Rosternomics
Log in Sign up 𝕏

Cardinals STL

202190–72 (0.556)Made Playoffs
‹ Previous Next ›

President of baseball ops: John Mozeliak · GM: Mike Girsch

Overview

Ranks vs the 30 teams in 2021, or a custom range (defaults to every team-season since 1985, when our data starts).

to

Front Office

PoorAverageGreat
Value
Payroll $M
$168M
Surplus $M
-44
Win %
0.556
TAB
+0.5
WAB
+4.4
Roster composition
Roster fWAR
38.2
Dead money %
36%
Depth Players
8.0
Dead WAR
-4.3

Offense

PoorAverageGreat

Pitching & Defense

PoorAverageGreat

Roster

2021 depth chart — stacked by playing time

C

RYadier Molina118
RAndrew Knizner57
RAli Sánchez2

1B

RPaul Goldschmidt153
RJohn Nogowski⇄19
LMatt Carpenter14
RAndrew Knizner1
RJosé Rondon1
RYadier Molina1

2B

BTommy Edman130
LMatt Carpenter34
REdmundo Sosa25
BMax Moroff4
RJosé Rondon2

3B

RNolan Arenado155
REdmundo Sosa9
RJosé Rondon7
LMatt Carpenter6
BMax Moroff1

SS

RPaul DeJong107
REdmundo Sosa71
BTommy Edman4

LF

RTyler O'Neill131
LJustin Williams19
LLars Nootbaar9
BDylan Carlson9
RAustin Dean6
RJosé Rondon2

CF

RHarrison Bader103
BDylan Carlson60
LScott Hurst6
REdmundo Sosa1

RF

BDylan Carlson87
BTommy Edman41
LLars Nootbaar26
LJustin Williams24
RLane Thomas⇄10
RJosé Rondon7
RAustin Dean3

DH

RPaul Goldschmidt4
RJosé Rondon2
LMatt Carpenter2
RNolan Arenado2
RTyler O'Neill1

Starters

RAdam Wainwright4.0 WAR
LKwang-hyun Kim1.3 WAR
RJack Flaherty1.2 WAR
RCarlos Martinez0.5 WAR
RMiles Mikolas0.5 WAR
LJ.A. Happ⇄0.4 WAR
RJake Woodford0.3 WAR
RDakota Hudson0.3 WAR
LJon Lester⇄0.2 WAR
RJohan Oviedo0.1 WAR
RJohn Gant⇄-0.0 WAR
LWade LeBlanc⇄-0.2 WAR
RDaniel Ponce de Leon-0.5 WAR

Bullpen

★ RAlex Reyes29 sv
LGenesis Cabrera28 h
RGiovanny Gallegos24 h
LT.J. McFarland15 h
RLuis Garcia12 h
RRyan Helsley10 h
LAndrew Miller5 h
RKodi Whitley4 h

Each position shows its top 3 by games (top = starter) — click "+more" for the rest. The letter is bats/throws; ⇄ marks a player traded mid-season. Starters are ranked by WAR, bullpen by holds; ★ marks the closer (most save chances). MLB Stats API.

Key additions (new vs 2020)

PlayerfWAR
Nolan Arenado4.3
Edmundo Sosa2.0
Luis García0.7
Lars Nootbaar0.6
Miles Mikolas0.5
J.A. Happ0.4

Key subtractions (gone from 2020)

Player2020 fWAR
Kolten Wong1.1
Brad Miller0.7
Austin Gomber0.5
Rob Kaminsky0.0
Jesus Cruz0.0
Nabil Crismatt-0.0

Contract Value

WAR translated into tier-adjusted market value, then compared with what the player was paid by Cardinals. Guaranteed contracts from the 2015-present contract-data period use the known contract period through 2021; everyone else is shown as a 2021 season snapshot.

PlayerPeriodfWARTier Market $MPaid $MSurplus $M$ / WARTierContract
Tyler O'Neill 2021 +5.3 +87.5 0.6 +86.9 $0.1M 2.05× Free Agent · 2025–2027 · $16.5M AAV
Adam Wainwright 2021 +4.0 +70.3 8.0 +62.3 $2.0M 2.19× –
Harrison Bader 2021 +2.9 +37.6 2.0 +35.6 $0.7M 1.60× Free Agent · 2026–2027 · $10.2M AAV
Giovanny Gallegos 2021 +2.3 +35.5 0.6 +34.9 $0.3M 1.95× –
Tommy Edman 2021 +3.0 +25.7 0.6 +25.1 $0.2M 1.07× Extension · 2025–2030 · $14.8M AAV
Dylan Carlson 2021 +2.4 +23.3 0.6 +22.7 $0.2M 1.22× –
Paul Goldschmidt 2021 +4.8 +46.4 26.0 +20.4 $5.4M 1.20× Free Agent · 2026–2026 · $4.0M AAV
Edmundo Sosa 2021 +2.0 +14.0 0.6 +13.5 $0.3M 0.89× Arbitration · 2026–2026 · $4.4M AAV
Nolan Arenado 2021 +4.3 +42.5 35.0 +7.5 $8.2M 1.25× Arb extension · 2019–2020 · $32.5M AAV
Kwang Hyun Kim 2021 +1.3 +10.2 4.0 +6.2 $3.2M 1.02× –
Jack Flaherty 2021 +1.2 +10.0 3.9 +6.1 $3.2M 1.02× Free Agent · 2025–2026 · $17.5M AAV
Génesis Cabrera 2021 +1.2 +6.3 0.6 +5.7 $0.5M 0.67× –
Lars Nootbaar 2021 +0.6 +3.9 0.3 +3.6 $0.5M 0.83× Arbitration · 2026–2026 · $5.2M AAV
Luis García 2021 +0.7 +3.8 0.3 +3.5 $0.4M 0.67× Arbitration · 2026–2026 · $6.9M AAV
Dakota Hudson 2021 +0.3 +2.6 0.6 +2.0 $1.8M 1.02× –
Paul DeJong 2021 +1.3 +6.2 4.2 +2.0 $3.3M 0.61× –
Kodi Whitley 2021 +0.4 +2.0 0.3 +1.7 $0.9M 0.67× –
Jake Woodford 2021 +0.3 +1.7 0.4 +1.4 $1.1M 0.67× Free Agent · 2026–2026 · $1.0M AAV
Alex Reyes 2021 +0.2 +2.2 0.9 +1.3 $4.4M 1.34× –
Ryan Helsley 2021 +0.3 +1.6 0.6 +1.1 $1.9M 0.67× Free Agent · 2026–2027 · $14.0M AAV
T.J. McFarland 2021 +0.3 +1.5 0.4 +1.1 $1.5M 0.67× –
José Rondon 2021 +0.3 +1.2 0.4 +0.9 $1.5M 0.58× –
Jon Lester↔ 2021 +0.2 +1.2 0.5 +0.7 $3.4M 1.02× –
Johan Oviedo 2021 +0.1 +0.5 0.2 +0.3 $3.6M 1.02× Arbitration · 2026–2026 · $1.6M AAV
Yadier Molina 2021 +1.5 +9.2 9.0 +0.2 $6.0M 0.76× –
Angel Rondón 2021 +0.0 +0.1 0.0 +0.1 $1.5M 0.67× –
Austin Dean 2021 +0.0 +0.2 0.1 +0.1 $3.5M 0.83× –
Roel Ramírez 2021 -0.0 -0.2 0.0 -0.2 – 0.67× –
Seth Elledge 2021 -0.0 -0.1 0.1 -0.2 – 0.67× –
Brandon Dickson 2021 -0.0 -0.2 0.0 -0.3 – 0.67× –
Justin Miller↔ 2021 -0.1 -0.3 0.2 -0.6 – 0.67× –
Scott Hurst 2021 -0.1 -0.7 0.0 -0.7 – 0.83× –
Jordan Hicks 2021 +0.0 +0.1 0.9 -0.8 $49.4M 0.67× Free Agent · 2024–2024 · $11.0M AAV
Junior Fernández 2021 -0.1 -0.6 0.3 -0.9 – 0.67× –
Tyler Webb 2021 -0.1 -0.7 0.2 -0.9 – 0.67× –
John Nogowski↔ 2021 -0.3 -1.3 0.1 -1.4 – 0.56× –
John Gant↔ 2021 -0.0 -0.4 1.3 -1.7 – 1.02× –
Max Moroff 2021 -0.3 -1.4 0.4 -1.9 – 0.56× –
Wade LeBlanc↔ 2021 -0.2 -1.4 0.5 -1.9 – 1.02× –
Daniel Ponce de Leon 2021 -0.5 -2.6 0.5 -3.1 – 0.67× –
Lane Thomas↔ 2021 -0.5 -3.4 0.2 -3.5 – 0.83× Free Agent · 2026–2026 · $5.2M AAV
Justin Williams 2021 -0.7 -4.4 0.2 -4.6 – 0.83× –
Andrew Knizner 2021 -1.0 -4.1 0.6 -4.7 – 0.52× –
Carlos Martinez 2021 +0.5 +4.2 11.7 -7.5 $22.9M 1.02× –
Andrew Miller 2021 -0.0 -0.2 12.0 -12.2 – 0.67× –
Miles Mikolas 2021 +0.5 +3.7 17.0 -13.3 $37.5M 1.02× Free Agent · 2026–2026 · $2.2M AAV
Matt Carpenter 2021 -0.3 -1.3 18.5 -19.8 – 0.56× –
Ali Sánchez 2021 +0.0 +0.1 0.1 +0.0 $3.8M 0.52× –
Bernardo Flores Jr. 2021 +0.0 +0.0 0.0 -0.0 – 0.67× –
Brandon Waddell↔ 2021 +0.0 +0.0 0.1 -0.0 $7.4M 0.67× –
J.A. Happ↔ 2021 +0.4 +3.0 2.9 +0.0 $8.0M 1.02× –
Total—+38.4+435.0168.5+266.7—

Trades

Every graded 2021 deal involving the Cardinals — best expected value first. Surplus is realized value in $M; 4 total.

2021 · STL / COL
STL · John Mozeliak +$104.8M
Nolan Arenado
COL · Jeff Bridich −$104.8M
Mateo Gil, Jake Sommers, Tony Locey, Elehuris Montero, Austin Gomber
STL came out ahead by $104.8M
2021 · STL / ANA
STL · John Mozeliak +$12.0M
cash / PTBNL
ANA · Perry Minasian −$12.0M
Dexter Fowler
STL came out ahead by $12.0M
2021 · WSN / STL
WSN · Michael Rizzo +$58.4M
Lane Thomas
STL · John Mozeliak −$58.4M
Jon Lester
WSN came out ahead by $58.4M
2021 · MIN / STL
MIN · Derek Falvey +$1.6M
Evan Sisk, John Gant
STL · John Mozeliak −$1.6M
J. A. Happ
MIN came out ahead by $1.6M

Current & Historical Payroll

2021 payroll
$168.5M
2022 guaranteed
$23.4M

What the front office was committed to as of 2021, 2021–2027. Guaranteed $ are contract commitments signed by 2021; arbitration & free-agent years are projected from service time. Hover a figure for its luxury-tax (CBT) & actual-cash values.

current $ guaranteed $ arbitration (proj) pre-arb (proj) free agent club option player option mutual option vesting option

Guaranteed / signed (11)

PlayerAgeSvc2021202220232024202520262027
Nolan Arenado307.155$35.0M$23.4MOPT-OUT$8.0MOPT-OUT$24.0M$21.0M$5.0M$6.0M
Paul Goldschmidt339.059$26.0MFREE AGENT
Matt Carpenter359.012$18.5MFREE AGENT
Andrew Miller3612.062$12.0MFREE AGENT
Carlos Martinez297.073$11.7MFREE AGENT
Yadier Molina3816.123$9.0MFREE AGENT
Adam Wainwright3915.027$8.0MFREE AGENT
J.A. Happ3812.047$2.9MFREE AGENT
Jon Lester3714.075$520kFREE AGENT
Wade LeBlanc367.131$467kFREE AGENT
T.J. McFarland326.164$425kFREE AGENT

Arbitration-eligible (8)

PlayerAgeSvc2021202220232024202520262027
Miles Mikolas324.037$17.0MARB 3FREE AGENT
Paul DeJong273.127$4.2MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jack Flaherty253.006$3.9MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Harrison Bader273.030$2.0MARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Gant284.004$1.3MARB 3FREE AGENT
Alex Reyes263.043$900kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jordan Hicks243.000$863kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Justin Miller343.083$221kARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Pre-arbitration (32)

PlayerAgeSvc2021202220232024202520262027
Kwang Hyun Kim321.000$4.0MPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tommy Edman261.114$596kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dakota Hudson262.066$596kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tyler O'Neill262.059$595kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Giovanny Gallegos292.085$594kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Ryan Helsley261.105$582kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Génesis Cabrera241.027$581kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Andrew Knizner261.021$579kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Dylan Carlson220.094$577kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Edmundo Sosa250.140$576kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Daniel Ponce de Leon29–$545k
Max Moroff281.053$436kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
José Rondon271.056$390kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Jake Woodford240.167$354kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Kodi Whitley261.000$347kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Junior Fernández241.005$319kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Luis García340.125$264kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Lars Nootbaar230.000$264kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Justin Williams250.058$243kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Tyler Webb302.076$204kARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Johan Oviedo230.092$202kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Lane Thomas251.068$153kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Seth Elledge250.108$147kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Austin Dean271.124$125kPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
John Nogowski28–$70k
Ali Sánchez240.047$67kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brandon Waddell270.067$55kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Scott Hurst25–$37k
Angel Rondón230.000$31kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Brandon Dickson36–$18k
Roel Ramírez260.033$18kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT
Bernardo Flores Jr.250.036$3kPre-ArbPre-ArbARB 1ARB 2ARB 3FREE AGENT

Graphs

How each 2021 acquisition stacked onto Cardinals's playoff-odds curve. The side table is ranked by PPA.

Rosternomics — front-office performance, roster value, and transaction history. Follow @rosternomics on X.
Decision-maker records extend to 1933; resource-controlled WAR and payroll metrics cover 1985–2026. Data sources include FanGraphs, Baseball-Reference, the Chadwick Bureau register, the Lahman Database, prospect rankings from Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, and FanGraphs, and public payroll records. Transaction and trade data was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet. Executive birth/death data via Wikidata (CC0).
Privacy Policy · Terms of Service · © 2026 Rosternomics