5 players most affected by the Cardinals' lack of activity

While fans await an end to the Nolan Arenado saga, there are multiple players in the St. Louis Cardinals organization whose roles in 2025 are directly affected by the team's lack of decision-making. The outset of the offseason promised change, but the only notable moves so far are allowing Paul Goldschmidt to sign in New York and declining the options on starters Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn.

After the free agent and trade landscape appeared different than anticipated, the Cardinals have struggled to make a decision on which path they want to take in 2025 regarding their roster. Most recently, the team's decision-makers have denied any desire to trade pieces Erick Fedde and Steven Matz. With the non-moves, the current Opening Day roster projects to have Arenado still at third, Nolan Gorman moving to second base, Willson Contreras trading in his gear for a first base glove, and future star Masyn Winn at short with Brendan Donovan filling in as needed. The outfield has a lot of options available, but most likely the year will begin with some formation involving Lars Nootbaar, Jordan Walker, and a combination of Donovan, Victor Scott II, and Michael Siani to fill out the grass.

With Sonny Gray and Miles Mikolas wishing to remain in St. Louis, the rotation points to those two plus Fedde, and Andre Pallante for the top four spots. The fifth spot looks to be an open competition among new and old faces including Matz, exciting prospect Quinn Mathews, Michael McGreevy, and Gordon Graceffo with more names sure to be sprinkled in.

As things currently stand at the end of January, multiple players who may have expected to fill a role for the Cardinals in 2025 now find themselves in a holding pattern until the team makes a move around some key players.

With all of the non-moves, which Cardinals players' 2025 roles are most affected?

1. Brendan Donovan

Donovan has found himself in MLB news and rumors probably more often than he expected this offseason. Heading into the offseason, the expected trade of Arenado and the team's front office announcement that Nolan Gorman would be getting 500 at-bats, it was assumed that Donovan would fill in as the Cardinals' everyday second baseman going into Opening Day. While fans and players clamored for an extension for the 28-year-old before the arbitration process, there were confusing and conflicting reports about the team's interest.

Unfortunately for the super utility player, the lack of suitors for Arenado has made Donovan's 2025 tougher to define. The lefty hitter has played 168 of his 377 games in the outfield while filling in the rest of his appearances at every infield spot and has done so admirably, winning the utility gold glove in the award's inaugural year. Despite the lack of a defined position, Donovan has continued to find consistent playing time because of his flexibility and offensive performance. Heading into this fourth year, Donovan is a career .280 hitter with a .771 OPS and a 116 OPS+, so the Cardinals will continue to find a place for him to play, whether as a backup infielder or a starting outfielder.

2. Thomas Saggese

Like Donovan, prospect Thomas Saggese was expected to have a clear role in 2025 after making an abbreviated debut at the end of last season before another strong performance in the Arizona Fall League. While his Major League debut did not provide astonishing results, the 2024 top-100 prospect has a minor league career OPS of .842 with promising peripherals to back up the numbers.

With Arenado currently on the roster, Saggese would struggle to find consistent playing time at the big league level, with Donovan also fighting to fill the utility role. Saggese can play all four infield positions but the team may opt to keep the 22-year-old in Memphis to ensure everyday at-bats. Saggese's role with the Cardinals might be the one most directly tied to Arenado's trade market as he could either see himself taking 300+ at-bats in the majors or spending another season honing his craft in Triple-A.

3. Alec Burleson

Lefty outfielder and first baseman Alec Burleson was one of the few bright spots for the Cardinals' offense in the first half of the year. Entering the All-Star break, he was hitting .288 with 17 homers and 53 RBIs with only 46 strikeouts in over 300 at-bats. With his consistent offense and the realization of 2024 most likely being Paul Goldschmidt's last year in St. Louis, Burleson centered himself as the first baseman of the future for the Cardinals. Although he spent much of the season in the outfield, it has long been seen that he would eventually have to transition to a full-time first baseman along with some starts at DH.

The second half of the season, however, started to push Burleson from the 2025 starting lineup lock to a solid platoon piece. After receiving starter at-bats with his strong first half, Burly struggled early and often for the remainder of the season and eventually became a bench piece for manager Oli Marmol. After a fringe-All-Star first half, Burleson hit .242 with only four homers over his last 231 at-bats and fell from the everyday rotation.

With the departure of Goldschmidt, it still appeared that Burleson would have a shot at the starting gig but Willson Contreras made headlines when it was announced he would not waive his no-trade clause and instead shift 90 feet up the diamond to first base. With Contreras being such an important piece of the offense, the only open spot for Burleson would be in the DH role as Arenado's presence continues to crowd the outfield as well. In order to maintain his hold on the spot, he will have to show an increased ability to hit for power and compete against left-handed pitching.

Despite the potential demotion, Burleson has continuously shown above-average bat-to-ball skills. Scouts have always lauded his ability to put the ball in play, but the organization wants to see more pop from the 6'2 lefty, especially if he will be playing more at a power-premium position like first base. According to Baseball Savant, Burly's whiff rate and strikeout percentage are even better than mega contract outfielder Juan Soto but his chase rate is near the bottom of the league. His plate coverage is so good that the team has actually wanted him to decrease his aggressiveness early in the count because of his great 12.8% K-rate. If Burleson can alter his approach and attack his pitches with a powerful swing, he could push the Cardinals to give him more playing time despite the roster status.

4/5. Michael McGreevy and Gordon Graceffo

The Cardinals' front office promised that 2025 was going to be a season to let the kids play. That announcement had to figure into the decisions to decline the options on veteran leaders Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn. That also paved the way for potential trades coming out of St. Louis with Sonny Gray, Miles Mikolas, Erick Fedde, and Steven Matz looking like players who could change uniforms this offseason. However, Gray and Mikolas quickly nixed their names from deals with their desire to stay in St. Louis and not waive their no-trade clauses. This led to speculation that deadline acquisition Fedde, who is under contract for a very affordable $7.5 million, could be shipped for quality prospects or Matz could be swapped for salary relief and a lottery ticket.

If any of the above names were to be moved, Michael McGreevy and Gordon Graceffo appear to be front runners to fill the rotation. Each of them received a late-season audition with the Cardinals and performed well enough to enter the fifth starter conversation. As the rotation currently stands, there is only one spot open with each of these two plus at least a handful more seeming to be options for the final spot. One would think that any deal involving the veteran holdovers would potentially open two rotation spots. For now, however, it appears that only one (or also possibly none) of the two of McGreevy or Graceffo would crack the big league roster out of Spring Training.

The Cardinals' lack of activity is frustrating to fans and puzzling to executives around the league, but to these players, it also clouds their major league future. Brendan Donovan is going to find consistent at-bats regardless of the offseason outcome, but it remains to be seen where he will finally settle in defensively. The youngsters like Thomas Saggese and Alec Burleson face an uphill battle at playing time, and in Saggese's case, that could mean not even cracking the big league roster. The rotation seems to only have one opening due to three other spots being filled with veterans, so Michael McGreevy and Gordon Graceffo are going to have to battle with a few other options for that final spot.