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The 2014 St. Louis Cardinals opening-day roster matrix

After the exhibition game against Memphis was rained out on Friday, the Cardinals announced the final round of cuts from major-league camp. Now, just one roster decisions remains.

Sugar Shane has won the final bench spot.
Sugar Shane has won the final bench spot.
Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Cardinals started spring training with 58 players in major-league camp—the 39 players then on the club's 40-man roster plus 19 non-roster invitees. The club made several non-roster additions to their roster of MLB campers between the start of spring training and its end today:

  • When Jaime Garcia was shut-down due to shoulder bursitis, the club promoted righthanders Kurt Heyer and Boone Whiting to major-league camp.
  • The Cardinals signed free-agent Cuban shortstop Aledmys Diaz to a major-league contract that placed him on the 40-man roster and earned him a brief stint in major-league camp.
  • The Cardinals promoted righthander Scott McGregor to major-league camp in the middle of spring because the MLB coaching staff was underwhelmed by Keith Butler and Jorge Rondon, and wanted to give McGregor a look.
  • The Cardinals signed veteran righty David Aardsma to a minor-league deal and assigned him to minor-league camp for the club's final springtime exhibition in Florida.

None of these in-camp additions have made the Cardinals' opening-day roster. But a non-roster invitee has made the bullpen.

During spring training, the Cardinals made a subtraction from their 40-man roster by cutting Angel Castro. Non-roster invitee Pat Neshek has been given the spot on the roster vacated by Castro. St. Louis named Neshek to the opening-day MLB bullpen, which means he will earn $1 million. The Cardinals 40-man roster is currently chock full.

On Friday night, the Cardinals announced that Butler, a righty who is on the club's 40-man roster, will fill the final opening-day bullpen slot, which relegated Rondon to Memphis. Aarsdma also accepted an assignment to Memphis but, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, has an opt-out clause in his Cardinals contract that allows him to move on if St. Louis does not promote him to the majors by a set date in May.

Also from Goold (but via a Sunday afternoon tweet), veteran infielder Mark Ellis continues to experience problems with arthritis in his knee. Because of Ellis's condition, the Cardinals have placed him on the disabled list to start the year. Pete Kozma, who traveled with the team to Cincinnati as Ellis insurance, has been placed on the St. Louis 25-man roster and will fill the team's final bench spot.

Final 2014 Spring Training MLB Camp Roster Matrix

IF

OF (& NRI C)

SP

RP

C - Y. Molina

$15.2MM

LF - M. Holliday

$17MM

RHP - A. Wainwright

$19.5MM

LHP - R. Choate

$3MM

1B - M. Adams

$516K

CF - P. Bourjos

$1.2MM

RHP - L. Lynn

$535K

RHP - P. Neshek

$1MM

2B - K. Wong

$500K

RF - A. Craig

$2.75MM

RHP - J. Kelly

$523K

RHP - T. Rosenthal

$521K

3B - M. Carpenter

$1.25MM

OF - J. Jay

$3.25MM

RHP - S. Miller

$521K

RHP - S. Maness

$509K

SS - J. Peralta

$15.5MM

OF - S. Robinson

$519K

RHP - M. Wacha

$510K

RHP - C. Martinez

$505K

IF - D. Descalso

$1.29MM

OF - R. Grichuk

MiLB - 40-man

LHP - J. Garcia

$7.875MM - DL

LHP - K. Siegrist

$505K

C - T. Cruz

$521K

OF - R. Ortega

MiLB - 40-man

LHP - T. Lyons

MiLB - 40-man

RHP - K. Butler

$500K

IF - P. Kozma

$518K

OF - M. O’Neill

MiLB - 40-man

LHP - T. Cooney

MiLB - NRI

RHP - J. Motte

$7.5MM - DL

IF - M. Ellis

$5.25MM - DL

OF - O. Taveras

$500K - 40-man

RHP - K. Heyer

MiLB - NRI

RHP - J. Rondon

MiLB - 40-man

SS - A. Diaz

40-man - $1MM

OF - J. Butler

MiLB - 40-man

RHP - B. Whiting

MiLB - NRI

RHP - E. Fornataro

MiLB - 40-man

C- A. Perez

MiLB - 40-man

C - E. Easley

MiLB - NRI

LHP - M. Gonzales

MiLB - NRI

LHP - S. Freeman

MiLB - 40-man

IF - G. Garcia

MiLB - 40-man

OF - S. Piscotty

MiLB - NRI

RHP S. Gaviglio

MiLB - NRI

RHP - J. Almarante

MiLB - NRI

IF - L. Mateo

MiLB - NRI

OF - J. Ramsey

MiLB - NRI

RHP Z. Petrick

MiLB - NRI

LHP - L. Stoppelman

MiLB - NRI

3B - P. Wisdom

MiLB - NRI

C - T. Tartamella

MiLB - NRI


RHP - S. McGregor

MiLB - NRI

1B - X. Scruggs

MiLB - NRI

C - C. Rasmus

MiLB - NRI


RHP - D. Aardsma

MiLB - NRI

C - C. Kelly

MiLB - NRI


RHP - A. Castro

MiLB - Outrighted


C. - C. Stanley

MiLB - NRI



The following chart shows how the active 25-man MLB roster breaks down with salaries on opening day (with updated 2014 salary figures from Cot's Baseball Contracts). Aledmys Diaz is shown because he will earn a $1 million salary per his MLB contract with the Cardinals. Ty Wigginton is also on the chart because he will be paid by St. Louis this season even though he is not on the team. Neither player is on the active Cardinals roster, but the salaries for both count toward MLB payroll.

2014 Opening Day MLB 25-Man Roster Matrix

IF

OF (& NRI C)

SP

RP

C - Y. Molina

$15.2MM

LF - M. Holliday

$17MM

RHP - A. Wainwright

$19.5MM

LHP - R. Choate

$3MM

1B - M. Adams

$516K

CF - P. Bourjos

$1.2MM

RHP - L. Lynn

$535K

RHP - P. Neshek

$1MM

2B - K. Wong

$500K

RF - A. Craig

$2.75MM

RHP - J. Kelly

$523K

RHP - T. Rosenthal

$521K

3B - M. Carpenter

$1.25MM

OF - J. Jay

$3.25MM

RHP - S. Miller

$521K

RHP - S. Maness

$509K

SS - J. Peralta

$15.5MM

OF - S. Robinson

$519K

RHP - M. Wacha

$510K

RHP - C. Martinez

$505K

IF - D. Descalso

$1.29MM


LHP - J. Garcia

$7.875MM - DL

LHP - K. Siegrist

$505K

C - T. Cruz

$521K



RHP - K. Butler

$500K

IF - P. Kozma

$518K



RHP - J. Motte

$7.5MM - DL

IF - M. Ellis

$5.25MM




SS - A. Diaz

40-man - $1MM




T. Wigginton

$2.5MM




According to Cot's, the Cardinals will have an opening-day payroll of $111.25 million. Of that, $20.625 million will be on the disabled list.

Editor's Note: This post has been updated to reflect the Cardinals' Sunday afternoon roster moves of placing Ellis on the DL and Kozma on the 25-man roster.