Cardinals' Masyn Winn accomplished something only Albert Pujols and Stan Musial have

I really shouldn't have to say this, but let me be clear from the beginning, St. Louis Cardinals' shortstop Masyn Winn is not the next Albert Pujols or Stan Musial.

Got it? Got it.

Still, it's pretty incredible that he finds himself in a class with only two of the greatest players in not just Cardinals' history, but MLB history when it comes to the kind of season Winn was able to put together in his age-22 season last year.

Credit to Just Baseball for the nugget on X/Twitter earlier today, as they pointed out that the only two Cardinals in the last 100 years of franchise history to post more rWAR/bWAR in a single season at age 22 or younger are those two icons, Pujols and Musial.

Masyn Winn's company with Albert Pujols and Stan Musial shows how bright his future is

Let's be clear, even though Winn can tuck that feather in his hat as an incredible accomplishment in his career and in the context of Cardinals' history, Pujols, and especially Musial, had far more success than Winn did at his age or younger.

Pujols posted a 6.6 rWAR in his age 21 season and 5.5 bWAR in his age 22 campaign while Musial posted a 5.3 rWAR and then a whopping 9.5 bWAR in his age 21 and 22 seasons. 4.9 rWAR from Winn in his age-22 season is incredible, but let's not get it twisted, it's not the same level of special that Pujols and Musial were.

What is fair to say though is that no other 22-year-old or younger in the last 100 years of Cardinals history produced a better rWAR season than Winn, and that just goes to show you how great of a start to his career that Winn has had.

During the last 100 years, only Ted Simmons (4.5 rWAR) and Joe Medwick (4.1 rWAR) posted a 4 rWAR or higher in their age 22 or younger seasons with the Cardinals, which notably, both of those players had Hall of Fame careers as well.

If you continue down the list, you'll find names like Garry Templeton (3.6 rWAR), Tim McCarver (3.4) rWAR), and Keith Hernandez (3.2 rWAR). Hernandez was a borderline Hall of Famer himself and both Templeton and McCarver had themselves excellent careers.

There are only a few names in Cardinals history who achieved the levels of success that Winn did last year at such a young age and did not go on to have great careers. Dylan Carlson posted 3.1 rWAR in his age 22 season, while both Tommy Thevenow and Bill DeLancey struggled in the 1920s and 1930s respectively after posting rWARs north of 2.5. Though, it is worth noting again that Winn almost doubled Thevenow and DeLancey's rWAR individual outputs and was almost 2 rWAR better than Carlson's rookie year.

If you expand this out to all of Cardinals' history and not just the last 100 years, Rogers Hornsby (9.9 rWAR at age 21 and 5.4 rWAR at age 22) and Frank Snyder (5.3 rWAR at age 21) outpaced Winn's rWAR output, but once again, that's an all-time great in Hornsby and very successful career in Snyder.

Do we need to go around and declare Winn to be a future Hall of Famer? No. But I do think any fans who have a hard time believing in Cardinals' young talent after recent flameouts can rest a bit easier in the case of Winn. Sure, his career could take a nosedive or regress from here, but history tells us that a player that was as good as Winn was as a 22-year-old rarely flames out in Cardinals' history. It doesn't mean he'll become an all-time great, but he is certainly on track for a long and successful Major League career.

Here's one more piece of good news for you that should show you just how good of company Winn finds himself in right now. Since the year 2000, Winn's 4.9 rWAR is the 35th season best among all players in their age 22 season or younger, with only 26 players posting seasons better than him.

Here is the complete list of names who posted an rWAR higher than 4.9 in their age 22 season or younger since the year 2000: Mike Trout Trout, Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Juan Soto, Carlos Correa, Troy Tulowitzki, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., Grady Sizemore, Albert Pujols, Jason Heyward, Hank Blalock, Julio Rodriguez, Gunnar Henderson, Mookie Betts, Wander Franco, Corbin Carroll, Rafael Devers, Giancarlo Stanton, Corey Seager, Elly De La Cruz, Miguel Cabrera, Michael Harris II, Francisco Lindor, and Ronald Acuna Jr. Talk about incredible company!

The players that posted 4.9 rWAR like Winn or 4.8 rWAR just below him? Carl Crawford, Hanley Ramirez, Ozzie Albies, Evan Longoria, David Wright, and Carlos Correa (again). So since 2000, players who've put up more rWAR than Winn are mostly future Hall of Famers or perennial All-Stars, and the guys who are directly in his company are borderline Hall of Famers and perennial All-Stars themselves.

We'll see if Masyn Winn can live up to that kind of company, but if history is telling us anything, it's that Winn is going to be a very, very good player for a long time.