The St. Louis Cardinals are working to replace the old guard, but they haven’t yet taken some of the more difficult steps that go along with that goal.
Indeed, the Cardinals cut Ryan Helsley and Phil Maton, their rentals, at the trade deadline. However, some veterans whose contracts are about to expire could be depriving young players that St. Louis views as a part of its future of playing time.
If the Cardinals don’t see any value in having any of their veterans in September, would they consider assigning them? It would be a brutal decision.
FanSided’s Zachary Rotman thinks such actions are coming soon.
In order to free up innings for young pitchers who may contend for rotation places the next season, Rotman forecast on Monday that the Cardinals will DFA Miles Mikolas, who is in his tenth big league season and eighth in St. Louis.
“At the end of the day, starting Mikolas every fifth day doesn’t help the Cardinals organization in any way,” Rotman stated. “The team has gone just 10-12 in his starts (50-47 anytime anyone else takes the ball), and Mikolas has notably folded against great opposition, so it’s not as if he’s helping them win anymore.
“Additionally, this 36-year-old on an expiring contract who almost certainly won’t be back in 2026 is taking a rotation spot from a prospect like Quinn Mathews who deserves a look at this point.”
The fact that Mikolas has been awful—not just this year, but for a long time—cannot be sugarcoated. In actuality, a 5.11 ERA is better than the 5.35 number from a year ago. Home runs tend to sprawl across the bleachers anytime he takes the mound.
However, it would still be rather surprising for St. Louis to fire Mikolas with just one month left and the entire league watching, as baseball players recall brutal front office tactics.
