3) Miles Mikolas
Contract Remaining after 2024: One year, $17.6M
Signed to a two-year, $40M contract extension before the start of the 2023 season, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas has had two of the worst seasons of his career since the ink dried.
After going 9-13 with a 4.78 ERA and leading the MLB in hits allowed and the third-most earned runs in 2023, Mikolas has followed up with another disastrous performance in 2024.
Currently 8-11 with a 5.49 ERA,1.29 WHIP, and 183 hits allowed in 29 starts this season, his ERA is the highest in all of baseball amongst qualified starters, and has allowed the third-most hits in the MLB. Over his last 15 starts his numbers have been even worse, posting a 6.48 ERA while allowing more earned runs (55) than strikeouts (50) during that span.
While he is only under contract for one more season, marching Mikolas out every five days would be detrimental to the Cardinals as he has shown incapable of providing serviceable innings over the last two seasons.
With multiple young pitching options that could fill in for a fraction of the price including rising left-hander Quinn Mathews and right-hander Michael McGreevy, the Cardinals should exhaust every avenue to try and part ways with Mikolas, even if they have to eat a chunk of the money still owed to him if the Cardinals want to find the success that has escaped the franchise in recent seasons.