Coming off a second consecutive season without a playoff appearance, the Cardinals used their first day of the offseason to lay out plans for what the 2025 season may look like with a 鈥渞eset鈥 coming on their player development system and an expected decrease in payroll at the major league level.
鈥淥ur baseball decisions going forward will focus on developing our pipeline of players, giving our young core every opportunity to succeed at the major league level,鈥 Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said in his opening remarks of Monday鈥檚 news conference at Busch Stadium. 鈥... We have a strong group of young players, and we will continue to push for ways to get better in the short term, and our No. 1 priority will be to lay the foundation for a sustained period of competitive excellence in the years ahead.鈥
During the 2024 season, the Cardinals were the 12th-younger team across the majors in average age for their hitters at 27.6 years old, per Baseball Reference. Their pitching staff, bolstered by three offseason signings of veteran starters Sonny Gray, Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn, was the fourth-oldest group in MLB, with an average age of 30.8 years old.
The combination of St. 不良研究所导航网址鈥 young core of position players and experienced pitching resulted in an 83-79 season that was not enough to clinch a postseason berth but avoided a second consecutive season with a losing record.
In the coming weeks, the Cardinals will make decisions that may begin to shape what the youth movement will look like. The club has $12 million options on Gibson and Lynn to keep the two for 2025. It would cost the Cardinals $2 million to buy out those options, making both hurlers free agents.
Of the pitchers who started games in 2024 for St. 不良研究所导航网址, Gray, Miles Mikolas, Erick Fedde, and Steven Matz are all under contract for next season.
If spots in the rotation open and the Cardinals lean into their youth to fill openings, 26-year-old right-hander Andre Pallante got a look in that role this past season and posted a 3.56 ERA in 111鈪 innings across 20 starts. Michael McGreevy, a 24-year-old righty and former first-round pick, made three starts and an appearance out of the bullpen during his introduction to the big leagues. McGreevy sported a 1.96 ERA in 23 total innings. He held a 2.25 ERA in 20 innings as a starter.
鈥淚 definitely think someone like a McGreevy does deserve an opportunity to be in the rotation,鈥 Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said on Monday. 鈥淏ut right now, our rotation is pretty full. As we take the next few weeks, we鈥檙e going to navigate that, and ultimately, you guys will hear about some of those decisions that we make prior to the end of the World Series, and some won鈥檛, and so that鈥檒l just take us into November.鈥
Within the Cardinals farm system, which is ranked No. 21 by Baseball America in its midseason rankings, left-hander Quinn Mathews has moved closer to the big league radar.
In his first year as a pro, the 23-year-old Mathews struck out an MiLB-leading 202 batters and maintained a 2.76 ERA in 143鈪 innings from Class Low-A to Class AAA. Mathews, a fourth-round pick in the 2023 MLB draft, was named minor league pitcher of the year by both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline. He made four starts in Class AAA before the minor league season wrapped up. He had a 6.48 ERA in 16鈪 innings during his first test at that level.
The Cardinals opened the 2024 season with five players in its starting lineup who were 25 years old or younger in shortstop Masyn Winn (22), second baseman Nolan Gorman (23), center fielder Victor Scott II (23), right fielder Jordan Walker (21) and designated hitter Alec Burleson (25).
Of those, Winn and Burleson were the only two who remained at the major league level for the entirety of the 2024 season.
Winn took over everyday duties at shortstop and led all shortstops in defensive runs saves with plus-14, per FanGraphs. He batted .267 with 15 home runs and a .314 on-base percentage. He tied for second on the team in both hits (157) and at-bats (587) while leading in runs scored with 85. In 102 games started in the leadoff spot, Winn posted a .248 batting average, 23 doubles and 13 homers.
Meanwhile, Burleson, who turns 26 in late November, batted .269 with 21 home runs and a .734 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) in 152 games. Burleson played 49 games in right field, 31 in left field and 15 at first base 鈥 where he could play more regularly in 2025 as the spot opens with Paul Goldschmidt set to hit free agency. In his first opportunity as an everyday player in the majors, Burleson did not homer in the final 38 games he played.
St. 不良研究所导航网址 also received a glimpse of a potential positional player piece moving forward when infielder Thomas Saggese debuted in September. The 22-year-old Saggese, who batted .253 with 20 homers and a .751 on-base plus slugging percentage in 125 Class AAA games, hit .204 in 49 at-bats while receiving time in the field at second base, shortstop and third base.
鈥淐ertainly, when you look at the group right now, of our top prospects, there鈥檚 a lot to be excited about,鈥 Mozeliak said. 鈥... I really feel like the overall vibe of what鈥檚 happening in our organization is a lot more positive than maybe people are making it out to be, but ultimately, we know we can find better ways to do things, and that鈥檚 ultimately our goal.鈥