There are a lot of MLB caliber infielders in the Cardinals organization…. and not enough spots for all of them.
In the past, I have noted that the Cardinals were going to be facing tough roster decisions with their catching. Which is still somehow true even though Willson Contreras moved to 1B to temporarily delay that problem. We are facing a similar situation with the infield. Too many players, not enough spots. Unlike catcher, we are arguably already there.
Now, having said that, one thing I’ll note before I get into the depth is that the Cardinals have been fortunate this year. They will not always be fortunate. Masyn Winn spent the minimum 10 days on the injured list. Ivan Herrera was about a month. Herrera is not an infielder but his injury did impact the infield situation. But that’s it.
To use the Orioles as an example, though their outfield has been hit way harder, they have still seen Jordan Westburg and Ramon Urias on the injured list, and currently both Jorge Mateo and Ryan Mountcastle are on there. If the Cardinals were like the Orioles, we’d have seen a lot of Thomas Saggese this year and more plate appearances for Nolan Gorman. It’s important to have depth, but a consequence of having depth is sometimes worthy starting players aren’t going to get as much playing time as you’d like if things go as planned.
I’m going to show the state of the Cardinals infield in this post. I think just saying the names doesn’t really do it justice. It’s important to know team control and contracts, which is what’s contributed to the logjam more than the amount of players. Because without a trade, people aren’t leaving. There are not impending free agents in this group.
Masyn Winn
Service Time at end of 2025: 2.045 years
Eligible for free agency: at conclusion of 2029 season
Of all the players who aren’t going anywhere, nobody is not going anywhere more than Masyn Winn. First off, he’s one of the best players on the team. At just 23, he’s already had a 3.6 fWAR season, and if his bat ever becomes more than average, we’re talking All-Star easy. On top of that, the Cardinals are deep in the infield, but not at shortstop. They are so not deep at shortstop that the current plan if Winn gets hurt is Brendan Donovan. Yes, I know Jose Barrero is the technical backup SS, but he is not playing everyday if Winn gets hurt, that I promise you.
Shortstop is locked in for the foreseeable future. Four and a half years is an eternity in baseball. Everybody in this article will either have established MLB careers or failed MLB careers by the time Winn reaches free agency. Point being: one of the four spots on the infield is as locked down as possible.
Willson Contreras
Contract left at conclusion of 2025: 2 years, guaranteed $41 million (club option for third)
Eligible for free agency: at conclusion of 2027 or 2028 season
Contreras has a $17.5 million club option for a third season with a $5 million buyout. From the Cardinals’ perspective, they have to decide whether or not to pay an extra $12.5 million for 1 year, which is quite literally what Paul Goldschmidt got from the Yankees. Contreras will be 36. He currently only has a 113 wRC+, but his xwOBA is .376, which is the highest of his career.
So he’s a tough one to judge, because I think he is roughly the same hitter he was last year, when he had a 140 wRC+. The results haven’t quite been there yet. He’s also good defensively at 1B and will probably only improve with more experience which is huge. Which is to say I could easily see his option being picked up. Crucially, he also doesn’t want to be traded. A lot can change in two and half years – performance can dip a lot or he’s more willing to be traded – but my gut feeling is the Cardinals pick up that option. He feels like a player whose bat will age well. Like he might be my #1 draft choice for the player most likely to become the next Nelson Cruz with the bat.
Nolan Arenado
Contract left at conclusion of 2025: 2 years, $42 million (Rockies picking up $5 million)
Eligible for free agency: at conclusion of 2027 season
In a perfect world, Arenado is traded before he collapses as a player. Maybe that happens during his deal, maybe it doesn’t. It’s a very delicate balance though and it is not helped by the fact that Nolan Arenado does not seem to want to leave. In the right situation, he will leave I’m sure. How the Cardinals find this situation I have no idea. They already found it and he said no. There are very few places I can imagine more perfect for Arenado than Houston and he said no.
So I honestly assume he’s not getting traded either. The more average he looks as a player the less likely one of the teams he’d be willing to go to will actually want him. So you sort of need to hit that perfect balance where a team wants him, Arenado wants to go to that team, and the return is right. Good luck.
Brendan Donovan
Service Time at end of 2025: 4.000 years
Eligible for free agency: at conclusion of 2027 season
The best position for Donovan is definitely 2B, but the best position for him given the needs of the team may very well be outfield. He’s a bit of a wild card among this group, because he doesn’t have to play infield. With his ability to play the outfield and with the DH in play, hypothetically you can have as many as six MLB caliber starting infielders on your roster and over the course of a full season, they won’t all get 600 PAs, but probably 400 is on the table for everyone. That’s the good news.
And I know what you’re thinking. Who of Jordan Walker, Lars Nootbaar and Victor Scott is getting squeezed out? Well, you kind of need four starting outfielders over a full season, because outfielders get injured more than infielders and let me tell you right now, there is the opposite of an outfield crunch happening in this organization. The only outfield prospects remotely close are Joshua Baez and Chase Davis, neither of whom I’d predict to be a factor this year or next year. Maybe Nathan Church, but he had a 95 wRC+ in AA last season, so I’m going to wait for a bigger sample before jumping on that bandwagon.
Nolan Gorman
Service Time at end of 2025: 3.114 years
Eligible for free agency: at conclusion of 2028 season
I say this with zero ounce of joy: I think Gorman is definitely getting traded either at the deadline or in the offseason. Barring an Arenado trade, I don’t see how he fits on this roster. I consider his 2025 season to be an audition for a future trade. How well he does will determine how much value the Cardinals can get back in a trade. That is my personal opinion.
And he’s in a situation where no matter how well he does, I see the Cardinals moving on. If he just has a monster next month or 2nd half, well the Cardinals can trade him for either an MLB starting pitcher, starting outfielder, or a prospect haul. If he merely repeats his 2023 season, I think he’d still get a nice return. And if this is the peak of his season, I think the Cardinals will be ready to move on.
Thomas Saggesse
Service Time at end of 2025: Less than 1.000 years
Eligible for free agency: at conclusion of 2031 season
A consequence of the failed Arenado trade is that Saggese essentially gets his clock pushed back a year. He was certainly a part of the MLB plan this year if Arenado agreed to go to the Astros. And because he’s not, he’ll have less than a year of service time after this year (even if he gets called up tomorrow and spends the whole year in the majors), which means he’ll have six more years until he’s eligible for free agency after this year.
As you can see from the players above him, nobody is leaving without a trade within a reasonable timeframe for Saggese. Which is why I think Gorman will be the odd man out. I think the Cardinals like the type of player Saggese is more than the type of player Gorman is. Also, in theory, Gorman might get more back in a trade (though he has to have a good 2025). Saggese does have two more options and is dirt cheap for at least three seasons, although I don’t know how much longer you can keep a guy with a 132 wRC+ in AAA down there. I assume he’ll see some MLB time this season.
JJ Wetherholt
I don’t need to put the service time aspect up, he has all six years of service time left. One thing I didn’t note in the Winn section is that Wetherholt is being groomed to be Winn’s injury replacement. I think Wetherholt probably starts next year in AAA, but if Winn got hurt week one like this year, I think he would be the starting SS while Winn was on the IL. So we only have a few more months of Brendan Donovan or Thomas Saggese as the backup plan to Masyn Winn.
These are the major players but it’s not all of the depth. So I feel compelled to mention backup infield options who could also be called infield depth. I don’t think Jose Barrero will make it to next season, so I’m not going to include him on this list.
Jose Fermin
If only Fermin could even fake playing SS. He currently has a 136 wRC+ after a slow start. He had a 144 wRC+ last season in AAA. I find it somewhat odd that there are Mike Antico believers but not many Jose Fermin believers. Fermin is in the wrong organization, but I pretty firmly believe he’ll carve out an MLB backup career in the same vein as a Greg Garcia. Like Garcia, Fermin’s profile will be of little power, but taking a bunch of walks and not striking out. Can’t quite play SS either. I don’t mean to pat myself on the back, but aside from batting on a different side of the plate, this is a perfect comp for Fermin.
Cesar Prieto
To the extent that calling Fermin a Greg Garcia backup is believing in him, I am not a Cesar Prieto believer. He was a below average hitter at 25 last season. But this year, he’s getting the old for the level boost and has a 124 wRC+ on the back of a perfectly reasonable .321. His potential is limited because of a brutal glove, but he’s basically a poor man’s Alec Burleson.
Jeremy Rivas
If you consider Wetherholt a real shortstop, the shortstop depth gets pretty strong next year. Assuming, that is, that Rivas is still here. Because he was signed in 2019, I believe he’s eligible for minor league free agency at the end of this season. The Cardinals can get around this by putting him on the 40 man or giving him a minor league extension. I think he’s shown enough to get that 40 man spot and be in AAA next season. He’s a 22-year-old defensive wizard at SS who currently has a sustainable looking 101 wRC+ in AA. He probably isn’t anything more than a backup, but having a guy in the system who can actually play SS outside of Winn would be appreciated.
So that’s where we are today. The Cardinals have arguably one spot that is open and it’s really only open because technically speaking Brendan Donovan can play the outfield. Winn will play SS as long as he’s here and he’ll be here, Contreras will play 1B, and Arenado will play 3B. I will say that I think in the last year of his deal, I wouldn’t go as far as to say Arenado will be a part-time player, but I suspect he would sit a lot more than this year. Doesn’t really solve the logjam this year or the next of course.
The DH is barely an option with Alec Burleson and Ivan Herrera also existing. Gorman isn’t playing everyday because of this, Saggese is MLB ready with nowhere to play, and Wetherholt is not very far away, like if it wasn’t for the current state of the infield, he’d be a strong contender to start next year on the Opening Day roster. Still might be somehow. There is no solution as easy as moving a player to a different position like there was at catcher. It’s really just a matter of who is getting traded to help make some room.