Cardinals Rumors: 3 players who won’t be on the roster by July 1

Cardinals who won’t be back: Tres Barrera

As great as his mustache may be, Tres Barrera isn’t productive enough to keep in the lineup, even twice a week. Andrew Knizer is the starting catcher for now, and Willson Contreras is earning some reps back by the week.

As Sports Illustrated noted upon his promotion, Barrera was never meant to play a large role in St. Louis. He was, however, an answer to some of their questions behind the dish:

"“At this point, the Cardinals could use all of the help the club could get. St. Louis’ starting pitching has been the club’s biggest issue, but Wainwright hopefully should help with that. Barrera may not play a major role, but he can give the club more depth. Hopefully, these moves can help point the Cardinals in the right direction.”"

Now that Contreras has proven himself capable and made some necessary improvements, he can at least be counted on to back up Knizer and work with the St. Louis pitching staff. Oddly enough, it seems the Cards have blamed just about everyone in the organization but the front office for their pitching woes. Adam Wainwright is fine, as is Miles Mikolas. But what the Cards are lacking is a true ace.

The Cards failed to answer the call this offseason, when they could have signed the likes of Jacob deGrom or Carlos Rodon, among others. They missed out on Sandy Alcantara and Zac Gallen, both of whom were in their system.

Promoting a player like Barrera was always a short-term fix for the Cards. He won’t be missed, especially once Contreras gains his footing behind home plate.