The Cardinals should gear up for one more go-around on Nolan Gorman's wild ride

If you've been checking on the latest St. Louis Cardinals news, you've probably heard rumblings about how Nolan Gorman may not be long for the team. Gorman is projected to receive a raise from $2.66 million to around $3.4 million for 2027 in his second year of arbitration, and the prevailing thought is that the team is ready to give up the ghost on the 2018 first-round pick and refuse to tender him a contract by the Nov. 20 deadline. However, it's worth wondering how necessary it would be to abandon the one-time prospect this offseason.

Gorman, the Cardinals' starting third baseman in 2026, put up a pitiful batting line of .184/.272/.308 and spent much of the second half in Triple-A Memphis, where he continued to struggle. Three seasons removed from his 27-home run breakout, nobody would blame fans who are ready to throw Gorman to the wolves. But according to STLToday's Derrick Goold, President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom mentioned that the front office "strongly believes" that Gorman still has plenty of upside.

That comment may elicit groans from fans who recall the sagas of Tyler O'Neill and Dylan Carlson, players whom the Cardinals held onto for far too long in hopes that they would emerge as everyday pieces, draining them of all their value. But the Cardinals shouldn't find themselves beholden to such illusions regarding Gorman at this stage in the 26-year-old's career, and the case for keeping Gorman differs from that of O'Neill and Carlson in one major aspect: Those two were on teams looking to contend for the postseason. Gorman is not.

The Cardinals should stick with Nolan Gorman in a platoon spot for 2027

With the Cardinals no longer harboring any serious thoughts toward making a playoff push, what's the harm in letting Gorman fill a platoon role at third base? In Goold's article, Bloom said Gorman's profile "fits perfectly" with the other third basemen on the roster; indeed, the other options there are all right-handed bats, so pushing Gorman aside would just have them searching for a player with a similar profile.

Still, with it becoming increasingly clear that Gorman is not the Cardinals' answer at the hot corner for the next competitive Cardinals roster, St. Louis has made it public that they are open to a short-term addition there for 2027 while the potential long-term replacement, Jesús Báez, works his way to the major leagues. This offseason's free agent class is a thin one, and that includes the third base position. The Cardinals might kick the tires on Alec Bohm, and in terms of non-tender candidates on other teams, Matt Vierling makes sense as well.

Regardless of whom the Cardinals might choose as a stopgap solution should they do away with Gorman, that player might not even last a whole season with St. Louis. The Cardinals may try to flip that acquisition for prospects at the trade deadline just as they did with Dustin May in 2026, and if that's the case, they could instead take one last shot at wrangling something out of Gorman and see if they can receive anyone for him at the deadline while he's still under team control.

The odds are against Gorman suddenly blossoming into a viable major league hitter in a last gasp with the Cardinals, but they do have a new hitting coach in Joel McKeithan, and after Casey Chenoweth helped Jordan Walker make massive strides in 2026, fans have evidence that the right coach can turn around a floundering career. In the unlikely event that Gorman turns on the jets next season, he could flip Bloom's plans on their head.

2027 is about seeing whether Walker, Leo Bernal, JJ Wetherholt and others can take the next step. It's not about how third base will shake out, and it's most likely not about winning, either. With the team simply treading water at the position until Báez arrives, keeping Gorman in tow might be the most sensible choice for Bloom and the Cardinals.

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