By Cardinals Press Release & Chris Brown / STL Baseball Today | Nov. 2, 2015, 3:03 pm

The Cardinals announced on Monday that they have exercised their 2016 club option on left-handed pitcher Jaime Garcia and declined their 2016 club option on right-handed pitcher Jonathan Broxton. The team also announced that infielder Pete Kozma and catchers Ed Easley and Travis Tartamella have been outrighted off the team’s 40-man Major League roster.

Garcia, 29, was 10-6 with a 2.43 ERA in his 20 starts in 2015, going 7-2 from August 1 until season’s end. The Cardinals were 10-2 in his 12 games started during that span. His 2016 option is worth $11.5 million.

After injuries limited the lefty to just 99 innings over the past two years, Garcia threw 129 2/3 innings in 2015, the third-highest total of his seven-year career.

Broxton, 31, was 3-3 with a 2.66 ERA in 26 games pitched for the Cardinals following his acquisition on July 31 in a trade with Milwaukee. After the Cardinals declined his $9 million club option, the veteran right-hander now becomes a free agent.

Kozma appeared in 76 games for the Cardinals this past season while batting just .152 with no extra-base hits. After parts of five seasons in the majors with the redbirds, the 27-year-old’s time wearing the birds on the bat appears to be over.

Easley, 29, and Tartamella, 27, both made their Major League debuts during the 2015 campaign.

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Featured image used under Creative Commons from Barbara Moore. No changes made. Image License.