or bullpen.

C Andrew Knizner - Texas Rangers

Of all the non-tendered players, Andrew Knizner was the one whom most fans questioned. The veteran catcher had a strong rapport with the pitching staff, something that was missing after Yadier Molina departed for retirement. Despite well-below-average career batting numbers, he seemed to have tapped into something in 2023 when he finished with a 92 OPS+ in 241 plate appearances.

Knizner signed a 1-year, $1.825 million deal to be the Texas Rangers backup catcher. He would slot in behind All-Star and Gold Glove recipient Jonah Heim on the depth chart.

Andrew Knizner's 2024 season has been abysmal so far. He has a .125/.125/.219 slash line in 32 plate appearances, and he has struck out 8 times. That makes for a -4 OPS+ For those who are uninitiated to OPS+, 100 is league average. Knizner has been so bad offensively that he has a negative score.

Knizner's offensive struggles are primarily due to his non-existent walk rate. He's barreling the ball at a slightly above-average rate, but his average launch angle is straight into the ground. He has not been making solid contact with the ball.

Knizner was never known for his defense, but he seems to have reached a new low. His blocking, caught stealing, and framing rates are all below average; only his pop time is better than 50% of catchers.

Knizner would have been excess on the Cardinals roster given Ivan Herrera's ascension. His performance in the first month-plus of the season has not made the front office regret their decision to let the 29-year-old backstop leave one bit.