The official ex-Cardinals team of 2024

Ah, the age-old practice of finding players who once played for the St. Louis Cardinals and found success playing for another franchise.

One of the gripes of fans of the Cardinals is that far too many players see success after being traded away from the organization or are signed via free agency away from the team. While this can sometimes be overstated, these arguments still hold plenty of water.

I did this exercise last year as well, and this is the roster that I came up with.

Infielders

Catcher: Carson Kelly
First baseman: Matt Carpenter
Second baseman: Kolten Wong
Third baseman: Edmundo Sosa
Shortstop: Paul DeJong

Outfielder/DH

Designated Hitter: Marcell Ozuna
Left field: Randy Arozarena
Center field: Harrison Bader
Right field: Adolis Garcia

Starting Rotation:

#1: Jordan Montgomery
#2: Sandy Alcantara
#3: Michael Wacha
#4: Jose Quintana
#5: Jack Flaherty

I also included Lane Thomas, Brad Miller, Tommy Pham, and Patrick Wisdom off the bench. Relievers Chris Stratton, Jordan Hicks, Genesis Cabrera, Luis Garcia, and Joe Kelly made the cut, too. That's a potent lineup that likely would have won more than 71 games strictly on the backs of a solid starting rotation and some high-octane hitters in the outfield and designated hitter spots.

This year, the bar was raised a little bit higher. Now the ex-Cards team must surpass at least 80 wins to beat this year's actual Cards roster.

Before I break down this year's roster of former Cardinals, let's establish some ground rules.

Rules

1. The player must have played the majority of his games at that particular position. For example, Marcell Ozuna played two games in left field last year. That's not enough to cut it.
2. The player has to have played at least one game for the St. Louis Cardinals. Former minor leaguers who were traded prior to seeing time at the majors don't count (sorry, Zac Gallen).
3. When possible, the players must be "qualified" according to FanGraphs. Some positions were difficult to meet this qualification (catcher), while others were quite easy.

Without further ado, let's begin! Here is the (semi) official former St. Louis Cardinals squad of 2024!