St. Louis Cardinals free agents who won’t be back next season and why

3) The Cardinals have too many other pitchers to keep Jose Quintana around

Jose Quintana came to the Cardinals at this year’s trade deadline to help them overcome the massive number of injuries piling up to the starting pitchers. Regardless of how he finishes off the year, the expectations are that he will not be back in 2023.

The Cardinals pitchers will have all winter to get healthy. Even if Wainwright retires and Quintana signs elsewhere, the team has a lot of other starting pitcher options to fill out the rotation.

A look at the Cardinals roster and we see some huge gaps in age between many of its most important players. They have several guys over 40 plus many major contributors 25 or under. Quintana doesn’t quite fit in with next year’s plan. Their rotation should easily include Miles Mikolas, Dakota Hudson, Steven Matz, Jordan Montgomery, and at least one of the younger guys like Jack Flaherty or Matthew Liberatore.

Health will play a factor and if Quintana is sitting out there unsigned, maybe they call him up. More likely, if the Cardinals do add to the rotation, it’s a truer ace. They have the money and the trade potential to add someone. It should leave Quintana out of the picture.

As for Nolan Arenado and his potential opt out, it’s hard to see him playing anywhere else at this point. Let’s predict he stays and keeps Cardinals fans happy.