Following yesterday’s 0-2 loss to the Phillies, the Cardinals’ magical 2022 season has drawn to a close. After an above-average first half going 50-44, the Cardinals moved into a higher gear, winning 43 of their final 68 games (.632 win percentage) to take the NL Central with authority. Pivoting towards the 2023 season, the Cardinals have two key players with decisions to make, and two players who are expected to formally announce their retirements.
One of the most important free agents for the Cardinals is 41-year-old Adam Wainwright who didn’t appear during the Cardinal’s Wild Card series. Wainwright, a rotation stalwart for the Cardinals since 2007, signed a 1-year, $17.5MM extension for the 2022 season on the heels of a strong 2020 and 2021 season, pitching to a 3.08 ERA in 272 innings. He followed those strong numbers in 2022 with a 3.71 ERA in 191 2/3 innings, following his trademark of limiting hard contact (87.8 MPH average exit velocity, 36.6 HardHit%). However, he was hit hard over his last five starts, giving up 35 hits and 19 runs over his last 23 2/3 innings.
Wainwright has yet to officially announce whether he will return for the 2023 season, but hinted that he has decided on his status, as reported by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Regardless, Wainwright is expected to release something soon, with the veteran saying postgame that “we should know pretty soon if something happens … if not, then it’s been a good run.” The 17-year veteran added that he did not “like not pitching in a playoff season,” before coyly saying that fans could take the statement one of two ways, “as it’s been a good run” or “as a motivation to never let that happen again,” per Goold.
The Cardinals’ other high-profile free agent Nolan Arenado is technically under contract through the 2027 season; however, he can opt out this offseason. Acquired from the Rockies in February 2021, Arenado has posted back-to-back All-Star seasons with the Cardinals, slashing a combined .273/.335/.513 while playing superb defense at the hot corner (30 Outs Above Average). Arenado’s 2022 season has been particularly strong, batting .293/.358/.533 with 30 homers and 15 Outs Above Average.
Arenado has $144MM and five years remaining on his current contract, but he would be the clear-cut top third basemen on the free agent market. For his part, Arenado has previously stated that he’s “not opting out” and that he “will be coming back,” per Goold. He followed up these comments after yesterday’s game saying, “I love it here. I love the guys. I just feel like I fit well with this orgnaization.” Nevertheless, the seven-time All-Star will be 37 at the end of his current contract and may opt to find a longer agreement.
Elsewhere on the Cardinals, 19-year veteran Yadier Molina and 22-year veteran Albert Pujols are set to retire with the close of the 2022 season. Both legends in Cardinals’ lore, the duo won World Series titles with the Cardinals in 2006 and 2011, among numerous other awards throughout their careers. In a fitting moment, both players laced singles in their final at-bats at Busch Stadium.
As a Phillies fan, congrats on great careers from Pujols, Waino and Molina. Go Phillies
As a Cardinals fan, man the Phillies are good!! Best of luck to you and your team going forward!!
As a Pirates fan; I can say, “Must be nice to sign free agents or trade, then extend them.” That goes to both Cards & Phils. And of course Dodgers, Padres, Mets, & Braves. Some of you (Cardinals), like to believe your team is “home grown”, but in reality far from it. Just another team who “buys” the best team they can.
The cards are hardly “buying” it. Looking online they’re somewhere between 12th-15th in payroll out of 30 teams. Just because the pirates are 29th, that doesn’t mean teams outside the top 10 are buying it. If anything, the cards are underspending considering ticket sales and merchandise.
Hmmm
Donovan – home grown
Edman- home grown
molina/knizner – home grown
oneill- home grown
carlson- home grown
Gorman- home grown
yepez- home grown
pujols- home grown
not even looking at pitching staff…am I missing something?
O’Neil and Yepez were acquired via trade.
Yepez then spent 5 years in the STL system being “devoloped”, O’Neill spent 2 years in the minors with STL?
Salty Pirates fan. Tell me how the Dodgers bought it. Anyone had a crack at Muncy, J Turner, Taylor. Their pitchers are homegrown and had to give up Verdugo to get Betts. Only bought an extension. They bought Freeman but refused to pay for Seager. Why? They’re rich not stupid. What’s next? Mickey Mouse championship as they set postseason records? Salty.
Buster79 Name a free agent they’ve signed (except there own ie Adam Wainwright, Yadier Molina) they have signed since 2018 for more than 15 million a year? They signed Miles Mikolas, and Stephen Matz…? And they were not getting huge salaries. The front office did swing trades for Arenado, and Goldschmidt, but other than that all the other pieces they drafted or developed? The Dodgers don’t really buy their way either… neither did Houston. Jeff Luhnow was a really brilliant baseball mind, it’s a shame he was scape goated for 2017
What the Cardinals were missing in this series was a guy like Sandy Alcantara? The Ozuna trade has been the most Stifling move John Mozeliak has made, completely handcuffing Arenado, and Goldschmidt who cant figure out Timely hitting to pair with the lack of a rotation. Love Adam Wainwright, but depending on him at age 41 to be your “ACE” is just clamorimg to win the leagues lemming award? They need to make a trade, sign a free agent or develop a true ace type or risk wasting the talent of Arenado (if he doesn’t opt out) and Goldschmidt
The Cardinals didn’t lose this series because of starting pitching. You need to mash in the playoffs to win and they barely scraped together two runs. Aside from the big two the lineup was anemic all season. It was a great run, but the outcome wasn’t terribly surprising.
The offense was bad almost all of September. That was the part of the comment where Arenado and Goldschmidt forgot timley hitting. Having a front line starter for game one saving Gallegos for later may have bode well for the Cardinals considering what happened with Helsley? At this point its all mute.
The starting pitching was the only facet of the team that didn’t cost them in the series. They gave up two runs in two games.
In the past they have made some all star moves for guys like McGwire, Edmonds, Chuck Finley, Will Clark, Larry Walker, Berkman and Holiday. Maybe failing so badly on that Ozuna trade has made them a little gun shy. I really liked the moves this year, but last year was definitely chintzy. They are building teams to compete for a wild card spot and they used to build teams to win it all.
Hope the Cards don’t hesitate to renegotiate with Arenado and sign him thru age 38-9 and extend Quintana and then work on some offensive upgrades.! Spend some cash we know you have it!!!
From the Braves standpoint, it is tough to choose who would rather face.
The Cards have a better offense and bullpen, but the rotation is not good.
Phillies have a much better rotation, but bad bullpen and solid offense.
I’d probably rather face the Phillies, but the Braves did not play well against them this season other than the final 7 games.
Hopefully, the Padres take the game today, because the Phils will probably once again gift the Mets another 4 games if they play each other in the CS. However, I’ve been saying it all year, the Phils are due to beat the overachievers, so if they play in the CS, I’d like Phils chances.
I think the Cards are a solid team, but consistently overrated because they’re media darlings and play in a bad division. Throw the mediocre Phils in the NL central and they finish with close to 95 wins. I’m sure I’ll get plastered in the comments, but it’s true. I had the Phils sweeping the Cards easily and I don’t even think the Phillies are that good. I was shocked that almost everyone in the media thought otherwise.
There’s certain teams the media can’t help themselves getting all giddy about all the time and the Cardinals are one of them
Thats not true at all. The cardinals have to have a once in a lifetime scenario like this years pujols/wainright/molina trifecta to even get on the national news.
Mlb network spends 80% of coverage on the Mets/ Yankees/ Redsox/ dodgers. Its a miracle any other teams get mentioned.
I feel really sorry for other teams that dont win at the level of the Cards.
Generally good teams and interesting teams with strong fan bases will be talked about more than others; hence, you will hear more about the Dodgers, Yankees and Cardinals than you will about the D’Backs or the Royals. In the end, media is a business. We never used to hear about the Padres, but an aggressive owner and GM have made them relevant.
Good teams do and should get mentioned more. However all these wonder kids the Cards have were ok but their production didn’t match the hype. Friday’s mismanagement was hardly even mentioned. As we’ve seen the media agenda for ratings sometimes clouds the facts. Ta ta St Louis and oh good luck replacing Molina, always been the smartest guy on the field and the cardinals won’t be the same
How many years have the Cardinals finished above .500? They’ve won more divisions than they other 4 teams have won combine. They’re franchise is very deserving of media attention to say the least.
And savvy trades
Von, your division hasn’t been any better than thr Central, at least until Cohen bought the Mets. Even then, I’m not a Cards fan – in fact I hate them – but I believe you’re selling them short.
Ohh. I’m not talking historically. I’m talking 2022. The NLE was horrible as recently as last year. The NLC has been great in the past. I simply mean the 2022 NLC was awful and I think the division winner was actually worse than all 3 wildcard teams, although the Phillies poor September made it close.
Hate them too, but between Nolan and Paul, albert showing up, they pulled Donovan and edman out of the 8th round which no one pulls 4 win players from, their rotation was lacking, but they’re not under or over appreciated, just really good
So much for your idiotic rants that the Cards were so much better than the Cubs that the Cubs will never contend next year. When the Phillies hit town and needed a win to clinch a playoff spot the Cubs Rookie P’s and Crummy offense swept the Phils and the Cardinals got swept in their own park by Philadelphia. I guess your credibility is back to….. Nonexistent. Look forward to hearing some more of your excuse making there Knolin.
13th Round of the 1999 amateur draft the St Louis Cardinals selected Albert Pujols with the 402 overall choice
13th Round of the 2009 amateur draft the St Louis Cardinals selected Matt Carpenter with the 399 overall choice
41st Round of the 2008 amateur draft the St Louis Cardinals selected Kevin Siegrist with the 1235 overall choice
22nd Round of the 2005 amateur draft the St Louis Cardinals selected Jaime Garcia with the 680 overall pick
23rd Round of the 2009 amateur draft the St Louis Cardinals selected Matt Adams with the 699 overall pick
19th Round of the 2003 amateur draft the St Louis Cardinals selected Jason Motte with the 575 overall pick
They also drafted Lance Lynn, Jon Jay, Yadier Molina, Kolten Wong in the 4th round or higher. It’s absolutely ubsurd the amount of useful talent the Cardinals have plucked from the 13th Round or later since 1999, anyone wanna total those players WAR for me all said? Then break that down to value per millions that the Cardinals have gotten from the 13th Round or later of the draft since 1999?
Uncle mike, read the above comment… who have the Cubs drafted from the 13th Round or later that made a difference in 2016?
This is why ESPN and the media hates the Cardinals, why there fans had to suffer through Alex Rodriquez and Micheal Kay for commentators in the Wild Card series? Cause they drafted and developed a core of young talented players without tanking, trading, or spending millions on the free agent market like Houston, like Los Angeles, like New York, And like CHICAGO! And everybody hates them for it, it’s why Yadier Molina loved getting Booed in Cincinnati!
The Cardinals from 2000-2015 those teams were moneyball on steriods
Except for the September series sweep of the Cubs by STL or STL winning 9 of 11 of their head-to-head games in the second half, you have a point.
8th round of the 2006 amateur draft the St Louis Cardinals selected Alan Craig with the 256th overall pick
Forgot about Craig, if only he would have just gotten Hamet bone surgery instead of playing in the world series in 2013.
The Phillies went 0-for-the season against the Cubs this year.
Yes in September when they were at their worst. Look at the Phillies record against the Cards, Brewers, Pirates and Reds.
The Cardinals are fundamentally sound. That was their strength this year. That usually works well in the payoffs.
This I 100% agree with. Well coached and developed. Consistently play they right well no matter who is on their roster. Credit where its due.
If the manager didn’t manage game one like it was sudden death overtime from the fifth inning, maybe this article wouldn’t be posted for a couple weeks.
He snuffed out the moment…. Juan Yepez rising star, then terrible mismanagement. Everybody including the manager knew Helsley jammed his finger in a unmeaningful game 161 against the Pirates…? His middle finger, very important for locating 4 seem fastball? Slider and breaking ball were okay, but he couldn’t touch the plate with his 101. Gallegos saved games all year long? He burned Hicks to early, leaving Pallante or Flaherty to put out a self inflicted fire when they didn’t realize he couldn’t find the plate with his fastball at all and was struggling with off speed location as well. They desperately needed a strikeout? Or a groundball double play? I’m always gonna question Rookie Pallante over Flaherty in that situation? 24 year old Pallante was everything the Cardinals needed this year, but 26 year old Flaherty has playoff experience, and was pretty good in September? Pallante came on in a game in Pittsburgh and blew a late tie, or lead in serving a home run to Jack Suwinski and didn’t look sharp for much of September coming out of the bullpen? I was saying I hope they toss Flaherty to my grandma. I guess we will never know what might of happened and just have to live with the rookie manager choosing a rookie pitcher in game one of the playoffs baseloaded 1 out.
Von,
I don’t really disagree, but I will say that you really saw the worst version of the Cards in this series. They were limping to the finish for a couple of weeks. Also, for whatever reason you guys just match really well against us. Every time we played this year, you looked great, and we stunk. We played the Braves and even the Dodgers better than we played the Phils. Anyway, congratulations. Best of luck the rest of the way.
Yes. The Cards are a much better team than the one who showed up in the WC round.. The defensive miscues were something that you really didn’t see much of during the season. And the offense has been slumping of late.
Somebody on this site said 2 months ago that there wasn’t anybody that the Cardinals could beat in the playoffs. Who said that? Ahhhh, It’s right on the tip of my tongue. He even specifically mentioned the Phillies as long as Harper could hit. I GOT IT! It was ME! I still got it. I love being right. I thought I was wrong once but I was mistaken.
You should be on Baseball Tonight
And your best attribute is your modesty.
What modesty? Oh, That was sarcasm wasn’t it? Sorry, Still laughing.
I agreed with you then and now. Cardinals are a good team and one of the best run organizations in baseball, but 94 wins in the 2022 NL central is about 85 wins in another division.
What about the Dodgers? finished 26 games ahead of the 2nd place. Their division is god awful outside of the Padres. We going to lower their win total too?
I think the Pirates, Reds and Cubs were significantly worse than the Giants, Diamondbacks and Rockies.
The DBacks, Padres and Giants were all .500 or better in games when they didn’t play the Dodgers. And the Padres were like 25 games over. The NL is a better than solid division.
The NLW was the second toughest division in baseball this year in both wins and run differential. I know, it’s a time zone thing. Fans of teams in the western divisions get the bias, but we still think it’s pretty silly.
Good, you got it right, now go rout for the CUBS…. oh wait I’m sorry that’s a acronym for Completely Useless By September
Their season wasn’t magical. It was a parade of geriatrics. Next year cardinal fans will be forced to go to the shopping center and watch the Saturday morning mall walkers to get their fix.
What? Mall walkers? If only there was a shopping center in St Louis worthy if such an honor…. Anyways the only thing magical about the St Louis season was Albert Pujols getting to 700 homeruns despite almost retiring in June… That and two trades that kept them alive in a very weak division to make the playoffs. They almost didn’t make it. At least they had a chance? Maybe we could get the Brewers to trade us Corbin Burns and 50 million for Matthew Libratore?
Cardinal’s Manager lost this series. Apparently he was the last person in the stadium to realize his closer had lost feel for the ball. Too busy trying to keep his job, he forgot to do his job.
Blame the Manager all you want, Cards scored 2 runs on a pinch hit homer. That’s it. They team didn’t hit. That was the issue.
1. The Phillies pitching was great.
2. Their defense was adequate.
3. The Phillies have played well against the Cardinals all year.
If the Cardinals were smart they should trade for Ian Happ from the Cubs.
Then fire they current Manager and pitching coach and hire former White Sox manager Ozzie G and former White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper
The cardinals changed their policy years ago. The only two requirements to be their manager are:
-You cannot have any major league managerial experience.
-You do not have a voice or opinion on who can play, where they can play, or when they can play.. Ever.
You’re basically just given a hat and are told to sit in front of a mic, drink out of a cardinal water bottle and answer a few softball questions from the St. Louis media.
They need to get Joc Pederson already…
I expected Wainwright to pitch game 1, especially with it being at home. Excellent in the postseason. If he gets hit, then just go bullpen.
Arenado should opt out. He’s the only decent 3B available and there is a need around the league for the best 3B ever. Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, Giants, Phillies, Rangers… all the top spending teams would want him.
Quintana dominated game 1. Bullpen management was questionable game 1, but at the end of thw day, the offense failed in both games.
It was nice that both Molina and Pujols got hits their final time up. However it was so much better to see the Cardinals lose 2 in a row at home and get eliminated. It didn’t matter yesterday but real nice job letting your closer throw 33 pitches as he imploded on Friday.
Magical? Umm ok.
He’s a third basement? Wonder if he gets good cell coverage.
I wonder who the first basement is. Roger Goodell doing the NFL Draft from his has to be up there.
It’s the parking garage.
Can’t wait to see Arenado in Philly!
Bohm is better. He proved it this series. I’m kidding of course, but Bohm out played him on both sides of the ball when it mattered. Arenado is of course a stud.
Dumbest comment you’ve made in a while. Which is really impressive.
It was a clear joke. I even stated it. Of course Arenado is better. Jesus. It’s like people only read half a comment.
Hey Von…remember when you said Mariners/Phillies in the World Series? We’re one step closer to that my friend.
That Mariners comeback was pure magic. Hard not to ropt for them. Good luck!
Arenado in Philly? What’s that you were saying?
Breaking News! After his on-air interview last night, Alex Rodriguez has been hired as the Cardinal’s new color commentator. Management says they have never heard so many shameless plugs for their team. He will sign a 1-year contract Monday.
As somewhat of a Cardinals fan, I don’t know which was worse:
a) The lack of hitting.
b) The premature removal of Quintana in Game 1
c) Helsley’s loss of command and the manager’s slowness to recognize it
d) Arenado whiffing on a double-play grounder to let in 2 more runs in Game 1.
e) Having to listen to A-Fraud on the broadcast.
Right now I’m leaning toward (e).
BS as a player. BS as a broadcaster.
Not his fault. Was born allergic to integrity.
He was talking about Kevin Stockton for 5 minutes. Kevin Stockton never existed. I think he meant Kevin Stocker.
Before every at bat, “This is what I would do.” This is what they should do.” Never thought I’d say this, but I’d rather hear Tim McCarver.
Definitely option E. While everything else was definitely bad, nothing was worse than E.
My answer is (b).
e.
Helsley got the 1st out, then a single and a walk. At that point they got Pallante up. By the time Pallante was ready the bases were loaded and one run in on a HBP. Pallante then gave up the balls in play that scored the next 5 runs.
Anytime A-Fraud is on the TV broadcast, just turn on the radio. The game was on ESPN radio.
I dont care about being slow to pull Helsley. That is just an outcome of the root mistake. He pulled pitchers for little reason earlier in the game. Quintana was rolling, pulled due to some dumb analytics data point. He shouldn’t have been pulled until he got in trouble. He could have gone at least 6 innings. Then you don’t need to risk your recently injured closer pitching two innings. That was the mistake in my opinion. He managed like it was sudden death from the sixth inning on. If Helsley only needed to pitch the ninth, the series wouldn’t be over in my opinion.
In field in cost Pallante, he got ground balls that would have gotten them out of the inning 2-2. Manager’s call hindsight 20/20 and all.
“we should know pretty soon if something happens … if not, then it’s been a good run.”
——-
That doesn’t sound like a man retiring. That first part sounds like a man whose agent is talking to the Cards about a 2023 contract. The second part is more cryptic. If he doesn’t get a contract does that mean he’s retiring, or is he saying “it’s been a good run” with the Cards and he’ll be heading out as a free agent to sign elsewhere?
Mixed feelings on this season. As a fan, it was great to have one last reunion with Yadi, Pujols, and Waino. There were times this season that our line up looked great, but to end the season we looked pretty weak and if I’m being honest, it stings worse than previous exits. I’m glad Yadi’s final at bat was a hit though, so that’s something.
Unsure about the future right now. I think it looks promising but the postseason choking from Goldie and Arenado has me hesitant on whether they can lead the young players about to come up. There’s talk of Contreras coming to StL, but that seems unlikely to me.
I expect to see Walker make the team out of spring training. There are areas to be excited about, but really curious to see who ends up being behind the plate.
FrontOfficeStan;
How many years do your predict before Yadi becomes the Cardinals manager?
Sam, I’m not sure if Yadi becomes a manager. My guess is that he would probably be less of a puppet than the FO wants. If I’m wrong, then hopefully in the next couple years.
@Stan, It’s two games. Fans understandably want their teams to win, but there’s also too much SSS noise once the postseason arrives. There certainly is when we’re talking two games. Every team that makes the postseason has had a successful season, Only one team will be the last one standing at the end, but that doesn’t make everyone else who made the postseason cut a failure for not going all the way. The smartest teams today look for sustainability in competition, to be in position to win year in and year out. The Cards pass that test and they have a fanbase that rewards them for that.
The storyline on this defeat is that Pujols and Molina were somehow entitled to a fairytale ending to their careers. Like, since when?
Yes, although as we know, those things rarely happen, They’ve had their fairy-tale careers. That will have to be enough!
Exactly. I thought Pujol’s last waltz was a pretty cool baseball story all by itself.
lmao, Marmol blew the series a) taking Quintana out too soon, b) not leaving Gallegos in for one more batter ( after only 19 pitches)
Everybody and his brother knew all season Marmol would not get it done
They had game 1 and the series wrapped up until Marmol stepped in and blew it
Cardinals offense is not getting criticized enough. Easy to blame the manager, and somewhat fair, but you need more offense than 1 homer.
I agree- but the hitting coach has stymied the Cardinals offense ever since he was hired as the assistant hitting coach!!!
Marmol does what Marmol is told to do. Mo runs the show. Any criticism should be directed that way.
Need to trade Gorman for a manager
Congrats to Pooholes for depositing it 703 times into the seats over the past 22 years.
Despite the offensive no-show against the Phillies, it would seem that a priority would also be to bring reinforcements in for the starting rotation? I wouldn’t view Flaherty and Matz as 100% certainties to rebound. Mikolas, Matz, Montgomery and Flaherty feels like a 81-81 type of team.
Now that the cardinals are out and I’ve completely dominated the comment section, I am officially announcing my retirement. Slider out
I though this comment would get more upvotes than just Slider’s
To Slider:I do not believe it. I may not always agree with you, but you are entertaining!
Quite a few starters would have had much better careers with the Cards’ infield defense and Yadi as their catcher.
Wainwright
Wainwright between 09-14 was incredible
Pujols ended his career with a very good season in St Louis. Next stop Cooperstown.
A lot of sadness for the Cardinals. I was shocked. But, pitching usually wins in the Playoffs. Also, the worse part of it was your excellent closer laying an egg on Friday. Should have been playing tonight!
As a Cubs fan, I’m going to dig deep and find nice things to say about the possibly retiring Cardinals.
Albert Pujols is a class act who was very nice to my friends and I one time we were sitting in the front row of the Wrigley bleachers. I’m glad he got to have a sendoff season in STL and got his 700, especially in a season we weren’t competing.
Adam Wainwright was awesome on one of my championship fantasy teams several years ago.
Yadier Molina is a human being, I’m sure his family loves him. I will always love my memory of the time the ball stuck to his chest protector.
Arenado isn’t gonna hit much once he leaves Colorado.
All year the Cardinals have been celebrating the retirements of Wainwright, Molina, and Pujols. Now, Wainwright is uncertain of his future. I think he’s a little angry that he didn’t get to pitch in the Wild Card series. I dont blame him, he should have started Game 2.
Thoughts about getting Contreras as catcher? Live in central IL and that is what everyone is saying.