Heading into the offseason, the St. Louis Cardinals had two clear options for their franchise. They could continue to try to win with their aging core of veterans or they could begin to push the reset button.
It appears as though they're beginning the early stages of a rebuild.
The first step to that was letting Paul Goldschmidt walk in free agency, which the Cardinals have already decided to do. Next, St. Louis is going to be tasked with trading its expiring contracts, but something like that can wait until the regular season.
Before then, St. Louis needs to replace Goldschmidt at first base.
St. Louis has a few internal options, but nothing really jumps off the page.
ESPN's Jesse Rogers recently reported that the Cardinals have a solution at first base and it does happen to be an internal answer.
"NL GMs are meeting the media. One thing to address with Cardinals brass: Willson Contreras is moving to first base," Rogers wrote in a post to Twitter/X Wednesday evening.
Contreras has found himself in some very small trade rumors this offseason, but nothing will likely come of that.
Moving him from catcher to first base will likely help with the longevity of his health, but it will also decrease his value as a player by a bit. St. Louis can make this move because it has another promising young catcher on the roster.
Iván Herrera will take over as the everyday catcher for the Cardinals. Prospect catcher Jimmy Crooks also has the potential to crack in the big leagues in the near future, potentially making the Opening Day roster if all goes well this winter.
Either way, Contreras apparently is replacing the catcher's mitt with a first base mitt in 2025.
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