On November 30th, 17 teams nontendered 27 players from their 40 man roster, which means 27 players suddenly became free agents. Included among that list is Jose Rondon, capable pinch-hitter for the Cardinals in the 2021 season. Unfortunately, it was really the right move. There isn’t really a spot for him on the roster. He can hit left-handed pitchers (101 wRC+ versus 45 wRC+ against RHP in career), which is the most useless skill he could have on this Cardinals roster considering two middle infielders in front of him have similar skills (Tommy Edman and Edmundo Sosa).
He not only is behind those two plus Paul DeJong, he’s also behind Brendan Donovan - if we went into the season with Rondon in the fold and someone got hurt, Donovan would get called up and would take any potential playing time away from him.