Cardinals Already Have St. Louis' Franchise Superstar on Roster

The Cardinals need shortstop Masyn Winn to bounce back from a down year offensively...

Sep 6, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn (0) throws to first base against the San Francisco Giants at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Vizer-Imagn Images | Tim Vizer-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals are entering a rebuild this season and they're likely going to finish near the bottom of the league because of it. The Cardinals have made over five big trades dating back to last trade deadline, moving on from important franchise cornerstones in the process.

The Cardinals are going to need their top young talent to step up with the veteran players gone. St. Louis has plenty of prospect capital surging up the minor leagues. In fact, their system has gone from one of the worst in baseball to one of the best in baseball over the span of less than a year.

But it's the young big-league talent that's going to be on display this season.

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Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter recently ranked Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn as the 15th best shortstop in baseball, ahead of players like Trevor Story, JP Crawford, and CJ Abrams.

Masyn Winn is a franchise cornerstone in St. Louis

Sep 7, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn (0) fields a grounder hit up the middle for the out on San Francisco Giants batter Drew Gilbert (not shown) in the seventh inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Vizer-Imagn Images | Tim Vizer-Imagn Images

"The 2025 NL Gold Glove winner at shortstop, Winn has elite range and a rocket arm as the anchor of the St. Louis infield, and he profiles as one of the few cornerstone pieces of their upcoming rebuilding efforts," Reuter wrote. "His OPS slipped from .730 to .673 last season and he went from a 4.9 WAR player to a 2.2 WAR player as a result, but he is still only 23 years old and more than capable of an uptick in production at the plate."

Winn is a franchise cornerstone for the Cardinals. He will seemingly play every healthy game at shortstop until his contract runs out with the team. His defense is way too value to move him elsewhere or slide him to the bench.

But the Cardinals need his bat to come around.

After posting a 104 OPS+ with 15 home runs, five triples, and 32 doubles in 2024, Winn's production fell off last year as he posted a 90 OPS+ with nine home runs, no triples, and 27 doubles. It was a down year across the board.

With Winn's speed and defense, the Cardinals don't need him to slug like Aaron Judge. But if he can be a 115 OPS+ bat with his defense, the Cardinals have a real franchise superstar on their hands.

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