We are in the baseball dead zone between Christmas and New Year’s, so it’s as good a time as any to reflect on the last calendar year.
We are now more than one year into the rebuild, regardless of how the Cardinals front office and ownership have changed the branding. There have been some notable setbacks, starting with the lack of development of Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman. Down on the farm, it was a disappointing year for some of the upper-level arms in the organization with Tekoah Roby, Tink
Hence, Cooper Hjerpe, and Quinn Mathews battling various combinations of injury and inconsistency, keeping all four safely away from the Busch Stadium mound. There were plenty of positive stories too. Below, I have ranked the 10 developments from 2025 that I believe had the biggest positive impact on the organization’s trajectory.
10. Two Volunteers
Liam Doyle and Tanner Franklin were drafted in the first and second rounds, respectively, of the 2025 MLB draft out of the University of Tennessee. Their selections marked a departure from a draft strategy that had historically focused on players with higher floors and relatively low ceilings. Doyle and Franklin had two of the best fastballs in the entire draft, both having topped 100 mph while sitting in the mid-to-upper 90s. The risk? Franklin was walking a batter per inning as a relief pitcher at Kennesaw State during his first two years of college. Doyle pitches with a violently entertaining delivery, looking like he might burst into flames or fight the opposing team’s bench at any minute. These two pitchers are exciting in their own right, but they also clearly represent a (hopefully) exciting and productive shift in philosophy from the top.
9. Young Bullpen Emerges
The Cardinals had a top 10 bullpen according to FanGraphs WAR in 2025. While Phil Maton, Steven Matz, and Ryan Helsley pitched in some, the story was the emergence of Matt Svansen, Riley O’Brien, and Kyle Leahy. While Leahy could be on the move to the rotation in 2026, the presence of O’Brien and Svansen along with Andre Granillo and Gordon Graceffo give the Cardinals a solid starting point for another above-average bullpen. This will come in handy in both a surprise playoff contention run as well as another potential deadline selloff over the next several years.
8. Springfield Mafia Assembles
Springfield won the Texas League championship led by a pitching staff of post-hype and relatively unheralded prospects that will be matriculating up to Memphis next season. Brycen Mautz had the 19th best xFIP in the minors while earning himself a 40-man roster spot. Ixan Henderson put himself firmly on the radar while leading the Texas League in ERA at 2.59. Pete Hansen and Hancel Rincon both had good seasons from the left side as well. The bullpen was led by Luis Gastelum and his transcendent changeup. On the offensive side, even after Nathan Church and JJ Wetherholt were promoted to Memphis, there was plenty of prospect firepower left with Joshua Baez, Leonardo Bernal, Zach Levenson, Chase Davis, and Ramon Mendoza finishing out the year in Springfield.
7. All the Trades
Starting at the 2025 deadline, the departures of Steven Matz, Ryan Helsley, Phil Maton, Sonny Gray, and Willson Contreras brought an influx of prospects to the system not seen since… well, 2023. It has been a long few years. In addition to nine minor leaguers brought in via those trades, Hunter Dobbins and Richard Fitts provide immediate depth and upside to a rotation that is in serious need of both. The most encouraging part of the transactions was the fact that salary relief went to Boston in both the Gray and Contreras trades to juice the prospect capital coming back.
6. Matthew Liberatore Back in the Rotation
Two curveball specialists, former first-round picks through their age 25 season:
Player A: 334 IP, 7.33 K/9, 2.99 BB/9
Player B: 279 IP, 6.71 K/9, 3.00 BB/9
Player A is Liberatore, and Player B is Adam Wainwright. A lot of work is ahead of Libby to make this comparison look like anything other than a cruel joke, but 2025 was a great step in the right direction.
5. Ivan Herrera Keeps on Hitting
Herrera has been around forever. He played his first season in the Dominican Summer League back in 2018 and has been on the prospect radar since 2019. He has officially arrived and after putting together a 137 wRC+ season over 452 plate appearances, he stands as the clear best hitter on the team. Whether he is part of the next contending core or the next fire sale is TBD, but Herrera is officially one of the most valuable members of the organization.
4. Masyn Winn Keeps Fielding
Winn was able to follow up his 3.6 WAR rookie season with a 3.5 WAR encore despite battling a knee injury that cut his season short. Winn’s 6.3 WAR through his age 23 season are the most for a Cardinals player since Colby Rasmus all the way back in 2010. He may not be a superstar yet, but 2025 solidified Winn as an All-Star-level player with room to grow.
3. Joshua Baez Back from the Dead
Coming into the year, Joshua Baez seemed like a player on his way out of baseball. He struck out 37% of the time in High-A in 2024. Twelve months later, he is poised to join Baseball America’s top 100 prospect list after nearly cutting his K rate in half while advancing to Double-A Springfield. With the lack of power on the major league roster, Baez’s emergence is a huge boost to the upper level outfield depth. You cannot expect too much from a player with 331 Double-A plate appearances, but if Baez continues his current trajectory, he could be knocking on the door by the middle of 2026.
2. Rainiel Rodriguez Bursts onto the Scene
Rodriguez went from a relatively unknown prospect to a consensus top 100 prospect in all of baseball. It is hard to overstate just how good his season was as an 18-year-old playing the majority of the year in full season ball. From 2006 to 2025, Rodriguez has the fourth highest ISO of any 18-year-old in A-ball with at least 250 plate appearances. Ahead of him on the list are Giancarlo Stanton, Jackson Chourio, and Xander Bogaerts. Ranking right behind him are Arjun Nimmala (a current top prospect in the Blue Jays system), Fernando Tatis Jr., and Bryce Harper.
1. JJ Wetherholt Answers the Bell
Enough has been said about Wetherholt, so I will not rehash all his exploits here. It is easy to forget that there were serious questions about his health coming into the year as well as a slow start in the power department. He showed no ill-effects from the hamstring injury that likely cost him the chance to go first overall in the 2024 draft and established himself as a top 5 or 10 prospect in all of baseball. He played in 109 games while improving his power as the season progressed. Wetherholt had only 5 home runs through his first 61 games of the year but turned it on in July hitting 12 over his final 48 games.
All things considered, the young talent in the organization improved drastically in 2025. The player development apparatus is showing early positive signs and the players being brought in via trade and the draft have a distinctly new look.
