Inside The Cardinals

Cardinals Predicted To Cut Ties With $55 Million All-Star in Free Agency

It's time to move on from Miles Mikolas...
Zach Pressnell|
Aug 11, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas (39) pitches against the Colorado Rockies during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
Aug 11, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas (39) pitches against the Colorado Rockies during the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

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St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals are likely headed for a long and stressful rebuild. Their roster simply doesn't have the talent it needs to compete at the highest level, especially considering how talented some of the teams at the top of the league are.

The Cardinals are transitioning power from John Mozeliak as the president of baseball operations to Chaim Bloom. With this move, St. Louis will begin its rebuild on the right foot under new leadership.

But there are still quite a few tough decisions to make in the winter. The Cardinals have a few potential trade candidates to consider moving. Players like Lars Nootbaar, Nolan Arenado, Brendan Donovan, and Sonny Gray could be trade chips. The Cardinals will also have to navigate free agency a bit better than they did last winter.

Bleacher Report's Tim Kelly recently predicted the Cardinals would cut ties with veteran pitcher Miles Mikolas at the end of the season, and the decision couldn't be an easier one for the Cardinals to make.

Miles Mikolas likely won't be back in St. Louis after this season

St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikola
Aug 11, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas (39) walks off the field after he was removed from the game against the Colorado Rockies during the seventh inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

"Mikolas once was an excellent pitcher for the Cardinals, but while he's continued to eat innings, he has a 5.04 ERA over the lifetime of his three-year, $55.75 million deal," Kelly wrote. "If the 37-year-old hopes to continue his career, it's going to have to come elsewhere."

Cutting ties with Mikolas is a very easy decision for St. Louis to make. In fact, it wouldn't be surprising if the Cardinals waived or cut the veteran hurler in the final weeks of the season.

For the last few years, the Cardinals' veteran righty has been one of the worst-qualified starting pitchers in all of baseball, and the team has been paying him nearly $20 million a year to perform at this level.

The Cardinals also have a farm system full of talented pitching prospects who could take Mikolas' place. Quinn Mathews and Tink Hence should be good to go in St. Louis by opening day.

Either way, Mikolas has to go. There's no room for dead weight in the Cardinals' rebuild.

More MLB: Cardinals Pushed To Cut Ties With 7-Year Veteran Reliever

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Zach Pressnell
ZACH PRESSNELL

Zach Pressnell has experience covering all major US sports at both the professional and collegiate levels. He’s produced content for FanSided, Blog Red Machine, The Game Haus, Bethany College Athletics and the Bethany College online newspaper, He graduated from Bethany College (WV) with a degree in Communications and Media Arts, specializing in Sports Journalism. Pressnell was also a four-year member of the baseball team where he earned himself All-PAC recognition as a pitcher (and a cool Tommy John surgery scar). Now, Pressnell specializes in NFL and MLB coverage for Sports Illustrated’s “On SI” network among others. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "St. Louis Cardinals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org

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