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3 Cardinals players that should be next in line for a contract extension
Tommy Edman has gotten a new contract to avoid arbitration, it is now time to solidify some other key players' futures with the organization.
Sometimes a team can end up with some special talent within a young core of players that you want to build around for the long haul, and the St. Louis Cardinals have an intriguing group of young stars.
Despite a flurry of moves from the Cardinals during this off-season, there is still some uncertainty as to what the long-term outlook for the team is going to look like, primarily regarding what the rotation and the bullpen could look like a few years from now. One bright spot for the Cardinals, even during a distasteful 2023 season, is that they have the potential to have one of the deepest lineups in baseball.
The offense is centered around their veteran MVP-caliber players Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, but there is a handful of players that have already become key contributors to the Cardinal lineup so early into their careers. You would think that they are just going to get better as their careers progress, so this begs the question, why not lock these guys up right now?
There are several players that the Cardinals could look to extend for the long haul over the next year or two, but there are three players in my opinion that the Cardinals should not wait on much longer to lock up to contract extensions, and the first one should be a no brainer.
1. Jordan Walker
Jordan Walker's first season in the big leagues started with lots of well-deserved attention as one of the top prospects in all of baseball, and that followed up with a historical hitting streak to start his career. Then he hit some lows after a controversial demotion back to the minor leagues, after all the noise around him quieted down, it ended up being a very productive rookie season that flew under the radar in a way.
It doesn't seem to be in question anymore that Walker will be part of the Cardinals' long-term plans, he has accomplished so much at such a young age (21) and he has already made so many improvements to his game since last year with his ability to drive the ball in the air more consistently and his steady progress defensively out in right field. He should have Cardinal fans pumped to see what he can do for the years to come.
The only question is why should the Cardinals wait any longer to extend Walker? Early on in the off-season, we saw the division rival Brewers give out a lengthy extension to their top prospect Jackson Chourio before he had even played in a Major League game, the Tigers did the same thing with prospect Colt Keith, and the reigning NL Rookie of the Year Corbin Carroll signed an eight-year, $111 million dollar extension before the season last year. Now seems like the perfect time to give Walker a long-term deal that would also be very friendly for the team when it comes to the money. Hopefully, the Cardinals consider doing this sooner rather than later, Walker has the potential to be the face of the franchise and a perennial All-Star player,
2. Lars Nootbaar
Lars Nootbaar has quietly become one of the better outfielders in all of baseball. Some nagging injuries limited Nootbaar to 117 games in 2023, despite that he was able to surpass career highs in just about every offensive category. He has also been a very solid defensive player at all 3 outfield slots, as he has a career +9 DRS ( Defensive Runs Saved).
We saw recently Nootbaar get his praise on MLB Network voting him as the 7th best left fielder in the MLB going into the 2024 season, according to " The Shredder " a data analysis tool used by the MLB Network research team that uses traits such as past performance on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.
So Nootbaar has not played more than 120 games in a season since he was first called up by the Cardinals in 2021, so why would you give him an extension? Nootbaar has a very attractive skill set, he hits the ball hard, he gets on base, and he doesn't strike out, which makes him a very reliable top-of-the-lineup player for the Cards. On top of that, his stellar defensive play and great locker room presence make him somebody the Cardinals should consider keeping around for the future.
The Cardinals' outfield situation has become a carousel over the past several seasons and a logjam of those outfielders has led to the team having to make some difficult decisions and get rid of some great talent. Lucky for them they still have two solid outfielders in Nootbaar and Walker, and these two can solidify the corner outfield spots for the Cardinals for the next several years.
3. Brendan Donovan
When picking a third player that I think the Cardinals should extend right now, it was down to Nolan Gorman and Donovan for me, it wasn't an easy decision, but I would give the slight edge to Donovan. What more can you say about Brendan Donovan? He had a similar pathway as Nootbaar did as neither was drafted all that high (Donovan was a 7th-round pick in 2018 and Nootbaar an 8th-round pick in the same year) but they made their way to the big leagues in just 2 full minor league seasons.
2022 was a phenomenal rookie season for Donovan, he had a .281/.394/.379 slash line with a 124 OPS+ (League average is 100) and he won the first-ever utility gold glove award. He was also a finalist for the NL Rookie of the Year, marking the second consecutive season where the Cardinals had a Rookie of the Year finalist (Dylan Carlson 2021).
Despite the excellent campaign, Donovan didn't settle and he added on to his game. He started to hit the ball in the air more, generating more power while still hitting for average and getting on base. Donovan hit 5 home runs in 2022, he hit 11 in 2023 in 31 fewer games, and his average went up 3 points, he was able to add to his game without sacrificing any other trait.
So why lock him up? Donovan has proved his worth to the Cardinals in such a short time, the team was hurt severely when he had season-ending flexor tendon surgery in August as he was the most clutch hitter on the team last year in a season where the Cardinals clearly lacked the clutch gene. He is the perfect lead-off hitter hitting in front of Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado to set the table for them, and it's been reported that he's "emerging" as a leader in the Cardinals clubhouse. Brendan Donovan is a keeper.
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