Cardinals Need to Offer JJ Wetherholt a Long-Term Deal

The St. Louis Cardinals phenom needs a long-term deal as soon as possible before the price increases.

Apr 4, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; St. Louis Cardinals shortstop JJ Wetherholt (26) receives congratulations from teammates after scoring in the fifth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals have been better than many expected heading into the 2026 Major League Baseball season.

It's still very early in the season, of course, but the Cardinals are 5-5 on the season. That doesn't look much, but St. Louis has been better than many expected. For example, ESPN projected the Cardinals to go 70-92 on the season. Arguably, this projection is way too low. St. Louis went 71-91 in 2023. While the Cardinals have a young roster, they arguably aren't worst than the 2023 season and if the young guys take a step forward, they have a chance to at least be as good as the 78-84 2025 team.

One guy who will have a massive impact on this idea is young infielder JJ Wetherholt. He now has 10 big league games under his belt so far and is slashing .278/.386/.361 with one homer, four RBIs, two stolen bases, six walks and eight runs scored. On top of this, he has been among the best overall defensive second basemen in the National League so far this season, based on outs above average.

The Cardinals need to act quickly

Apr 1, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt (26) leaps and catches a line drive hit by New York Mets second baseman Jorge Polanco (not pictured) during the second inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

Wetherholt entered the season as the league's No. 5 prospect. He has lived up to the hype so far and the Cardinals need to respond quickly and hand him a long-term extension. Long-term extensions for young guys with little or no big league experience have become a trend. Konnor Griffin of the Pittsburgh Pirates broke the record for pre-MLB debut extensions at $140 million over nine years. Colt Emerson of the Seattle Mariners got $95 million from Seattle. Cooper Pratt recently got $50 million from the Milwaukee Brewers.

Last season, Roman Anthony got $130 million across eight seasons from the Boston Red Sox.

Griffin entered the 2026 season as the No. 1 prospect in the game with Wetherholt not far behind. Griffin got $140 million at 19 years old. Anthony is 21 years old and got his extension shortly after making his big league debut. Wetherholt is 23 years old and is likely closer in value to Anthony than to Griffin.

If the Cardinals wait and Wetherholt keeps playing like he has so far this season, his value is only going to increase. St. Louis needs to act quickly and reports have surfaced indicating that the club is interested in a long-term deal. Why not make an offer in the range of $120 million over eight years and see what happens?