Predicting what the St. Louis Cardinals roster looks like in 2025

The St. Louis Cardinals have a deep organization, who will be on the Opening Day Roster in 2025?

The St. Louis Cardinals have made headlines this season for their great second half so far as well as a farm system that is brimming with young talent. As the Cardinals say goodbye to legends like Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, and Adam Wainwright, the club is lined up for success for years to come.

It makes you wonder, what will the team look like in 2025? Who from the Cardinals current core will remain on the roster? Which prospects will become major league regulars? Will the Cardinals bring in any talent from outside of the organization?

While there are so many variables at play, one this is for certain, the club will be just as exciting if not more a few years from now. Looking at the Cardinals future payroll and prospect promotions, as well as future free agent classes and trade targets, here is my prediction for the Opening Day roster for St. Louis in 2025. We’ll go over the infield, outfield, rotation, bullpen, and starting lineups.

Cardinals’ 2025 Infield

Catchers (2) – Willson Contreras, Ivan Hererra 

Infield (6) – Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, Nolan Gorman, Maysn Winn, Tommy Edman, Brendan Donovan

The Cardinals may have arguably the brightest future in baseball when it comes to their future infield. Goldschmidt and Arenado will be 37 and 34, respectively, and although they may not be the same players they are today, they will likely still mash the baseball and play good defense.

St. Louis is already being speculated as a front-runner for Willson Contreras his offseason, and with money to spend and a clear need at the position, don’t be surprised if he is the long-term heir to Molina’s throne. Signing Contreras will require a long-term deal, and maintaining Herrera as a backup catcher will allow the team to DH Contreras some games and give them an adequate backup option.

Winn and Gorman will surely man the middle infield for years to come. Winn boasts an elite defensive potential with an arm that has been in the news as of late, and has shown this year that he could be a great hitter at the major league level one day. Gorman boasts elite power from the left side of the plate, and could provide St. Louis with a 30-40 HR a year bat from second base.

Donovan looks to be the club’s utility option for years to come, and will just be hitting arbitration by that point. He looks to be an elite bench option for the club for years to come with that club control available to them.

Tommy Edman was almost left off this list, as he will be entering his age 30 season and in his last year of team control in 2025. He may be more valuable as a trade chip by this point, but without another clear prospect who could backup Winn and Gorman, Edman would provide a great option of the bench whenever either player needs a rest day. If Gorman is still struggling a bit against left handed pitching at this point, Edman could see himself in a platoon at second base.

Cardinals 2025 Rotation

Starting Rotation (5) – Shane Bieber, Tink Hence, Jordan Montgomery, Gordon Graceffo, Steven Matz

Pitching staffs tend to have a lot of turnover, and with Wainwright surely being retired by 2025 and the likes of Jack Flaherty and Miles Mikolas hitting free agency, this rotation could look a lot different.

The big name here is Shane Bieber, who has been a rumored target for St. Louis for a few years now. While Cleveland did extend Jose Ramirez this season and is building up a young core that is ready to compete, Bieber will be a free agent after 2024 and they likely cannot afford to keep him. With so many elite pitchers hitting the market in the next three off-seasons, the Cardinals could go out and sign Bieber before the 2025 season or trade for him over the next couple of years.

I think it is very unlikely that Flaherty resigns in St. Louis, but Jordan Montgomery has been a fantastic addition for St. Louis and should be a guy they look to lock-up soon. He likely won’t command the same dollars as a Flaherty or Bieber would, but could provide the Cardinals with a legit number two or three starter for the mid-2020s.

Tink Hence and Gordon Graceffo have risen up prospect boards this year and are now both top 100 prospects. Hence has the potential to be a staff ace, but at just 20-years old and very few innings underneath his belt, he’ll likely make his debut closer to 2024. Graceffo, on the other hand, could make the St. Louis rotation at some point in 2023. These two with Bieber and Montgomery could be an elite playoff rotation.

Matz will be in the last year of his contract in 2025, and should round out the rotation for the club. If he struggles, they could look to move on from him and use one of their other young arms flowing through the system.

Cardinals 2025 Bullpen

Right-handers (5) – Ryan Helsley, Andre Pallante, Brad Boxberger, Inohan Panigua, Michael McGreevy

Left-handers (3) – Matthew Liberatore, Zack Thompson, Connor Hjerpe 

Some familiar names and some new faces, which tends to happen with bullpens year to year.

Ryan Helsley will be in his last year of team control in 2025 and should be at the peak of his powers that he honed in on this season. Helsley has been arguably the best reliever in baseball, and there is no reason to believe he won’t be closing down games in 2025.

Pallante and Thompson have been stand out relievers in this year’s bullpen, and although both have starter potential, I see both as playing major roles in the bullpen for years to come. Both have already shown the ability to get outs in major spots, and have the ability to go 2-3 innings in a given relief appearance, making them extremely valuable options in the pen.

Liberatore, Hjerpe, and McGreevy are also starting pitching prospects, but with higher upside arms like Hence and Graceffo as well as the likelihood that St. Louis brings in veteran starts to compliment them, these three will likely fight with Matz for the 5th starter spot and be relegated to the bullpen if they do not beat him out. These names could also be trade bait going forward, but for now I have them as parts of the Cardinals staff.

Boxberger has a lot of experience in the NL Central and will be a free agent before 2025, making him an intriguing target for St. Louis to hold down the fort in the middle innings and provide another veteran option. Panigua may be a new name to many fans. He is the Cardinals 13th ranked prospect and his stuff looks to be that of a future reliever in the majors.

Cardinals 2025 Lineups

Right-handed pitching – SS Masyn Winn, LF Jordan Walker, 1B Paul Goldschmidt, 3B Nolan Arenado, 2B Nolan Gorman, CF Tyler O’Neill, C Willson Contreras, RF Lars Nootbaar, DH Brendan Donovan 

Left-handed pitching – SS Maysn Winn, RF Jordan Walker, 1B Paul Goldschmidt, 3B Nolan Arenado, LF Tyler O’Neill, C Willson Contreras, DH Nolan Gorman, CF Dylan Carlson, 2B Tommy Edman

You can’t really go wrong with how you construct this lineup. There is no weak link in either of these orders, and shows you just how strong this Cardinals lineup is about to become.

Even if the Cardinals are unable to bring in an elite catcher like Contreras, their 1-8 against both right and left-handed pitching may be the best in baseball in 2025. Walker, Goldschmidt, Arenado, Gorman, and O’Neill all have the ability to be elite bats, and guys like Winn, Edman, Nootbaar, Carlson, and Donovan can be great hitters in their own right.

Perhaps the greatest strength of these lineups, outside of just the pure hitting ability, is how versatile it is. Most of these players can mash home runs, and many of them (Winn, Edman, O’Neill, and Walker) can make plays on the basepaths. This club would also have no weakness against righties or lefties, making them a matchup nightmare for any club.

Will this be the exact roster of the 2025 Cardinals? Probably not. But something close to this is very possible for St. Louis, and is honestly a “tame” prediction for the club. St. Louis could go after even bigger names than I was willing to predict, and truly make themselves a juggernaut. Get excited Cardinals fans, as the best is still ahead for St. Louis.