When MLB Network finished rolling out its list of the 'Top 100 Players Right Now’ over this past week, there was a case to be made that the representation among the St. Louis Cardinals—or lack thereof—resulted in at least one noteworthy snub.
The sole representative on the list from the Cardinals was Ivan Herrera, who checked in toward the bottom of the list, at No. 98. Herrera enjoyed a breakout season offensively, compiling 19 home runs and a team-leading .837 OPS.
Amid trade rumors surrounding Brendan Donovan, there’s an argument to be made surrounding the politics of it all that MLB Network strived to include a Cardinal on their list that would actually still be with the club come spring. Of course, Donovan hasn’t gone anywhere yet and feels more likely to be here on opening day than he did a couple of months ago—but perhaps that consideration hindered Donovan’s chances to be included. Pure speculation on my part, but it felt worth mentioning as I would consider Donnie one of the league’s top 100 players, without a doubt.
Just one credit among the league’s top 100 players is a downgrade from the previous iteration. A year ago, the list contained three Cardinals, two of which are no longer with the organization—and are no longer listed at all in the updated version: Willson Contreras and Nolan Arenado.
The third Cardinal from the 2025 list is still with the team, but fell off the list despite securing a Gold Glove at, arguably, the sport's most rigorous defensive position. Masyn Winn came in at No. 94 on the list a year ago, but fell off this year's version, even after winning the NL Gold Glove at shortstop for the first time in his career.
Winn's exclusion on the surface is puzzling, but considering that the shortstops who did crack the list all cleared Winn's production at the plate, it becomes clear that the defensive side of the game wasn't considered as strongly. With 3.5 Wins Above Replacement per FanGraphs, Winn ranked 74th in MLB in fWAR in 2025, the most among current Cardinals (Sonny Gray logged 3.6 fWAR with St. Louis, and also did not appear on the new Top 100 list).
Donovan, in just 118 games, logged 2.9 fWAR. Herrera, who made the list after enjoying success offensively but didn’t register an impact on defense last season, accumulated 2.7 fWAR in 107 games. Both logged a lower fWAR than Winn, who played through a knee injury until going on the shelf in September.
But as Winn asserted himself as one of the game's elite defenders, he fell off at the bat, seeing his OPS drop from .730 down to .673. While Winn is perhaps the Cardinal positioned with the highest ceiling to vault toward the very top of this list due to his outstanding floor defensively, it's his offense that has to increase to garner that recognition as one of the game's best—and it’s certainly the aspect of his efforts for which Winn will have the most to prove in 2026.
Plus, as the Cardinals look to expedite a rebuild back toward contender status in the NL Central, Winn’s ability to take a step forward at the plate could positively impact far more than his own personal accolades.