An overview of the St. Louis Cardinals' 2025 payroll

We all knew that the St. Louis Cardinals would be making cuts to payroll this offseason. With performance not matching expectations or spending, limiting spending was a goal for Bill DeWitt Jr. and Bill DeWitt III. Additionally, the Cardinals were losing money in their TV deal, attendance dipped below 3 million for the first time in nearly two decades, spending would be shifted to player development, and a new pitching lab was to be built in Jupiter, Florida. Add it all together, and it was clear that money had to be siphoned away from the major league roster.

A full breakdown of the team's payroll from 2024 and projections for 2025 is below from a variety of outlets. All figures are from FanGraphs, Cot's, and Spotrac.

The St. Louis Cardinals' payroll has fallen by over $30 million from 2024.

While the totals may vary, the St. Louis Cardinals' payroll has fallen by tens of millions of dollars from the end of the 2024 season. Their estimated payroll places them somewhere between seventeenth and nineteenth in the league, depending on the source you use.

Pricey free agents such as Paul Goldschmidt, Andrew Kittredge, Lance Lynn, and Kyle Gibson are all off the books. This alone saved the Cardinals nearly $50 million in salary. Throw in the fact that their only free agent signing this offseason, Phil Maton, was for only $2 million, and you have a clear path to a lowered payroll.

The team's five most expensive players are Nolan Arenado ($32 million), Sonny Gray ($25 million), Willson Contreras ($18 million), Miles Mikolas ($17.67 million), and Steven Matz ($12.5 million). These five players alone account for $105.17 million of the team's payroll. 80% of the payroll is being soaked up by fewer than 20% of the players. The team's only other "free agent," Erick Fedde, comes in at $7.5 million.

Ryan Helsley is the team's sixth-most expensive player after settling at $8.2 million via arbitration this year, his final year before free agency. Other arbitration figures include $2.95 million for Lars Nootbaar in his first year of arbitration, $2.85 million for Brendan Donovan in his first year, $2.26 million for JoJo Romero in his second year of arbitration, $2.1 million for Andre Pallante in his first year of arbitration, and $1.605 million for reliever John King in his second year of arbitration.

The remaining payroll is filled with players in pre-arbitration. This includes regulars like Nolan Gorman, Alec Burleson, Ivan Herrera, Masyn Winn, Michael Siani, and Ryan Fernandez. The Cardinals also have money due for buyouts of the contracts of Lance Lynn, Kyle Gibson, Keynan Middleton, and Giovanny Gallegos. $5 million is still being sent from the Colorado Rockies from the Nolan Arenado trade a few years ago.

This precipitous decline in payroll was expected, but it's dramatic to see the difference in payroll between 2024 and 2025 nonetheless. According to Cot's, the Cardinals have the second-highest payroll in the division behind only the Chicago Cubs ($193.7M). The Cincinnati Reds come in at $114.7M, the Milwaukee Brewers have the fourth-highest payroll in the division at $109.4M, and the Pittsburgh Pirates have a payroll of just $90.1M for 2025.

Bill DeWitt Jr. is hoping to field as competitive a team as possible while keeping payroll lower. The organization is hoping to mirror the successes of teams like the Milwaukee Brewers, Cleveland Guardians, and Tampa Bay Rays. John Mozeliak and Chaim Bloom have their work cut out for them this year with the lower payroll, but there's still ample talent on the roster to remain competitive.