The 3 most alleviating free agent departures in recent Cardinals history

Money to spend, roster spots to fill. Add! Add! Add! If popular opinion were the Cardinals’ POBO, then this would be a very active offseason. Realistically, the Redbirds are likely in store for marginal additions. What could get interesting is who they subtract. 

Former top prospects such as Nolan Gorman, Victor Scott II, and Matthew Liberatore could be nearing their respective Cardinal endings. Other fringe non-tender candidates include Cesar Prieto, Hancel Rincon, and Bryan Torres. 

We’ll have to wait on those decisions. For now, the question of the day: Who are the most satisfying free agent departures in the last ten seasons? 

Quick rules: Nobody who was traded mid-season, and a cutoff of the last ten years. Let's look at a top three.  

Miles Mikolas, Andrew Knizner, Dakota Hudson 

Number 3: Andrew “The Captain” Knizner 

When the Cardinals viewed the departure of Yadier Molina as imminent, the name they threw at fans was “Andrew Knizner.” 

Knizner, a former top prospect, was your classic Quadruple-A player. In MiLB, the backstop displayed legitimate offensive promise. He peaked during his 2017 Arizona Fall League stint when he smacked pitchers around for a .940 OPS across 17 games. 

Hype built, smiles widened, and eyes grew wider. The kid looked destined for MLB production and was in St. Louis by 2019. 

Unfortunately, Knizner’s sizzling hot performance in the desert withered over the next two seasons. In his first taste of MLB competition, the then-24-year-old managed a .670 OPS. 

It was only 18 games. Small sample, right? 

For a few years, that’s what people kept saying. “Give him more opportunity, and he’ll figure it out!” If only that were true. 

Outside of being talented enough to play MLB-level baseball, Knizner’s greatest attribute was his commendable attitude. He was always smiling, was a clubhouse favorite, and got along well with fans. It was tough to watch him struggle so profusely during his Cardinals career. 

The catcher’s best season came in the dreadful 2023 campaign when the Redbirds took the first of many steps backward. One team’s garbage was Knizner’s treasure, and he overcame the organizational haze with a career-best .712 OPS. 

The following season, Knizner signed with the then-defending champion Texas Rangers. In 37 big league games, his .394 OPS was about as uninspiring as it gets. 

More recently, “The Captain” has been in the Bay with the San Francisco Giants. He’s found room for himself by manning backup catcher, but he never became what St. Louis fans once envisioned. 

Knizner was incredibly easy to root for, and that’s what made watching him fail so harsh. His departure was less an angry goodbye and more a sigh of relief. 

Number 2: Dakota Hudson and his “bowling ball” sinker

Whatever Knizner was behind the dish, that’s what Dakota Hudson was on the mound. He had tools, and with the St. Louis pitching pipeline lacking depth, that was enough to draw serious fan interest. 

Hudson checked in on radars after a very solid rookie season. He posted a 3.35 ERA, 2.1 bWAR, and 174.2 innings. Still, the signs were there. Similar to modern Cardinal starters Michael McGreevy and Kyle Leahy, Hudson’s underlying numbers mocked his success. 

According to fielding-independent pitching (FIP), Hudson’s fifth-place Rookie of the Year award finish was fraudulent. His 4.93 FIP in 2019 was actually his worst as a Cardinal until 2023. 

As a prospect, Hudson was revered for his groundball rate, elite command, and the action he’d get on a “bowling ball” sinker. The Cardinals loved how much Hudson minimized self-inflicted wounds by negating walks and inducing plenty of weak contact. Now, we know this model is flawed–and Hudson’s falloff is a big reason why. 

In 2020, Hudson tasted elbow injuries that landed him on the 60-day IL. The following season, he and Tommy John shook hands, and an entire year was gone. 

Cardinal fans got Hudson back in 2022, and he didn’t look the same. Injuries and exposure to MLB competition had done him in. He finished his comeback year with a 4.45 ERA, 12 percent below league average according to ERA+. 

His last season as a Redbird, 2023, was the worst iteration yet. It was 81.1 innings, a 4.98 ERA, and a ghostly 5.06 FIP. The Cardinals had finally seen enough, and the following season, Hudson signed to pitch in Colorado, all but cementing his MLB obituary. 

The Cardinals expected Hudson to be a pillar in the rotation. That’s on them. The example I’ll use is telling a secret to someone you meet for the first time, and suddenly, the entire grapevine knows about your crush. St. Louis had a crush on Hudson’s sinker, and by the time the rest of the league found out, it was too late to adjust. 

His 2024 departure was a major breath of fresh air. It opened rotation spots that the Cardinals could address. An old Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson replaced the former top prospect. Were they much better? No. But it felt better. Perception is a funny thing. 

It would be unfair to blame Hudson for his shortcomings in St. Louis. Injuries are grotesque, and they ruin more careers than any surgery can save. Just ask Uncle Rico. Still, it was nice to see some change after six seasons of waiting. 

Player 1: “Uncle Miles” Mikolas 

Did I invent that nickname for Miles Mikolas? Yes. Did it stick at least in my household? Oh, big time. 

Mikolas is the epitome of Cardinal safety. He’s the poster boy for a mentality that needs to be lost to the dunes of time. After his contract was up, it felt like all of Ballpark Village was ready to charge Vegas and put everything on red. Playing it safe in St. Louis is no longer acceptable. 

The Redbirds first added the right-hander in 2018 after he pitched three consecutive seasons overseas. Mikolas entered The Lou as a new man and dominated in his first year. 

The Cardinals had a legitimate ace in Mikolas. That’s really funny now, but really, he was phenomenal. 

In 200.2 innings, the savvy right-hander ran front-hip sinkers to a 2.83 ERA, 3.28 FIP, and 5.1 bWAR. He also won 18 games. 18!! I know that stat isn’t everything, but once you get past 12-15, it starts to get silly. 

He was an All-Star, finished sixth in Cy Young voting, and furnished a starting rotation that desperately needed an ace.

Mikolas followed his breakout campaign with…a nothing burger? 

There have been few “come back down to Earth” (shoutout Mac Miller) moments like Mikolas’. He went from a Cy Young hopeful to a 4.16 ERA, 14 losses, and gave up 9.4 hits per nine innings.

Injuries nipped in 2020, and Uncle Miles missed the COVID season. He only managed 44.2 innings the following year, and they weren’t special. 

Now, according to rumors that aren’t true, Mikolas spent time during his rehab fishing, getting stronger, thinking about his pitching problems, and growing out one of the league’s best mustaches. 

When he returned full-time, Mikolas was masterful. His 2022 season reinspired hope in the organization, and it should have. 

The righty twirled 202.2 innings, held a 3.29 ERA, and earned another All-Star nod. It was the kind of year that rewired a few brains. Some to the point of no return. 

The Cardinals doubled down on Mikolas’ re-emergence by signing him to a two-year, $40 million extension on March 24, 2023. 

It didn’t make much sense then, and it makes even less now. Suffice it to say, Mikolas didn’t earn his $20 million AAV over the next two seasons. Sure, he was paid, but his play on the field didn’t reflect his salary. 

Mikolas earned a cumulative 1.7 bWAR from 2023 to 2025. For context, Nathan Church earned 1.7 bWAR in 2026 alone. He had an 86 OPS+. 

The Cardinals finally bid Mikolas adieu after his worst season to date in 2025. He looked like a shell of his 2018 self, hovering around a 4.80 ERA. It was bad, one of the worst contracts in modern Cardinals history. 

When the bad dream was over and the Fourth of July went back to being about fireworks instead of opposing home runs, Cardinals fans could only grimace. 

PTSD, or “Post Traumatic Starter Disorder,” is a common theme across MLB. Everyone signed a starting pitcher they shouldn’t have. Mikolas was that for St. Louis. 

Still, don’t forget all the good he did. Find the middle ground and be simultaneously thankful that it happened and that it is now over. 

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