The St. Louis Cardinals are off to a surprisingly good start this season, especially when considering that they were not expected to be a clear contender in 2026. They are 10-8 through their first 18 games of the season and will open up a three-game series against the Houston Astros on Friday night.
Recently, there have been a lot of contract extensions for young players, with the biggest examples being Pittsburgh Pirates‘ rookie Konnor Griffin and Detroit Tigers shortstop Kevin McGonigle.
Top prospect JJ Wetherholt has made his major league debut with the Cardinals, and even hit his first career home run on opening day. The Cardinals have had talks with Wetherholt about a possible extension, but they haven’t gone anywhere just yet, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
In an interview with Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom provided some important context.
“You can line up on the desire to do that. That doesn’t mean you’re going to line up on the timing or the specifics,” Bloom said.
“When you think about this relative to all of the young players in the game, sometimes something gets in the water and trends take hold. But you still need that overlap between team and player and everybody having the same desire and thinking it means the same thing in terms of dollars and years.”
What Could Be Holding Up a Wetherholt Extension
This may seem fairly obvious for those not in the know about the situation, but perhaps the Cardinals want to make sure of a few things before they extend him. They obviously plan on him being a key part of their core for the next several years and being that piece that they build around, but they might feel it’s a little bit early.
The Cardinals may want to make sure that Wetherholt is as good as advertised. He has had some bumps in the road. He is hitting only .227/.354/.379 with three home runs, nine RBI and a .732 OPS.
Perhaps the Cardinals need to be certain that he can hit consistently at the big-league level and be the piece that they can count on when their rebuild is complete. The Cardinals also have rarely been a team to jump the gun on big contracts, especially for young players, so it would be smart to make sure Wetherholt is making the necessary adjustments to be the best player he can possibly be.
When Will an Extension Happen?
It may only be a matter of time before the Cardinals extend Wetherholt. They may just want to make sure it’s worth the risk.
But with Griffin and McGonigle both signing extensions, it would seem likely to happen at some point this season. It’s clear that there is mutual interest between the Cardinals and Wetherholt to get something done, and it would make sense for the Cardinals to do it so they can have somebody to build around.
It will be interesting to see if something materializes between the two parties.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Cardinals’ Chaim Bloom Breaks Silence on Possible JJ Wetherholt Extension appeared first on Heavy Sports.