The St. Louis Cardinals have a trade deadline to navigate and a division race to sort out. But one thing they don’t have to worry about anymore is their second base situation for the next decade.
JJ Wetherholt and the Cardinals agreed to an eight-year, $112.5 million contract extension on Thursday, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post and MLB Network. ESPN’s Jeff Passan was first to report a deal was close. It’s a massive commitment to a guy who hasn’t even played a full season yet, but that’s kind of the point.
Buying Out Free Agency Early
The Cardinals are buying out multiple years of Wetherholt’s free agency with this deal. That’s becoming a more common play across baseball — lock up the young talent before they hit arbitration, before they start thinking about what they could get on the open market. St. Louis is betting that Wetherholt is the kind of player you build around, not the kind you let test the waters.
So far, that bet looks pretty smart. Through 87 games, the National League Rookie of the Year favorite is hitting .267 with a .362 on-base percentage and a .773 OPS. He’s got 13 home runs, 36 RBIs and 57 runs scored. Those aren’t eye-popping power numbers, but the plate discipline and on-base skills are exactly what you want from a leadoff-type hitter. And he’s doing it as a 22-year-old.
The Cardinals front office has been aggressive with young players before. This isn’t a new strategy for them. But the price tag here — $112.5 million for a guy who’s still a few months away from his 100th big league game — shows they think Wetherholt is more than just a nice rookie story. They think he’s a cornerstone.
The move also frees up some mental space at the deadline. The Cardinals can deal from their farm system or their major league roster without worrying about who’s playing second base next year. That spot is taken. Wetherholt is the guy.
Whether he keeps up this pace for the next eight years is the question nobody can answer yet. But the Cardinals just put their money where their scouting reports are. They’re not waiting to find out.
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