After a rocky first two seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, Yadier Molina’s heir apparent Willson Contreras will retire in 2025. After being demoted from catcher to designated hitter just weeks into his Cardinals tenure for failing to satisfy the organization’s defensive goals, the All-Star catcher will now replace Paul Goldschmidt at first base, according to Jesse Rogers. The GM meetings have just begun, and Cardinals fans should learn more about their team’s strategy this summer.
If it isn’t evident already, this means Paul Goldschmidt will have to look for opportunities with a different team. However, if the Cardinals keep Contreras, their offensive productivity at first base will not be affected in 2025, even after losing Goldy. It will be intriguing to see how Contreras defends first base, especially given Goldschmidt won four Gold Gloves.
Regarding Contreras’ future with the Cardinals, it seems likely that he will not be traded to a contending team this winter, as he has greater trade value as a catcher. John Mozeliak revealed to the media that Contreras wants to stay with the Cardinals and has a full no-trade clause.
He sustained two severe injuries while catching this season, so while his positioning will be less valuable, he should have more availability in the future, as Mozeliak also mentioned. His bat should serve as a first baseman, as he was enjoying a career year offensively until being placed on the injured list. Contreras hit.262/.380/.468 with a 136 OPS+ in just 84 games, his greatest season to date.
Contreras’ bat is certainly worth the $18 million per year that the Cardinals are paying him on his contract, so anyone who is criticizing the decision and mocking the Cardinals appears to be unaware of Contreras’ offensive potential. The way St. Louis has handled Contreras’ catching duties has been aggravating, but his full-time shift to first base is not something to criticize them for.
This should also result in significantly more playing time for Ivan Herrera and Pedro Pages, the future catching duo. Herrera always appeared to have more potential than just a backup catcher, but Contreras was plainly preventing a very capable young bat from getting regular starts. While Pages’ stronger defense accounted for the most of his playing time in 2024, Herrera deserves regular reps and will undoubtedly earn them moving forward.
While unconfirmed, this appears to indicate two major aspects of the Cardinals’ future goals. Moving forward, Ivan Herrera will be the primary catcher, and Willson Contreras will remain in the organization for their eventual “reset” phase. What happens to the rumored first base platoon of Luken Baker and Alec Burleson remains to be seen, although both might earn regular playing time at DH. Stay tuned to the site to discover out in the coming weeks.
