3 Cardinals who won’t be back and where they will go

The St. Louis Cardinals are sure to have a different look in 2023. With some legends retiring, other players may be leaving to reshape the team. 

Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina have played in their final games with the St. Louis Cardinals. With the departure of these two legends, plus Adam Wainwright expected to decide his future with the club soon, the Cardinals could have a completely new look.

Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado will return as the team’s star centerpieces. They will lead many talented young players like Tommy Edman, Tyler O’Neill, Dylan Carlson, Lars Nootbaar, and Brendan Donovan.

There are some players that the Cardinals should move on from, whether via free agency or trade, to improve in some key areas.

The Cardinals should trade pitcher Dakota Hudson

Dakota Hudson has grown frustrating to watch over the 2022 season as he’s become one of the slowest-working pitchers in Major League Baseball.

In 27 games pitched, Hudson had a record of 8-7 with a 4.45 ERA in 139.2 innings pitched. He threw 78 strikeouts on the season. He gave up 141 hits and 69 earned runs, including nine home runs. He walked 61 batters.

He used a sinker, a slider, a four-seam fastball, a curveball, and a changeup. He had a 33.7-percent whiff rate on his curveball and was able to put away 16.5-percent of batters with the pitch. That’s not great for considering it’s supposed to be his best pitch.

Hudson had a couple of stints on the injured list and was ultimately demoted to the Memphis Redbirds on Sept. 5. He was called up on Sept. 18, only to be optioned back to Memphis on October 5. He was not on the Cardinals Wild Card roster.

Manager Oli Marmol noted his expectations of Hudson during multiple post-game interviews in hopes that he would work on being more of a groundball pitcher than they’d expected he would be for the team. Marmol grew frustrated, which led to Hudson’s demotion.

Hudson will be in his second arbitration-eligible season in 2023. The team could decide to work with him over the offseason to see if he could develop into the groundball pitcher they hope for or they could move on.

Hudson’s best season for the Cardinals was 2019 when he had a 16-7 record with a 3.35 ERA over 32 starts. Since then, the team has dealt with a Covid shortened season and Hudson’s recovery from Tommy John surgery. Hudson, however, has not returned to the pitcher the team hoped to have.

Hudson could be traded to a team looking for a young pitcher with some experience but has team control remaining. The San Francisco Giants, Oakland A’s or Kansas City Royals could be ideal targets.

If they can trade him, a change in scenery could be good for Hudson.