Cardinals waive perfect bullpen reclamation project for Dodgers

If there's one thing the Los Angeles Dodgers have consistently done over the last decade, it's get the most out of pitchers, whether it be in the starting rotation or bullpen. Los Angeles has the uncanny ability to bring a pitcher to Chavez Ravine and completely turn their career around for the better.

Any pitcher that has any lick of potential will be maximized by the Dodgers (more often than not) and it's a beautiful business pairing for both parties. The Dodgers get someone to get outs in the regular season and playoffs and the pitcher gets new life breathed into their career that otherwise wouldn't have been possible.

With the Dodgers' bullpen struggling this season (albeit improving in recent weeks), fans are actively searching for the next potential reclamation project. They may have finally gotten their answer on Monday, as the St. Louis Cardinals decided to designate left-hander Genesis Cabrera for assignment.

Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak put to bed the idea of Cabrera returning to the organization in the minor leagues, saying that the left-hander would get an opportunity somewhere else. Manager Oliver Marmol said that it was "time for (Cabrera) to have a change of scenery."

Genesis Cabrera could be a perfect reclamation project for the Dodgers

Cabrera's numbers on the surface level don't look very promising, but that's the whole point here. The hard-throwing southpaw has a 5.06 ERA and 1.56 WHIP in 32 innings pitched this season. This is coming after a full season in which he he sported a 4.63 ERA for the Cards.

However, even his numbers from last year are not indicative of how he pitched throughout the course of the entire season. Cabrera had a sub-3.00 ERA entering August. A few disastrous outings at the end of the season really inflated the numbers. That's what happens when you have three outings in a month with 11 runs allowed, seven of which came in his last two outings of the season.

Cabrera still has a great 2020 and solid 2021 season to bank on with nasty stuff that the Dodgers can hone in on. Whether it be tweaking his pitch usage to favor his better pitches or a slight mechanical tweak, the Dodgers have shown that they will make the right changes to maximize someone with raw talent, which Cabrera definitely has. On the other hand, the Cardinals are famously bad at this.

This is a guy that just three years ago ranked in the top-two percentile in average exit velocity, per Baseball Savant. Cabrera is only 26 years old and, at his core, he's a wipeout lefty with nasty stuff. All it takes is the right team to unlock him and the Dodgers should take a chance because they're due for a rebound after whiffing on Noah Syndergaard, Jimmy Nelson, Alex Reyes and Tommy Kahnle.