James, 31, was once among the most intriguing young right-handed pitchers in the sport, but injuries and inconsistent performance when healthy have derailed his career. Prior to his release, he posted a 19.26 ERA over 7 2/3 innings with 15 walks against five strikeouts. He’s now free to find a new team.

James didn’t pitch last year after being non-tendered by the Astros following flexor tendon surgery. There are some real durability concerns, but the hard-throwing 30-year-old righty misses a ton of bats and represents an interesting low-risk lottery ticket for the Cardinals. It’ll be interesting to see how he looks in a few weeks during Grapefruit League action.

He's the team's lone non-tender. Mauricio Dubón was the only other arbitration-eligible player probably considered for a non-tender, but since he's not going to make much more than $1 million, he sticks around for now. James looked like a big-time talent upon arriving in 2018, but he hasn't been able to stay healthy since. He underwent flexor tendon surgery on Oct. 1, so he's not going to available at the beginning of next year, either.

The Astros haven't provided a timetable for his potential return and it sounds like James is going to wind up requiring a lengthy absence. The 29-year-old righty wound up missing the entire 2022 campaign due to injury. He was pulled off a recent minor league rehab assignment due to right forearm discomfort, which wound up leading to surgery. There's a decent chance he's non-tendered this offseason.