Cardinals' Bright Future Led By 23-Year-Old Budding Star

The Cardinals have a bright future led by young shortstop Masyn Winn and a few others...

Feb 16, 2026; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn (0) throws during spring training workouts at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images | Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals opted to enter a rebuild this offseason by trading four of their best veteran players for a haul of prospects this offseason.

They traded Nolan Arenado to the Arizona Diamondbacks in a bit of a salary dump, but the other three main trades landed the Cardinals some quality prospects. They sent Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras to the Boston Red Sox in two separate deals to land a slew of top talent from Boston's farm system. In these two trades, the Cardinals landed at least two arms, Hunter Dobbins and Richard Fitts, who could compete at the big league level right now. They also sent Brendan Donovan to the Seattle Mariners in a three-team blockbuster.

These trades have built up a young core to be excited about in St. Louis. But the Cardinals already have a lot of top talent on their roster including top prospect JJ Wetherholt and shortstop Masyn Winn.

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Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter recently listed Winn as one of the top 25 players under the age of 25 while sharing some high praise for the Cardinals shortstop.

Masyn Winn has one of the brightest futures in the league

Sep 7, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn (0) waits for a San Francisco Giants infield fly ball to drop at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Vizer-Imagn Images | Tim Vizer-Imagn Images

"It's rare that a player is good enough defensively that anything he does in the batter's box is icing on the cake, but Winn fits the mold, and he could end up being this generation's Andrelton Simmons," Reuter wrote. "At the same time, it's worth mentioning that Winn had a solid 104 OPS+ and 52 extra-base hits in 2024, so he's capable of making a legitimate offensive impact."

Winn has an incredibly high floor, which makes him one of the most valuable players on the Cardinals roster. Winn's floor is so high because his defense is so impressive. This mean that even when his bat slumps, his defense will always help the team win games. He's almost always going to be a net-positive player as long as he's one of the best defenders in the game.

But his bat is quality, too. The Cardinals will want his offensive number to tick up a bit more this season, but he's already shown some potential at the plate. If he can become the kind of shortstop who posts an .800 OPS with 20 home runs a year, he could carve out a very solid career in St. Louis over the next decade or so.