As 2025 winds down, we take a look back at the year that was in St. Louis sports by introducing the bracket for the first STL Sports Central Sportsperson of the year.
Since our launch back in February, there may not have been any championships, but there have been plenty of big moments by big-time players and others in the sports industry. So here is a look at the eight candidates that you'll be voting on over the next week.
Brendan Donovan- The Cardinals' super utility man has been the focus of trade talks all around MLB, and expects to bring back a haul of players and prospects if moved. During the 2025 season, Donnie posted a career high batting average and was the Cardinals lone All Star, while also being the Cards representative for the Roberto Clemente Award
Chaim Bloom- The Cardinals' new President of Baseball Operations, has hit the ground running since taking over at the end of the 2025 season. Bloom has already made his mark by trading away Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras at the time of this writing, with more expected this off-season as he looks to build the Cardinals back in to a playoff team
Ahmad Hardy- The sophomore running back at Mizzou transferred from Louisiana- Monroe for the 2025 season and rushed for over 1500 yards, putting him second in the nation ahead of the Bowl game this weekend. Hardy rushed for 300 yards in the Tigers game against Mississippi State and was named the SEC Newcomer of the year, First Team All-SEC, and Consensus All-American. He will be returning to Mizzou in 2026.
Masyn Winn- The new face of the St. Louis Cardinals, Winn won his first Gold Glove Award in 2025.
Eli Drinkwitz- Mizzou's head coach finishes his sixth season with the Tigers with another 8-win season ahead of this weekend's Bowl game with a chance to become the first Mizzou football coach to win 9 games for three consecutive seasons. His 46-28 record at Columbia earned him a contract extension amid rumors that Penn State and other SEC schools were interested in him.
Oli Marmol- The Cardinals manager navigated his way through a tough 2025 that still saw the Redbirds in the Wild Card hunt in September, despite having multiple key pitchers traded away from the team at the Trade Deadline. He finished his fourth season with the Cardinals with a better record than Tony La Russa after his first 4 years in St. Louis
John Mozeliak- easily the most controversial name on the list, Mo stepped away from the Cardinals front office after 31 seasons with the club, with the last nine as the President of Baseball Operations. Time will tell if his final trades will benefit future Cardinals teams.
Jim Montgomery- hired as the Blues head coach in November of 2024, Monty led the Blues to a 35-18-7 record, earning the 8-seed in the playoffs and came seconds away from nearly knocking off the 1-seed Winnipeg Jets
Voting begins on Tuesday on the STL Sports Central Twitter account and the winner will be announced on New Year's Eve.