Willson Contreras calls out Cardinals' front office and pleads they improve offense

The St. Louis Cardinals were officially eliminated from postseason contention this weekend and are looking at an offseason full of tough decisions regarding the trajectory of the organization.

If it was up to catcher Willson Contreras, the fron office would be doing everything they can to make major upgrades to this roster, especially when you look at how their lineup performed this year.

I wrote about this over the weekend, but ever since the 2023 trade deadline, their offense has completely fallen off from a top-seven unit in the game to a bottom-third lineup. Their offensive struggles sank any chances they had of making the playoffs, and Willson Contreras was vocal after Sunday's game regarding the need to make improvements to that unit.

Contreras hit the nail on the head. The offense was brutal this year, and he is honestly the only guy who can claim he did his part. Contreras posted a 140 wRC+ this year when healthy, while the second-best regular bat in their lineup was Brendan Donovan and his 112 wRC+. That is unacceptable from this organization and a sign that they need to shake things up in some capacity if they want to turn things around in 2025.

Contreras went on to talk about the changes he hopes the Cardinals make, specifically challenging the front office to be a team that wants to "own" the National League Central Division.

Major props to Contreras for speaking out and calling the front office to make the necessary moves to improve this offseason. Contreras was also realistic though in saying that he doesn't know if they'll actually follow through on that kind of teambuilding, and that ultimately these are questions that need to be asked of them.

It is ironic to me that the player the organization used as a scapegoat in 2023 for their struggles is now the only person in the clubhouse who has any leg to stand on when it comes to saying this team needs to be better. Contreras was excellent in 2024 and really has been overall for the Cardinals since coming over. Sure, the start of 2023 was rough for everyone involved, but Contreras has been everything they could have hoped for offensively and more, and he's even continued to improve defensively as a catcher.

Conversely, it feels like every other position player on the Cardinals has been regressing since the middle of last year. Honestly, I feel bad for Contreras as he puts up crazy good numbers offensively and sees the rest of his team crumble offensively when it matters most. And we all know the rotation is not good enough either.

We'll see how the Cardinals' front office responds this offseason, but we at least know Contreras is trying to hold them to a higher standard than they typically have for themselves publically.