Cardinals Rumors: 2 ways Cardinals can clear positional logjams for Victor Scott II

The St. Louis Cardinals are at a crossroads in more ways than one heading into the 2025 season.

From an organizational perspective, they're stuck between being competitive now while preparing for the future. They are an organization that could spend money, but spending money recently hasn't panned out well for them. Floating in the middle organizationally is not a good place to be for a franchise.

From a player and personnel perspective, the Cardinals must choose between several young players to fill out the roster. At the moment, all positions except for center field are established, and who plays in center will have a trickle-down effect on the rest of the roster.

Ivan Herrera and Pedro Pages will split time at catcher. The infield will be occupied primarily by Willson Contreras, Nolan Gorman, Masyn Winn, and Nolan Arenado. The corner outfield spots will be for Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar, and Jordan Walker. This leaves Alec Burleson, Jose Fermin, Michael Siani, and Luken Baker on the bench.

Victor Scott II has introduced a wrinkle into this equation.

Scott is having a fantastic spring. He's done everything he needed to in order to push the envelope on the center field battle. Scott has a .359 batting average and a 1.149 OPS to go along with three home runs, seven walks, and five stolen bases this spring. His performance has forced the front office to have a serious conversation about keeping the 24-year-old outfielder with the big-league club when camp breaks in less than a week's time.

However, making Victor Scott II the team's starting center fielder complicates the roster dramatically. This would shift Lars Nootbaar to left field, Brendan Donovan to second base, and Nolan Gorman to DH. Alec Burleson loses plate appearances in this lineup. Luken Baker wouldn't be able to play first base or DH as often. The effects of keeping Scott on the roster are dramatic and deep.

How does a team solve this logjam? If the Cardinals truly want to see what they have in their young players in 2025, shouldn't Scott and Burleson, who hit 21 home runs last year and had a 106 wRC+, be essential players, too? Keeping Scott down to start the year would surely cause fans to be frustrated. Was there ever really a competition in spring for center field if he's sent to Triple-A Memphis? Was it already decided back in February that it would be either Michael Siani or Lars Nootbaar in center field in 2025?

That's not necessarily the case. All offseason, we've been hearing about Jordan Walker, Nolan Gorman, and Lars Nootbaar as key players who need to take the next step. Lately, Alec Burleson's name has been thrown into the mix, too. With the current roster construction, it's not possible for all four of those players plus Victor Scott II to receive at least 500 plate appearances.

Something has to happen for these players to receive their full runs in 2025.

Here are two ways the St. Louis Cardinals can alleviate the logjams they have on their roster in 2025.

The Cardinals can clear space by demoting players.

This is the easiest route to clearing up the positional logjams for the St. Louis Cardinals. Demoting a player to Triple-A to start the year, regardless of who it is, opens up time and plate appearances for everyone.

In my mind, there are four players who could be demoted: Victor Scott II, Nolan Gorman, Michael Siani, and Jordan Walker.

Let's start with Scott.

There's a chance Scott's torrid spring is all a facade. After all, he posted a .770 OPS with 13 hits last year in spring and had a rough 2024 season. Who's to say this year's spring performance isn't a front as well?

Scott could probably benefit from more time in development. He was pushed to the majors too early last year out of necessity, and he lost a year of team control and was affected negatively as a result. Keeping him in Memphis to at least start the year will give him time to make sure his approach and swing are right while also lessening the pressure to succeed right away.

Demoting Nolan Gorman would be for similar reasons to last year's demotion. Gorman has turned it around from the rough start to his spring, but he's still hitting just .200 with only one home run and 12 strikeouts in 50 at-bats. Starting him in Memphis will give him time to fix his strikeout problems without hurting the success of the major-league team, something that still matters for the organization next year. Demoting Gorman allows Victor Scott to play center, Nootbaar to play in left, Brendan Donovan to fill in at second, and Alec Burleson to be the designated hitter most days.

Demoting Michael Siani would be easy; he's not hitting well at all this spring, and his bat clearly isn't up to snuff for the majors. In his stead, Victor Scott II would be on the big-league squad. This doesn't clear up any logjams, though. Scott should play every day if he starts with the Cardinals. This cuts into Alec Burleson's playing time, as Nootbaar would shift to left, Donovan to second, and Gorman to DH.

Jordan Walker is the curious demotion here. JD Hafron of Locked on Cardinals brought this up in one of his recent episodes, and there's some validity to it. Walker has been going through some knee trouble this spring after tripping on a sprinkler, and his numbers haven't been overly promising. He's hitting .136 with a .427 OPS, and he's struck out 11 times in only 22 at-bats. There's clearly something wrong with Walker's approach and presence.

Starting him at Triple-A will give him time to essentially rehab while making up for lost time this spring due to his injury. This allows VS2 to play in center, Nootbaar and Donovan to play in the corners, Gorman to start at second base, and Burleson to DH.

Demoting one of Victor Scott II, Nolan Gorman, Michael Siani, or Jordan Walker will clear up some space for players to see more at-bats.

The Cardinals can trade one of two players to clear up the logjams.

In my mind, there are only two players the Cardinals would both be willing to trade who have value. Those two players are Nolan Arenado and Lars Nootbaar.

Arenado's case to be traded is obvious. He was a trade candidate all offseason, and a deal to send him to the Houston Astros was in place and almost finalized before Arenado blocked it. John Mozeliak isn't necessarily done trying to trade Arenado as the team enters its final week before opening day, but if the opportunity presents itself, Mo will jump on it.

Arenado is entering his age-34 season, and he's been struck by Father Time the last two years with decreasing offensive output and a plateau defensively. He still has value, and he's still a good third baseman, but his price tag paired with his decreasing production make him a less valuable trade candidate.

Trading Arenado would shift Nolan Gorman to third base, Brendan Donovan to second base, Lars Nootbaar to left field, and Alec Burleson to DH. This opens up center field for Victor Scott II. This was John Mozeliak's plan from the moment he talked to Arenado about a trade back in October.

Lars Nootbaar, on the other hand, is a very interesting trade candidate. The Cardinals haven't shown any interest in trading their international star, but the market for a 27-year-old outfielder with his metrics and team control would surely be hot.

Nootbaar is a Statcast darling; his Baseball Savant page is full of red (that's good), and he stacks up with some of the best outfielders in baseball on a 162-game rate basis. Nootbaar ranks in the 65th percentile or better in xwOBA, xBA, xSLG, average exit velocity, barrel rate, hard-hit rate, squared-up percentage, chase rate, whiff rate, strikeout rate, and walk rate. He's also a plus defender, and he was once a plus runner.

Not to mention the fact that Noot is just now entering his first year of arbitration.

The main issue for Nootbaar has been his health. He hasn't played in more than 117 games in any season, and his 503 plate appearances in 2023 are the most in his career.

The Cardinals could get a legitimate starting pitcher should they trade Lars Nootbaar during the season.

Trading Nootbaar also places either Brendan Donovan or Alec Burleson in left field and either Brendan Donovan or Nolan Gorman at second base. Either Burly or Gorman would be the team's primary designated hitter. This opens up center field for Victor Scott II.

Demoting Victor Scott II, Michael Siani, Nolan Gorman, or Jordan Walker to start the year clears up at-bats for young players. Trading Nolan Arenado or Lars Nootbaar accomplishes the same goal.

Will John Mozeliak be bold with less than a week to go before Opening Day, or will he play it safe with roster construction? Only time will tell.