3 Cardinals players who won't be on the roster by June and who should replace them

This season, much like last year, hasn't been good for the St. Louis Cardinals. Their former MVP, Paul Goldschmidt has struggled so badly that he needed time away from the game. Their manager has become so frustrated with the lineup that he's tossed the blame on them. The entire season has fallen apart in front of their eyes.

St. Louis will likely look to rebuild this roster from the ground up, starting with replacing players on the roster in the coming weeks. Some players just don't have the production to stay with a big league team and some players have been so productive that they need to be playing for a contending team.

3. Ryan Helsley will be traded and replaced by Andre Pallante

The first name on this list might not fit in with the others. The Cardinals shouldn't and wouldn't get rid of Ryan Helsley because of lack of production. They would move him in a trade to a contender and replace him with another reliever from the minors.

Helsley won't survive the 2024 trade deadline with the Cardinals. He is far too talented and performing far too well this season for him to remain on a struggling team. In 2024, Helsley has 13 saves, a 1.35 ERA and 23 strikeouts compared to two walks.

Replacing Helsley within the organization would be impossible. There are only a few arms on the entire planet that can produce the way the Cardinals closer does. But St. Louis won't be looking to replace his production just yet. They would just be filling his roster spot.

That's where Andre Pallante comes into play. Pallante, a righty, has spent time in the big leagues with the Cardinals including nine games this year. The 25-year-old was going through a bit of a down year before being sent to the minors. He'll absolutely make a return to the big league team this year, where it's a matter of when, not if.

Pallante has been promising, mainly in his rookie season two years ago. His contract flexibility due to having options on his contract made him easy to move to Triple-A, but if St. Louis looks to trade Helsley, Pallante is likely the arm to replace him on the roster.

2. Veteran Brandon Crawford will be replaced by Jose Fermin in the near future

St Louis appears to have their shortstop of the future in the young, uber-talented Mason Wynn. Wynn, who's showcased one of the more impressive arms in the game, is slashing .281/.346/.364 in his age-22 season.

This performance has left the Cardinals veteran Brandon Crawford without a place on the team. His offensive struggles haven't helped his cause either and his time in the big leagues could be coming to an end, at least in St. Louis.

Crawford, 37, is signed to a one-year deal. The shortstop is slashing .107/.194/.107 through 28 at-bats, leaving him as one of the worst rostered hitters in the entire game of baseball. St. Louis has to have a better option, in fact, he might be the worst option possible.

The veteran has no future with the team, as this may even be his last season of professional baseball. St. Louis, who's about to enter a full-scale rebuild, doesn't really need the services of a 37-year-old. In fact, they would be much better off calling Jose Fermin, a young infielder, back up and giving him a better chance at figuring it out at the major league level.

Fermin, 25, hasn't been great in his time in the big leagues. But he's only 25. He has a ton of time to figure it out and a ton of potential to fill. His future resides in St. Louis, especially if they opt to move on from the Hall of Fame duo of Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado.

Either way, Brandon Crawford isn't a part of the Cardinals' future and, quite honestly, he shouldn't be a part of their present either.

1. Catcher Pedro Pages will be replaced by Willson Contreras when he's healthy

This swap should come as no surprise. Pedro Pages made the roster due to a Willson Contreras injury and his time on the roster will come to an end when Contreras returns. It's as simple as that.

Pages remains the third catching option in St. Louis though. This means that whenever Contreras or Ivan Herrera go down, Pages will always be the next man up. At a spot as brutal and taxing as the catching position, this likely isn't the last stint that Pages will make in the big leagues this season.

But the Cardinals do miss the production of Contreras and they need it back desperately. Across around 100 at-bats in 2024, Contreras was slashing .280/.398/.551 before he landed on the IL. He ranks first on the Cardinals in OPS, SLG, OBP, OPS+, home runs, and doubles despite having fewer at-bats than the rest of the everyday guys.

Pedro Pages is still just 25 years old, leaving the door open for a future in St. Louis. The issue for him is the Willson Contreras extension through the 2028 season and how productive Ivan Herrera has been ahead of him.

It seems as though he may be stuck in the uncomfortable third catching spot, where a team will only carry two catchers.