{"id":89956,"date":"2024-11-19T01:38:39","date_gmt":"2024-11-19T06:38:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=89956"},"modified":"2024-11-19T01:39:02","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T06:39:02","slug":"cardinals-commit-young-catchers-moving-willson-contreras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/11\/19\/cardinals-commit-young-catchers-moving-willson-contreras\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardinals Commit to Young Catchers by Switching Veteran&#8217;s Position"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Among the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/09\/30\/chaim-bloom-baseball-operations\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">many changes <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the St. Louis Cardinals will undergo this offseason, a position change is coming for their perennial All-Star catcher. John Mozeliak, the Cardinals president of baseball operations, told John Denton of MLB.com that catcher <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/contrwi01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-11-19_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Willson Contreras<\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> will not be behind the plate anymore. Instead, he will be playing first base and designated hitter.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The Cardinals are moving Willson Contreras to first base <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/c19yDsGOU7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/c19yDsGOU7<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 B\/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BRWalkoff\/status\/1854269358060495147?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 6, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Willson Contreras Will Not Be Catching Next Season<\/h2>\n<h3><strong>Contreras Wants to Stay<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Cardinals are entering a soft rebuild and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/10\/07\/cardinals-offseason-plans\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">focusing on developing talent<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The organization has informed several of the Cardinals veterans on long-term deals of the change to gauge their interest in wanting to stick around or being traded away. <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/cardinals\/news\/willson-contreras-to-switch-positions-in-2025\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mozeliak told Denton<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that Contreras has \u201cexpressed interest\u201d in staying with the Cardinals through the changes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Contreras has played two years into a five-year $87.5 million contract with a club option for a sixth year for $17.5 million. The Cardinals have control over his contract through the 2028 season, at which point he\u2019ll be 36.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even with the Cardinals attempting to cut costs, they appear to be willing to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/10\/27\/organizational-depth-makes-cardinals\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">keep Contreras\u2019<\/span><\/a> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hefty contract. The organization has already managed to cut $55 million from their payroll this offseason by letting <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/09\/29\/cardinals-paul-goldschmidt-sports\/\" target=\"_self\">former MVP<\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/goldspa01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-11-19_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paul Goldschmidt<\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> go to free agency and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/10\/31\/cardinals-decline-club-options-gibson-lynn-middleton\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">declining club options<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on veteran pitchers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lynnla01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-11-19_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lance Lynn<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=gibsoky01,gibson004kyl&amp;search=Kyle+Gibson&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-11-19_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyle Gibson<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/middlke01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-11-19_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Keynan Middleton<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mozeliak told Denton that at least one veteran has expressed interest in being <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/10\/23\/cardinals-sonny-gray-offseason-trade-candidate\/\" target=\"_self\">traded this offseason<\/a> in light of the rebuild. If that is one of pitchers <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/grayso01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-11-19_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sonny Gray<\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mikolmi01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-11-19_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Miles Mikolas<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/matzst01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-11-19_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steven Matz<\/a>, or <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/11\/08\/nolan-arenado-trade-rumors\/\" target=\"_self\">third baseman<\/a> <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/arenano01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-11-19_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nolan Arenado<\/a>,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the Cardinals would cut another significant chunk off their payroll.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Contreras\u2019 Move Away from Catcher<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Willson Contreras spent half the season on the injured list in 2024 for various injuries. Mozeliak said the move is largely for Contreras\u2019 health and career longevity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cBasically, our medical team recommended it,\u201d Mozeliak told Denton. \u201cIn terms of if he really wants to extend his career, they think that would be best for him. Catching is, obviously, a demanding position. He missed a lot of time this past year because of injuries. One, because of being a catcher, and one, when he was hit by a pitch, which was random.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2024, Contreras slashed .262\/.380\/.468 in 84 games. All three figures were above his career averages. He also swatted 15 home runs and had 36 RBI in those games.\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Keeping his bat in the lineup would help the Cardinals continue to compete in 2025 while not blocking the young talent the team wants to give extended chances.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Opportunity for Young Catchers<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Cardinals had <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/08\/09\/cardinals-catcher-ivan-herrera-uncertain-future\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">two rookie catchers<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> play extended time in 2024 while Contreras was on the IL. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/herreiv01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-11-19_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ivan Herrera<\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/08\/25\/cardinals-catcher-called-up\/\" target=\"_self\">caught<\/a> 56 games while appearing as a DH or pinch-hitter in 16 more games. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=pagespe02,pagespe01&amp;search=Pedro+Pag\u00e9s&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-11-19_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pedro Pages<\/a> caught 66 games.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Herrera slashed .301\/.372\/.428 in his time while adding five home runs and 27 RBI. However, he was a worse defensive option than Pages.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pages slashed .238\/.281\/.376 while adding seven home runs and 27 RBI. He was the better option behind the plate both for pitch framing and keeping baserunners in check. The two will share time at catcher in 2025. With both batting right-handed, manager <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/managers\/marmool99.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oliver Marmol<\/a> will likely ride with a mix of a hot-hand approach and compatibility with the starting pitcher of that day when deciding which of the two catchers to roll with.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the long run, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=crooks000jim&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-11-19_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jimmy Crooks<\/a> may be the best catcher in the organization if Contreras isn\u2019t going to play the position. He is currently the Cardinals&#8217; No. 5 prospect. The 23-year-old catcher was named the Texas League MVP for his stellar season with the Cardinals Double-A affiliate in Springfield, MO.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Crooks batted for a .321 average with a .498 slugging percentage in 2024. He also threw out 33 percent of would-be base stealers. While Crooks is likely to at least start the season in Triple-A, he appears to be in the team\u2019s long-term plans behind the plate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: \u00a9 Jeff Curry-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Among the many changes the St. Louis Cardinals will undergo this offseason, a position change is coming for their perennial All-Star catcher. John Mozeliak, the Cardinals president of baseball operations, told John Denton of MLB.com that catcher Willson Contreras will not be behind the plate anymore. Instead, he will be playing first base and designated [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5111,"featured_media":89960,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25,1071],"tags":[6415,28810,1800,213,6420,208,28576,650,684,1478],"class_list":["post-89956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cardinals","category-mlb","tag-ivan-herrera","tag-jimmy-crooks","tag-miles-mikolas","tag-nolan-arenado","tag-oliver-marmol","tag-paul-goldschmidt","tag-pedro-pages","tag-sonny-gray","tag-steven-matz","tag-willson-contreras"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5111"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}