ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Cardinals are preparing to move veteran catcher Willson Contreras to first base for the upcoming season, according to multiple reports.

ESPN’s Jesse Rogers first reported on the position switch, while St. Louis Post-Dispatch lead Cardinals writer Derrick Goold has since confirmed Contreras will see more opportunities at first base and designated hitter.

Contreras, now 32 years old, just completed the second year of a five-year, $87.5 million deal he signed in the 2022-23 offseason. It was the largest contract the Cardinals have awarded to a free agent who hadn’t previously played for the team. One goal behind the contract was for Contreras to serve as an heir for longtime backstop Yadier Molina.

Now, just two years later, it appears Contreras will be switching from catcher to first base. Such a move would presumably delegate catching duties to Pedro Pages and Ivan Herrera for at least the short-term.

Cardinals lead executive John Mozeliak told Goold that shifting Contreras away from catcher is part of a strategy to keep him with the Cardinals and preserve his health. Mozeliak told Goold it’s “unlikely” Contreras will catch much in the 2025 campaign.

To Mozeliak’s point, Contreras’ recent injury history may support this approach. He has missed some significant time to injury over the last two seasons, averaging only around 104 games played per 162-game season.

Moving Contreras to a less physically-demanding position could help the Cardinals benefit from his offensive contributions, which have been largely hitting above league average when healthy, including a .263 batting average and 129 OPS over the last two years.

Concerns, however, may linger with how the Cardinals are handling opportunities for key players. The contract, in terms of length and value, was intended to reflect the impact he could bring as a catcher, not necessarily a first baseman where big offensive numbers are more desired.

This isn’t the first time the Cardinals decided to reduce Contreras role behind the plate either. Less than two months into his first season, a dismal 71-91 Cardinals campaign in 2023, he was removed out of the catcher’s role without much of an explanation at the time. It was later discovered the move came after some comments from former Cardinals pitcher Jack Flaherty about improvements he sought, which inadvertently led to less playing time catcher for Contreras.

Advanced analytics may also be influencing the Cardinals’ decision to move Contreras to a new position. While his blocking and ability to prevent stolen bases have tracked around league average with St. Louis, Contreras’ pitch framing and run-prevention metrics fall below average. Pages and Herrera, both at least six years younger, show metrics that are at least comparable, if not slightly stronger in these areas.

So what would a Contreras move to first base mean in the short and long term? For one, it basically would signal the Cardinals are ready to move on from 2022 NL MVP Paul Goldschmidt at the corner, who just became a free agent. Other young candidates to fill the void left by Goldschmidt, like Alec Burleson and Jordan Walker, will likely keep fighting for at-bats while patrolling the outfielder.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals have seemingly signaled toward this move while also suggesting the franchise would “reset” with a focus on player development and cut back on payroll for the 2025 season. So if Contreras, one of the team’s more experience players with one of the team’s larger contracts, is staying, then St. Louis might seek financial flexibility by exploring trades for other veterans who could net assets and subtract payroll that accelerate a “reset” process, like Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray or Ryan Helsley. Contreras has a no-trade clause that would also make him a harder candidate to move than those three, if the Cardinals are insistent on dumping salary via trade.

Until the offseason and 2025 plays out, the apparent decision to move Contreras to first base could be seen as a move for potential long-term benefits, yet one that raises significant question marks about the Cardinals’ true direction toward shaping the future.