3 tiers of contract extensions the St. Louis Cardinals should prioritize right now

Tier #2 - Better late than never

Brendan Donovan

Let's be honest. The Cardinals should have given Brendan Donovan a long-term extension this past offseason, but instead, they opted to play the arbitration game with their star infielder, and the price now keeps going up on a potential deal for Donovan.

In the midst of a career year at the plate, Donovan is slashing .335/.395/.481 with four home runs and 24 RBI, good for a 147 wRC+, 19th best in all of baseball. Donovan continues to be a plug-and-play defender all over the diamond and corner outfield spots and could be on his way toward a second career utility Gold Glove in 2025.

At 28 years old, he's on the upper end of the Cardinals' young core age wise, but with two years of team control remaining beyond this year and leadership role he's already taken on with the club, I don't see how the Cardinals can let him go when he's eligble for free agency after the 2027 season.

Donovan is not a superstar, but he's well on his way to his first career All-Star appearance, and all he's done in his big league career is show how impactful he can be for this Cardinals club. He's a career 123 wRC+ hitter and can provide value at the plate in a number of ways. Need him to lead off? He can do that. Hit in the middle of the order? He's playing better than ever in that role. He can get on base, be a doubles machine, and will grind out at-bats with the best of them.

Having a bat as good as Donovan's is alone a valuable asset, but the ability for Donovan to play so many different positions is an added layer of value and like a cheat code for someone as productive as Donovan. If the Cardinals lock him up long-term, they'll have the ability to move him around in response to however their club shapes up. They can be opportunistic with their roster building, not having to worry about where Donovan would play. That is a huge advantage when it comes to team building.

I can't understate how important Donovan is for this Cardinals club as a culture builder as well. Donovan is the exact kind of player you want leading your clubhouse, showing young players how to work and go about their business, and being one of the faces of this next era of Cardinals baseball. Part of what makes this organization special is the ambassadors that the club has, guys who spend large chunks of their careers in St. Louis and contribute to winning ballclubs. Donovan could be a red jacket guy one day, and the Cardinals should make sure that happens.

Had they extended him last offseason, the number would have been far more of a bargain than it would be now. Not just because of how Donovan is performing this year, but also because of the wasted year of control that they could have been strategic with. Instead of trying to save a bit of money on this year's payroll by paying Donovan $2.85 million in arbitration, they could have made this year one of an extension, bumped up his pay this year, and helped bring down the annual value in later years of the deal. Alas, they did not, and now, a year closer to free agency and in the midst of an All-Star campaign, Donvovan deserves every dollar coming his way.

If the Cardinals don't extend Donovan, I'll be their biggest critic for it. I think they know he needs to be here long-term too, it's just frustrating that they did not act on that sooner.