5 Cardinals on the 40-man roster who won’t survive the 2024 season
The St. Louis Cardinals entered the offseason coming off one of their worst seasons in recent memory, winning just 71 games and missing the playoffs. This offseason the Cardinals have gotten better thanks to the team signing Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn, and Kyle Gibson while also trading for Andrew Kittredge.
More moves could be coming for St. Louis, but most of their team figures to be set heading into the 2024 season. They hope to be competitive, but it'll really all come down to how good their pitching is, and how their two superstars, Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, bounce back.
The Cardinals have a full 40-man roster as of January 14, so for them to make any other moves they're going to have to clear 40-man space. These five players could be off of the 40-man roster as soon as when St. Louis opts to make their next move, and they'll all be gone by the time the season comes to an end.
5) Ryan Fernandez has a hard road ahead of him to end the year on the Cardinals 40-man roster
The Cardinals made a selection in the Rule-5 Draft, taking reliever Ryan Fernandez from the Boston Red Sox. Fernandez made his way up to AAA Worcester in the Red Sox system this past season, but he posted an ERA of 6.16 in his 26 appearances there.
He has good stuff, topping out velocity-wise in the mid-to-upper 90's, and has a cutter and slider as well. He was a player the Cardinals likely eyed because of his strikeout numbers. He fanned 67 batters in 54.1 innings of work, and has been an above-average strikeout pitcher throughout his minor league career.
There's no doubting he has the makings of being a good reliever one day if things go well, but the odds are just so stacked against any Rule-5 Draft pick. By being selected in the Rule-5 Draft, this right-hander will have to stay on the active roster the entire season or else he'll have to go back to Boston.
As much fun as it is to see Rule-5 players succeed, it's mostly fun because it's so rare. Fernandez has to pitch well enough to stay on the roster, and the chances of him doing that are probably slimmer than we'd like to admit.