Inside The Cardinals

Shocking Stat Shoes True Extent Of Cardinals' Youthful Rebuild

The Cardinals' youth movement is in full effect.
Zach Pressnell|
Feb 17, 2025; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn (0) signs autographs at spring training. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
Feb 17, 2025; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn (0) signs autographs at spring training. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images | Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

In this story:

St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals have been one of the older teams in the league for the last few seasons and they haven't seen much success since 2022 when Paul Goldschmidt won the National League MVP, and they went to postseason.

Since then, they're under .500. After buying at the trade deadline and trying to win last year, St. Louis came up short of the postseason and promptly entered a rebuild. This rebuild became evident because of a few moves made.

First, St. Louis let Goldschmidt, and a few other veterans walk in free agency. While this could have just been the Cardinals opting to move on from veterans, they also didn't pursue any top free agents on the market. After that, they reportedly tried trading veteran third baseman Nolan Arenado to free up money and playing time for a younger player.

In this attempt to rebuild, the Cardinals have become one of the younger teams in the league after being one of the oldest for a few years. In fact, the Cardinals have the lowest percentage of starting position players who are 28 years old or younger in the entire league.

St. Louis is used to success, but this is set to be a rebuilding season. Once Arenado is moved to a new team and a top prospect takes over for him at third base, this percentage will be even lower.

Led by players like Masyn Winn, Jordan Walker, and Iván Herrera, the Cardinals are bound for a bright future. If the fans aren't excited about the team in 2025, they should be excited about the youth movement that's taking over St. Louis for years to come.

More MLB: Ex-Cardinals Slugger Continues Scorching Hot Start With Yankees

Published
Zach Pressnell
ZACH PRESSNELL

Zach Pressnell has experience covering all major US sports at both the professional and collegiate levels. He’s produced content for FanSided, Blog Red Machine, The Game Haus, Bethany College Athletics and the Bethany College online newspaper, He graduated from Bethany College (WV) with a degree in Communications and Media Arts, specializing in Sports Journalism. Pressnell was also a four-year member of the baseball team where he earned himself All-PAC recognition as a pitcher (and a cool Tommy John surgery scar). Now, Pressnell specializes in NFL and MLB coverage for Sports Illustrated’s “On SI” network among others. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "St. Louis Cardinals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org

Home/St. Louis Cardinals News