There may not be a name on the St. Louis Cardinals roster that catches more hate than Brett Cecil. After signing his four-year, $30.5M contract before the 2017 season, Cecil had a good year before injuries derailed his past two seasons.
In that 2017 season, Cecil pitched in 73 games and had an excellent FIP of 3.26 which made his 3.88 ERA seem unlucky. Cecil was 9% above average in 2017 which was a step down from the four years he had before with the Blue Jays, but he still was worth the money was being paid as the primary lefty out of the Cardinals’ bullpen.