Which 5 St. Louis Cardinals Non-Roster Invitees Have the Best Chance to Play in the Majors in 2015?
Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
3. Carlos Villanueva, RHP
Villanueva has the strongest credentials of any Cardinals non-roster invitee this season, having appeared in 390 big-league games over nine seasons. He’s definitely got a chance to push for a bullpen spot out of spring training, much like a similarly-experienced reliever, Pat Neshek, did last spring.
With that said, Villanueva might need an injury to occur during the spring (which is by no means out of the question) in order to heighten his chances of making the Opening Day roster. Righthanded relievers Trevor Rosenthal, Seth Maness, Jordan Walden, and Matt Belisle are virtually locked into big-league roster spots by virtue of their experience and status as 40-man roster players, and the Cards will have an open battle for at least two but possibly three lefty spots to be competed for by Kevin Siegrist, Sam Freeman, Randy Choate, Marco Gonzales, and perhaps Jaime Garcia. If Gonzales ends up winning the fifth starter spot in the starting rotation, that could send righty Carlos Martinez back to the bullpen, which would push Villanueva another rung down the ladder.
Because he’s an experienced veteran who finished last season in the big leagues with the Chicago Cubs, Villanueva is subject to a special provision where he must be notified several days in advance of the regular season if he’s going to make the opening roster. If the Cardinals don’t have a spot in the big leagues for him, they are required to offer him an opt-out, and if he decides to stay they have to pay him a $100,000 retention bonus.
Many teams have worked around this in recent years by releasing the player and then signing them to a new minor-league contract later on, but with Villanueva having logged just 14 minor-league games since 2007, he’ll want to explore every avenue possible in order to stay in the major leagues. With the Cardinals having a lack of right-handed bullpen depth, that may mean that he will stick around, but it’s definitely not a given.
Next: 2. Tim Cooney