5 Cardinals on the 40-man roster who won’t survive the 2024 season

4) Luken Baker won't be on the 40-man roster by the end of the season

Luken Baker was drafted in the second round of the 2018 MLB Draft by the Cardinals and finally made his MLB Debut this past season for St. Louis. Baker got a couple cups of coffee in the majors in the early months of the season but really got to play more consistently after the trade deadline.

Baker was up from August 12th through the remainder of the season and got to play semi-regularly, but didn't show much, slashing .209/.313/.374 overall with two home runs and 10 RBI. He struck out 31 times in 86 at-bats, an amount far too high.

Baker has shown some things in the minors posting an .829 OPS in his five years in the Cardinals system, but he hasn't done enough to prove he's a must-keep on St. Louis' 40-man roster. He finally got his first taste of the majors as a 26-year-old, but it feels like for him to get another taste there will have to be injuries or he'll have to move onto another team.

The reason for this is for the simple fact that he plays the same position as Paul Goldschmidt. While it's not impossible the Cardinals trade Goldy away by the trade deadline, that certainly isn't likely, at least for right now. The DH spot is his only other option, and that's likely to be taken up by Brendan Donovan for now. Even with an injury, Dylan Carlson would presumably step into the outfield with one of their outfielders or even Alec Burelson filling in as the DH. With Baker having no place to play anytime soon, the Cardinals have no real reason to keep him around much longer.