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Cardinals Should Embrace Youth in Organization Moving into Next Season

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The St. Louis Cardinals are heading towards a second straight season missing the postseason. While the team was more competitive in 2024 than in 2023, it’s clear there needs to be roster changes heading into next season. With plenty of youth waiting in the wings, the answer to the Cardinals’ needs could already be in the organization.

Cardinals Should Embrace The Youth Within the Organization

Evaluating Young Talent in the Final Weeks

While not mathematically eliminated yet, the Cardinals’ fate seems clear. The organization will likely use this time to evaluate young bats, such as Thomas Saggese, Luken Baker, and the often mismanaged Jordan Walker.

“These young guys are going to play,” said manager Oliver Marmol on KMOX radio on Sunday.  “There’s a lot of teaching moments when you sit down after the at-bats and definitely after the game and go through that at-bat by at-bat and pitch by pitch.”

Of the Cardinals starting lineup in Sunday’s 3-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, only Nolan Arenado was older than 27.

The organization has seen enough from rookie shortstop Masyn Winn, utility man Brendan Donovan, and outfielders Alec Burleson, Lars Nootbaar, and defensive wiz Michael Siani to feel confident that they will likely be part of the 2025 Opening Day Roster. However, exciting young players like No. 4 prospect infielder Saggese, Baker, and infielder José Fermín are likely to see a lot of at-bats as the organization evaluates their future.

“Obviously when you look at where we are in the season and you start to put a little focus on the future and what that might look like, obviously you’re trying to give some guys some opportunities, a little runway to see what we have and just have a better understanding,” Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak told KMOX.

The team still has some evaluating to do on its two rookie catchers, Ivan Herrera and Pedro Pages. Another objective is determining if they can try again with Jordan Walker in 2025, as the 22-year-old former top prospect has shown flashes of high-level baseball in his short career. Mozeliak cautioned that all the decisions won’t be based on what the team sees in September.

“But it is a little glimpse of the future, and I think we should take advantage of that,” Mozeliak said. 

Aging Superstars

The Cardinals offense was their primary downfall in 2024. A lot of those issues stemmed from the disappointing seasons of Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt. A season of injuries for Willson Contreras also hurt the team, as he was effective while in the lineup. He had a team-high OPS of .848 with a .262/.380/.468 slash line in 84 games played.

Goldschmidt turned 37 last week and is wrapping up his worst season as an MLB player. He’s posted a career-worst batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage in 2024 with a .247/.303/.414 slash line. He also has a career-worst OPS of .718 in 2024. Goldschmidt is set to be a free agent this offseason.

The team has options at first base with Burleson and Baker. With Baker, the team has a power option who across four seasons in Triple-A has a slash line of .259/.351/.528. So far in 15 games with the Cardinals this season, Baker has struggled, but has managed nine RBI and two home runs. The 25-year-old Burleson had a breakout year in 2024 and currently leads the team in both home runs and RBI with a .270/.312/.431 slash line.

The 33-year-old Arenado has three years and $52 million left on his contract. His OPS of .712 this season is the lowest since his rookie year. His 16 home runs and 66 RBI are both the second-lowest totals of his 12-year career.

If the Cardinals wanted to find a way to trade him, they do have young talent that can play third base like Saggese and Donovan. There is also the potential of 2024 first-round pick JJ Wetherholt picking up third base in the minors, though he is likely at least a year away from joining the big league club.

An Old Starting Rotation

The Cardinals starting rotation has been passable this season, but not overly impressive. They are 17th in MLB in team ERA at 4.11. They have the eighth-highest starter ERA at 4.46. At the same time, they have the seventh-lowest bullpen ERA in MLB at 3.64.

The team has the fourth oldest average pitcher age at 30.9. Steven Matz was the youngest of the team’s starting rotation to open the season at 32.

The one certainty for the Cardinals starting rotation next year seems to be 34-year-old Sonny Gray. He is under contract through 2026 with a club option for 2027. The Cardinals then have three pitchers in their 30s entering the final year of their contract in 2025. 35-year-old Miles Mikolas, 32-year-old Erick Fedde, and 33-year-old Matz. The Cardinals then have a team option on 37-year-old Lance Lynn and 36-year-old Kyle Gibson for 2025.

Cardinals Not Taking Advantage of Youth Yet

Especially in terms of pitching, the Cardinals haven’t done much to evaluate their youth in the majors, outside of giving 25-year-old Andre Pallante a long run as a starter. The 11th-ranked prospect in the organization, Gordon Graceffo, had a solid season in 25 Triple-A starts, and only pitched in two MLB games. 14th-ranked prospect Adam Kloffenstein started 17 games in Memphis and only pitched one MLB inning.

10th-ranked Cardinals prospect Michael McGreevy started 27 games in Triple-A and had one MLB start on July 31st against the Texas Rangers. He went seven innings and only surrendered one run. Yet despite that success, he didn’t get another opportunity in the big leagues. Sem Robberse is the organization’s 12th-ranked prospect and started 13 games in Triple-A, but never got a chance with the Cardinals.

The organization had a starting rotation in Triple-A with four pitchers among its top 14 prospects. However, they missed a chance to give them opportunities in the majors. Those four coupled with Tink Hence and Quinn Mathews, both pitchers in the organization’s top five prospects, could result in starters for the 2025 MLB team.

 

Photo Credit: © Joe Puetz-Imagn Images

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