Jay, under contract for $6.225 million 2016, sits a year away from free agency and no longer had a defined role with a club that drafted him in 2006 and brought him to the Majors four years later. Jay was a part of a club that captured a World Series championship in 2011, the start of a five-year run in which the Cardinals have advanced to the postseason each season.
"You think about his impact as a player, what he meant to his teammates as a friend, and what he was like in the clubhouse, it was special," general manager John Mozeliak said.