The St. Louis Cardinals have entered a totally new era.

Gone this offseason were the likes of Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray and Brendan Donovan. Clearly, the rebuild is on.

How long the rebuild takes could depend on one man more than any other: JJ Wetherholt.

One of the top prospects in all of baseball, the shortstop Wetherholt is the guy who can make the decision to look to the future a worthwhile one.

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There are few players in the game with more talent than Wetherholt. And he’s on the verge of the major leagues, too.

“There are several well-regarded prospects with a legitimate chance to make their big league club out of Spring Training,” writes MLB.com’s Jared Greenspan in a new article on Saturday. “That includes Wetherholt, who is ranked as the No. 5 prospect in baseball entering the 2026 season. He hit .306/.421/.510 across the top two levels of the Minors last year while winning the organization’s Minor League Player of the Year award. Wetherholt’s goal is to start the year in St. Louis, and the Cardinals certainly cleared a path for him, trading All-Star infielders Brendan Donovan and Nolan Arenado in the offseason.”

Wetherholt has the level of talent where he won’t be held back by anyone in front of him. When the Cardinals determine he’s ready, he’ll play.

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MLB has tried to combat clubs leaving guys in the minors to manipulate service time, but there are still two sides to that coin, so there’s always a chance St. Louis waits a bit longer than their fans would like to bring Wetherholt up.

The Cardinals are a winning franchise, though, with a strong tradition. It’s unlikely they want to embark on a multi-year rebuild.

And right now, the quickest way for them to begin turning things around likely involves giving Wetherholt the keys to the kingdom and letting him shine.

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