With a new regime set to take over at the conclusion of the 2025 season, it might be a good idea to take stock of the depth in the Cardinals’ organization. I think it is helpful to sort of map out a potential future by looking at both what is already in the majors and what could be coming. It helps to plan, know where you are particularly weak and know where you are strong.
For example, the depth of the Cardinals catching situation is well-known. This tells us that the Cardinals are unlikely to need
to invest in catching either through free agency or trades. Other positions are not as fortunate. Since the Cardinals seem unlikely to tap into the free agent market to fill their weaknesses, trading from a position of strength to get a position of weakness seems like the best way to improve the team. I’m focusing specifically on the position players as pitchers tends to be a different animal.
Catcher
MLB
Pedro Pages (Service time: 1.666, 27-years-old)
Arbitration Eligible: 2027 (Super Two)
Eligible for Free Agency: 2031
Quick explanations: The service time listed is at the conclusion of 2025 season (sometimes I’ll have to estimate, but he was up all year), and the year listed for arbitration eligible is the first year they won’t make league minimum. In Pages’ case, it’s not automatic, but he will have to spend some of next season in the minors to not qualify. He’s a sure thing otherwise. And when I say eligible for free agency in 2031, I mean their last season as a Cardinal is 2030 unless the Cardinals sign them for years beyond their team control years. 2031 would be their first post-free agent season.
Ivan Herrera (Service time: 2.034, 26)
Arbitration Eligible: 2027
Eligible for Free Agency: 2030
Until they officially announce he moves to a different position, he’s still in this section. I think they can afford to try him out for one more season. Yohel Pozo has fallen off considerably. He will not be in this post, because it’s meant to be a forward-looking post and I honestly don’t think he’ll be here next year. Also, Herrera’s bat has cooled off. There’s a pretty big difference between a 120 wRC+ catcher and a 120 wRC+ DH. The latter will still absolutely play, but it’s a pretty, pretty big difference in value.
Jimmy Crooks (24)
ETA: 2026
You might be wondering why he’s in MLB despite never playing in the MLB. This is written as if it’s the beginning of the 2026 season. In order to assess the depth to see what pieces can be moved this offseason, we need to assess how crowded the MLB looks. Having said all that, I’m kind of the low man on Jimmy Crooks as far as MLB-readiness. His bat doesn’t seem ready to me. He has an average walk rate, a too high K rate, average power, and a very high BABIP and it’s all translated to a 104 wRC+. The BABIP is not likely to come with him to the majors, everything else is. Despite my reservations, if Herrera or Pages got hurt in April next season, I don’t hesitate to promote him.
Minors
Leonardo Bernal (22)
ETA: 2027
If you’re noticing every player seems a year older than they actually are, it’s because again we’re pretending this is the beginning of the 2026 season. Next year is Bernal’s age 22 season like next year is Jimmy Crooks age 24 season. In some cases, the age they are now will end up matching because their birthday was after July. Kind of like Crooks and given how the Cardinals have handled catcher in the past, I think 2027 is probably the “fill-in for an injury” year and 2028 is really the first year I imagine being when they are full-blown MLB players. Given Bernal’s presence and potential trades, maybe the Cardinals push Crooks as a full-time MLB player next year though.
Raniel Rodriguez (19)
ETA: 2029
I am unwilling to be more optimistic on a catching prospect than projecting one level at a time. If anyone might buck this trend, it’s Rodriguez. He’ll be 22 in 2029, so he’ll still be quite young. But again, as a fan who has experienced Bryan Anderson, Carson Kelly, and Ivan Herrera, catchers have a habit of being in the minors much longer than you’d expect. There are exceptions, but those exceptions are older prospects, like Andrew Knizner or Pedro Pages.
Other prospects of note
Ryan Campos (23)
Estimated level at start of 2026: AA (104 wRC+ in High A)
Josh Kross (23)
Estimated level: High A (87 wRC+ in High A)
Sammy Hernandez (22)
Estimated level: High A (101 wRC+ in Low A)
Juan Rijano (18)
Estimated level: Complex (123 wRC+ in DSL)
First base
MLB
Willson Contreras (34)
Remaining Contract: 2 years, $41.5 million with a club option
Contreras has a $17.5 million club option for 2028 with a $5 million buyout, which is baked into his remaining contract. Which means when 2028 comes, if he’s still here, the Cardinals have to decide if they want to burn $5 million or spend an additional $12 million on Contreras.
Alec Burleson (Service Time: 3.029, 27)
Estimated arbitration: $3 million
Eligible for free agency: 2029
I don’t actually know what his arbitration price will be. He should be valued as a league average player, and if arbitration still pays players 25% of their overall value, it would be about $2.5 million. Something tells me arbitration is going to “overrate” Burleson though because of the high average and decent homer output. And a suspicion not a lot of weight is put on defense in these things. So if he exceeds $3 million, I would not be surprised.
I’m not going to list them, but two other players who I think count as potential 1B depth are Nolan Gorman and Ivan Herrera. Obviously Contreras would have to go for this to work. Herrera’s bat would play at 1B and it’d be a bonus if he took to 1B as easily as Contreras has. Gorman probably has to reach another level to move to 1B and/or be surprisingly good at defense there despite never having played there.
Minors
Blaze Jordan (23)
ETA: 2026
Again, I know I’m being confusing here. Crooks has now played a full season in AAA and if trades or injuries created a hole, the Cardinals would be perfectly willing to start Crooks in the majors on day one. I don’t think we can say the same for Blaze Jordan. But his ETA is still 2026 because he’s fairly likely to make his MLB debut next season. But he’s played a grand total of 62 games at AAA and not been particularly impressive there either.
Jack Gurevitch (22)
ETA: 2029
Just for the record, for ETAs, for the most part, I’m just going a year at a time. The Gurevitch who becomes a real prospect is probably 2028 though, when he’ll be 24. I think a 3rd rounder is both notable enough to be listed here, but also low enough in the draft to not assume he’ll be skipping levels.
Raniel Rodriguez (19)
ETA: 2028
That’s right. I’m listing him twice. The catcher version of Rodriguez is fairly likely to progress slowly, but his bat might be too insane to stay at catcher. And look at what’s ahead of him. Just based on watching highlights, he looks like a guy who would only be able to move to 1B. So I’m not going to play the game of listing him on every section. He’s Rule 5 eligible in December of 2028, and it’s pretty easy to see him getting a call-up that year if he just continues mashing.
Second Base
MLB
Brendan Donovan (Service Time: 4.000, 29)
Estimated Arbitration: $5 million
Eligible for free agency: 2028
Okay we’ve flirted with players at different positions, but it goes into overdrive at 2B and 3B. And it especially goes into overdrive with Brendan Donovan. I’m only picking one position for what we’ll call the profile, and I’m picking 2B for Donovan. I’m not exactly guessing for arbitration, but I’m not using a scientific method here either. My arbitration estimates should be in the general ballpark.
Thomas Saggese (Service Time: 0.145, 24)
Arbitration Eligible: 2028 (Super Two)
Eligible for free agency: 2032
The successful version of Saggese is certainly reaching free agency for the first time before the 2032 season. He needs to spend nearly a whole year in the minors to get an extra year of control and he’s probably bad if that ends up happening. The arbitration number is very flexible however. Once you get down to about 120 days of service time, you’re probably not eligible for Super Two. So if he’s in the minors for a little over a month, he’ll have to wait a year for arbitration. He has two options and hasn’t been great this year, so it’s pretty easy to imagine the actual number being 2029.
JJ Wetherholt (23)
ETA: 2026
If Masyn Winn wasn’t here, he’d be listed in the shortstop section. But Winn is here and he’s not getting traded, so Wetherholt is seen by me at least as a 2B.
Other players of Note
I feel guilty not listing Jose Fermin anywhere, but I’m not convinced he’s still in the organization next season and he’s definitely not a starter. He has five years of team control and no options. Also, I feel compelled to list Nolan Gorman, but it sure seems like if Gorman stays next year, he’s either a DH or a 3B. Also apologies to Cesar Prieto, who could not possibly be in a worse organization to be given a chance. He’s a poor man’s Alec Burleson, and a left-handed Jose Fermin (lack of strikeouts) or Thomas Saggese (the free swinger). Pick a thing he does well, and there’s a better version of that above him. It’s almost comical.
Minors
Jesus Baez (21)
ETA: 2028
Despite the truly absurd amount of 2B seen at the MLB level, they don’t really have many actual prospects here. Baez isn’t really seen as a 2B, but it is a position he sometimes plays. He counts as depth.
Jonathan Mejia (21)
ETA: 2029
Mejia has had some serious strikeout issues in Low A and he’s going to need a Joshua Baez like ascent at this point. He’ll repeat Low A next year and I figure the version of him who clicks is probably going to advance a couple levels in one year, so 2029, believe it or not, is optimistic.
Third Base
MLB
Nolan Arenado (35)
Remaining Contract: 2 years, $32 million
The Rockies are still chipping in $5 million for 2026, so the Cardinals do not actually have that much invested in Nolan Arenado at this point. I mean that’s a contract where you can tell Arenado: you’re not a true starter anymore. If you want to play like a starter, play better. They can be nicer than that, but the contract is also not especially tradable either, especially if he wants to go to a playoff team.
Nolan Gorman (Service Time: 3.114, 26)
Estimated Arbitration: $2 million
Eligible for free agency: 2029
I just picked a number out of a hat for Gorman for his arbitration. You can never go wrong with a few million for somebody’s first year. I would be shocked if it’s more than $3 million. He might be valued for his homers, but I feel like his .223 career average will hurt him. Do I know that arbitration still uses traditional stats? No, but they don’t seem to use WAR either, so who knows.
Every MLB player in the 2B section is also kind of here as well. I’m not going to repeat the names, because we all understand that there’s some transference of defensive skills from 2B to 3B – they are valued the same on the defensive spectrum. Obviously, not all of them will play both positions equally, because a 3B needs an arm and a 2B needs range.
Minors
Blaze Jordan
He is for now potential 3B depth even though everyone thinks he’s going to stick at 1B long-term.
Deniel Ortiz (21)
ETA: 2028
Ortiz is playing a healthy amount of 1B in the minors, but 3B is still the primary position. He’s only in High A and was drafted in the 16th round, but he’s crushing High A too. It has only been 20 games, but it’s easy enough to see him at least finishing next season in AA, and then he’s already in AAA in 2027. If you’re all in on Ortiz, he’s Rule 5 eligible at the end of 2027, so even a 2027 debut is on the table. If that season happens of course.
Jesus Baez
Shortstop
MLB
Masyn Winn (Service Time: 2.045 years, 24)
Arbitration Eligible: 2027
Eligible for free agency: 2030
Get that long-term extension done.
JJ Wetherholt
Even though he isn’t expected to play SS on a team with Winn, given Winn’s injury concerns that have flared up here and there, having a legit SS prospect who can start when he needs a day off is very convenient. So he’ll still play his fair share of games.
Minors
Jesus Baez
I’m kind of assuming he’s not a real SS prospect, but the minors are so bereft of SS prospects that they have Prieto playing SS in AAA and Baez has started 10 out of a possible 18 games at SS – and four were at DH.
Yairo Padilla (19)
ETA: 2029
I’m breaking my one level at a time rule on this one. If he’s anywhere near the prospect scouts seem to think he is, he will probably at one point at least, play two levels in the same year.
Other prospect of note
Jeremy Rivas (23)
Estimated Level: AA (73 wRC+ in AA)
Rivas is a player the Cardinals kept promoting despite his bat not being up to snuff because of his defense, and it seems like AA is the level where they try and develop his bat. He had a better than expected season last year, but with a .048 ISO at Springfield, he needed to develop some power. He did do that, but his K rate ballooned and his BABIP went way down. He seems like an easy player to give a minor league extension to and he’s no Rule 5 threat, so hopefully he can make more strides next season.
And I’ll have to stop here. I will probably have a part two with outfielders and maybe pitchers. I was actually planning to ignore pitchers, but if I have a part two, it seems like I would need to write about pitchers. Didn’t expect this to run so long, so I’m forced to stop at the infield.
