St. Louis Cardinals star player snubbed from MLB Network Top 100 players

We are weeks away from 2026 MLB Spring Training officially starting, giving fans and media time to create narratives and hype and place expectations for the upcoming season. Part of this process is MLB Network hosting the Top 100 Players show every year, which establishes benchmarks. New players will rise by season's end, old players will fall, and many players will surprise you, good or bad. What is exciting as a fan is to see who the experts representing Major League Baseball believe are the top 100 players, which will include several players from your team. The St. Louis Cardinals are represented in this list, but not to the full capacity, given that Chaim Bloom is rebuilding.

The St. Louis Cardinals only have one player represented in the MLB top 100 players rankings. If Chaim did not trade veterans Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray, or Willson Contreras, the Cardinals players listed would still be just one. In a shocking result, Ivan Herrera is ranked the 98th best player in all of baseball. The catcher/DH blossomed in 2025, posting 107 games, 13 2B, 19 HR, 66 RBI and a slash line of .284/.373/.464 (.837) with a 136 OPS+. He became the missing bat the Cardinals have needed from the right side and is expected to carry the offense again with the departures of Arenado and Contreras. But Herrera was only worth 2.2 WAR, which seems remarkably low to be considered for top 100 consideration. 2025 is also the only season where Herrera has played more than half of the season, which takes away from any previous metrics to account for. If he can produce at the same clip in 2026, then this ranking is justified. But for now, it looks to be mostly speculative and might be a far stretch given other players the Cardinals have who could be deserving of this ranking.

Brendan Donovan was snubbed from MLB's top 100 players for the 2026

So who else could have been represented here for the Cardinals? Masyn Winn had a breakout season and won the Gold Glove at shortstop. He also posted 2.2 WAR but provided below league offense across 129 games (90 OPS+). But winning the Gold Glove with his outstanding defense should be considered. But the biggest snub of them all is the Cardinals' best player, who is becoming a trade commodity: Brendan Donovan. He posted a higher WAR than both Herrera and Winn (2.7 WAR), playing four different positions during the season. He also posted on offense that shows a very balanced game for the former All-Star (119 OPS+). These rankings look at players' most recent 3 years of cumulative numbers to project going forward, and Donovan has the best history amongst any Cardinals players. He is a former All-Star and Gold Glove utility player, averaging 3.7 WAR and 117 OPS+ per season. Donovan might be traded this offseason or by the trade deadline, so this argument could fall flat, but currently, he is still a Cardinal and deserves recognition.