5 questions Cards must answer this offseason

This story was excerpted from John Denton’s Cardinals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ST. LOUIS -- With chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. recently stating that the Cardinals will spend the next year focusing on revamping their player-development system -- and almost certainly cutting payroll at the big league level -- the club currently has more questions than answers early in the offseason.

The Cards' immediate future is more clouded than it has been in years, so let’s get straight to the five biggest questions facing the club in what is likely to be an active offseason.

Who stays and who goes?

A Cardinals club that went 83-79 will almost certainly look dramatically different by the start of Spring Training.

St. Louis is set on focusing the 2025 team around the young core of Masyn Winn, Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar, Alec Burleson, Jordan Walker, Nolan Gorman, Thomas Saggese, Andre Pallante, Michael McGreevy, Matthew Liberatore and Ryan Fernandez.

That means established veterans such as Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras, Miles Mikolas and Steven Matz -- all scheduled to make more than $10 million next season -- could be moved as a way to trim payroll if it fits what president of baseball operations John Mozeliak referred to as a “reset.” Ryan Helsley, who is fresh off a club-record 49 saves in 53 opportunities, is due a well-deserved raise in arbitration and he is another candidate to be dealt, considering the prospect haul he would likely yield.

The Cards also hold club options on veteran pitchers Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn. Paul Goldschmidt, Andrew Kittredge and Keynan Middleton are set to become free agents -- and the club would like to have all of them back -- but the new direction might not allow for that.

How will things be different with Chaim Bloom waiting to succeed Mozeliak?

Mozeliak, the architect of those Cardinals teams that were such consistent forces from 2011-15, will finish out the contract extension that he signed in February 2022 before retiring. His most important job over the next few months will likely be trying to maximize value for the veterans that the Cardinals choose to deal away. Trading a proven veteran such as Arenado, Gray, Contreras or Helsley won’t be a popular move for a club that likely won’t reap the benefits of such a deal until years down the road.

Bloom, who will take over as the president of baseball operations in 2026, likely wanted nothing to do with that gig after still being linked to the controversial trade of superstar Mookie Betts to the Dodgers not long after taking over as the Red Sox chief of baseball operations in '20. Bloom’s focus for '25 will be on the Minor League player-development system, an area where he thrived while working for the Rays from 2005-19. He’s worked as an advisor for the Cardinals since January, and his fingerprints were all over the club’s acquisitions of Kittredge, Fernandez and Riley O’Brien.

Can the Cards have a youth movement and still contend for a playoff spot?

If St. Louis ends up dealing Arenado or Gray, those losses will hit especially hard, and they will likely mean the club won’t have the lineup or pitching depth needed to make the postseason. Rebuilding can be painful, and it is something Cardinals fans aren’t very familiar with. However, that doesn’t mean 2025 has to be a lost season. The Cards still have enough young and dynamic talent to stay in the fight most of the season and make meaningful strides.

Arenado committed to the Cardinals long-term by declining an opt-out in his contract following the 2022 season. Meanwhile, Gray signed with the club last winter because he craved playing for a franchise that has been a perennial contender for decades. Trading either or both would signal a complete, multi-year rebuild is coming to St. Louis.

Should the Cards sign Goldschmidt and Kittredge for their leadership?

Goldschmidt, a future member of the Cardinals Hall of Fame just like Arenado, is about to become an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career. He’s never won a World Series and he said after the season finale that getting a chance to do so would weigh heavily in his decision as to where to play in 2025. The 37-year-old Goldschmidt just suffered through the worst season of his storied MLB career, but he thinks he can still get back to a high level of hitting with some changes in his swing and his plate approach.

Goldschmidt also values being a Cardinal, and the Redbirds would love to have him back because of his leadership skills on the field and in the clubhouse. The same can be said for Kittredge, who was a key figure in the consistency and dominance of the Cardinals' bullpen this past season. Kittredge’s professionalism, lack of ego and willingness to pitch in any inning were major reasons why the Cards were able to save Helsley primarily for ninth innings while asking him to only get three outs. The low-maintenance, high-performing Kittredge would make any bullpen he’s a part of better.

Can Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman get back on track for 2025?

While the Cardinals' struggles in 2024 were largely the result of their woeful hitting with runners in scoring position -- they finished last in the National League in five major offensive categories pertaining to RISP -- a close second were the regressions of Gorman and Walker.

A year after hitting a team-best 27 home runs, Gorman saw his batting average plunge to .203 and his strikeout rate soar to a staggering 37.6 percent. Things got so bad for the 24-year-old that he spent the final month of the season in Triple-A Memphis, where he flashed some of the eye-popping power the Cards were counting on, but he still struggled with strikeouts.

Walker, 22, also had two stints in Triple-A. He’ll spend much of his offseason in Jupiter, Fla., working on his pitch selection and trying to improve his defense.