The Cardinals already know who sits at the center of the future: JJ Wetherholt. They’ve backed that up with an eight-year, $112.5 million extension, and after a rookie year that looked star-level, he’s clearly the face of what comes next in St. Louis.
But Wetherholt isn’t the only player the Cardinals should be thinking about long term. Outside of him, the strongest case belongs to Jordan Walker.
Walker finally put everything together in 2026, and the results were hard to miss. In 158 games, he hit 29 home runs, stole 22 bases, drove in 102 runs and posted a .269/.327/.466 line. He also made the All-Star team and won the Home Run Derby, turning in the kind of season that matched the expectations that have followed him for years.
At 24 years old, Walker is still extremely young. He just completed his fourth major league season, yet he’s only a few months older than Wetherholt. That matters when you’re talking about who a franchise should be built around.
Yes, Walker’s bat cooled late. In September, he hit .172/.232/.287 with two homers and five RBIs over 24 games.
But there’s more to that slump than a simple fade. Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom said Walker was playing through hip pain to finish the season, which helps explain why the production dipped when it did.
That late stretch shouldn’t erase what came before it. Walker made offseason adjustments, and they paid off in a big way in 2026.
The talent has never been the question; getting himself in the right place physically and mechanically was the key. He did that last winter, and the payoff was a breakout season.
Now he gets another full offseason, with the hope that health won’t be an issue. If that happens, the Cardinals have every reason to expect more of the same in 2027.
Walker is still under club control for three more seasons, and like Wetherholt, he looks like a player St. Louis should try to lock up for the long haul. The Cardinals have their cornerstone in Wetherholt, but Walker has earned a place right alongside him.
In Other News...
Cardinals Reunion Idea Hinges On One Big Question About A Familiar Arm
Jordan Montgomerys name is back in circulation again, and it comes with the kind of familiar appeal that can tempt a front office looking for stability. The left-hander once pitched for the Cardinals, later won a World Series with the Rangers and now is heading toward free agency at 33, with a recent track record shaped as much by injuries and uneven performance as by the promise he still occasionally flashes.
For St. Louis, the fit is easy to understand: a veteran arm who could help anchor a rotation in 2027 and perhaps become a movable piece if things go well by summer. The question, though, is the same one that follows Montgomery around now, and it will shape how seriously the Cardinals can pursue the idea of a reunion. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Face An Offseason Decision That Could Box In Their Youth
The Cardinals enter the winter with a familiar kind of tension: a 77-85 finish, a young roster, and enough in-house talent to make the next step feel possible without a full reset. St. Louis has promising pieces already in the majors, along with high-upside names working their way up the farm system, including Jesus Baez and Rainiel Rodriguez, so any offseason shopping list has to account for both present need and future flexibility.
Bullpen help and a veteran starter make sense, and theres also a case for bringing in another option at third base. But thats where the organization has to be careful, because a heavy commitment there could crowd out the younger players the Cardinals are trying to develop. With so much of the roster still in the making, this winter may be less about solving everything at once and more about avoiding a move that blocks the very youth the club is counting on. [Read more 🡒]
Ivan Herrera Rescued Cardinals After A Game That Left Fans Fuming
For most of the night in Denver, the Cardinals had more to worry about than the Rockies. Doug Eddings drew plenty of ire for a series of disputed calls, including a safe ruling that went against St. Louis and a pitch clock violation that got manager Oli Marmol tossed. The frustration only grew when rookie Hancel Rincon was told to adjust his cap, a move Major League Baseball later acknowledged had gone too far and apologized to the pitcher for.
Ivan Herrera eventually gave the Cardinals something better to remember. With the game hanging in the balance, he launched a three-run homer in the ninth inning to turn a maddening night into a win, offering a sharp reminder that the lineup could still erase a whole lot of bad blood in one swing. Even after the final out, though, the conversation around this one lingered on the officiating and the ripple effects it left behind. [Read more 🡒]