5 St. Louis Cardinals players who won’t be on the roster next season

The St. Louis Cardinals are in a position that's rather new to them, as the team currently sits 61-78 on the season, last in the NL Central. The Cardinals will miss the postseason for the first time since 2018 and will finish under .500 for the first time since 2007. Just a disastrous year from start to finish.

A lousy year like this one means there will be some changes within the organization. Will those changes go back to guys like Oli Marmol or John Mozeliak? That remains to be seen. There will undoubtedly be changes within the current active roster.

These are five players who are suffering through this miserable year right now who will not be back next season.

1) Adam Wainwright will not be on the Cardinals roster next season

The first one is also the most obvious one, as Adam Wainwright not only won't be on the Cardinals roster, he won't be playing anywhere. The legendary right-hander is retiring after 18 brilliant seasons all with St. Louis.

After completing another solid year in 2022, it felt like the 42-year-old had a couple more years in him. Turns out he made the right choice to announce that this season would be his last, as Wainwright clearly has nothing left.

The former ace of the staff is a shell of himself, going 3-10 with an ERA of 8.18 in 18 starts and 83.1 innings pitched. He's averaging a career-low 4.9 K/9 while allowing a career-high 1.7 HR/9 and a whopping 14.3 H/9. The Cardinals were relying on Wainwright to be the reliable innings eater he had always been, but that plan along with many others they had fell flat.

The only question about Wainwright now is will he appear in Cooperstown someday?