PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - APRIL 27: JJ Wetherholt #26 of the St. Louis Cardinals hits a solo home run during the ninth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on April 27, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images) Getty
The St. Louis Cardinals are looking to extend JJ Wetherholt Getty
Just a few days ago, the St. Louis Cardinals and rookie phenom JJ Wetherholt were in agreement on an eight-year, $112.5 million contract, which keeps Wetherholt in St. Louis for the foreseeable future (2034). There are no opt-outs in the deal.
Also, the contract has incentives on it, so it could actually end up netting Wetherholt more cash if he earns notable accolades across MLB. Wetherholt, who has been the Cardinals' top farm system product since being drafted, was an obvious candidate to be extended rather quickly in his career.
On July 13, new reporting emerged that clarified some more details on Wetherholt's contract.
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GettyPITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA – APRIL 27: JJ Wetherholt #26 of the St. Louis Cardinals hits a solo home run during the ninth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on April 27, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
Ronald Blum of the Associated Press reported some new specifics of JJ Wetherholt's massive contract extension:
"St. Louis Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt has $20 million in escalators based on MVP voting and All-Star selection as part of his $112.5 million, eight-year contract that starts next year. Wetherholt receives a $2 million signing bonus payable on Nov. 15 under terms of the deal announced Friday, according to contract details obtained by The Associated Press."
"He gets salaries of $2.5 million next season, $4 million in 2028, $7.5 million in 2029, $12.5 million in 2030, $17 million in 2031, $20 million in 2032, $22 million in 2033 and $25 million in 2034. Wetherholt can start earning the escalators in 2031 and boost his salaries by up to $5 million in 2032 and $7.5 million in each of the following two seasons."
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GettyST LOUIS, MISSOURI – MARCH 29: JJ Wetherholt #26 of the St. Louis Cardinals throws to first base against the Tampa Bay Rays in the seventh inning at Busch Stadium on March 29, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
JJ Wetherholt has played just 90 MLB games, and his bWAR is already 3.8.
Across 351 at-bats, Wetherholt is batting .259 with 13 home runs, 10 doubles, and an OPS+ of 115.
He could be considered the favorite to win the National League Rookie of the Year.
Some of his other stats (across his first 90 games) include: 58 runs, 91 hits, 36 RBI, nine stolen bases, .356 on-base percentage, and .399 slugging percentage.
Cardinals fans, get used to JJ Wetherholt, because he will be a certified part of the team's future for a while.
MLBTR.com's Darragh McDonald hit the Wetherholt extension (when it first broke) and wrote:
"As part of their [the Cardinals] pivot to a youth movement/rebuild, they traded away a few veteran players, including infielders Nolan Arenado and Brendan Donovan . That left the second base job open for Wetherholt and he took it. He performed well in the spring and the Cards broke camp with him."
"Since then, he has done everything he can to cement himself as a viable big leaguer. He has stepped to the plate 395 times. His 15.4% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate are both better than league average."
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