Cardinals Beat Braves 2-1 as Crooks' 8th-Inning Homer Caps Post-Delay Rally

Q: By signing early, did Rookie of the Year favorite JJ Wetherholt sacrifice a future nine-figure payday for immediate security?

Yes. Wetherholt almost certainly traded some upside for certainty, even though he still landed a nine-figure deal. The Cardinals’ eight-year extension guarantees him $112.5 million, with bonuses that can push it to $132 million. For a 23-year-old rookie with roughly half a season in the majors, that is immediate, life-changing security against the biggest risks in baseball: injury, regression and lost earning power before arbitration or free agency. The likely sacrifice is on the back end. Wetherholt is the National League Rookie of the Year favorite, already producing like an impact regular with 3.6 WAR, strong on-base skills, power, speed and elite defense at second base. If that level holds, he could have reached free agency entering his age-29 season as a premium middle infielder, typically a stronger earning point than age 32, when this extension now positions him to hit the market. That said, this was not a small compromise. He did secure a future nine-figure payday now, and recent MLB history shows early extensions can still be lucrative: Julio Rodríguez, Corbin Carroll and Ronald Acuña Jr. all signed major deals early. The broader pattern is that these contracts are often team-friendly if the player becomes a star, but rational for the player because they remove enormous career risk. So the fairest answer is that Wetherholt likely gave up a chance at an even bigger future contract, not a nine-figure payday altogether, in exchange for guaranteed wealth today.

3 articles · Updated · MLB.com · Jul 11

Jimmy Crooks, inserted as a seventh-inning defensive replacement, drilled a 405-foot solo homer in the eighth to lift St. Louis to a 2-1 win that ended after midnight.
A 2-hour, 44-minute rain delay ended Kyle Leahy's start after 3 1/3 scoreless innings, forcing a taxed Cardinals bullpen to cover the final six innings.
George Soriano, Justin Bruihl, Ryne Stanek, JoJo Romero and Riley O'Brien answered by allowing one run and two hits the rest of the way; O'Brien logged his 23rd save in 27 chances.
Austin Riley put Atlanta ahead 1-0 in the fifth before Jordan Walker tied it with an RBI single in the sixth, setting up Crooks' winner.
The delay lasted 21 minutes longer than the 2-hour, 23-minute game itself, testing a Cardinals club finishing 14 games in 13 days before the All-Star break.