Cardinals set the standard for how Marlins should be developing homegrown talent

[Kevin Barral]

The St. Louis Cardinals are an organization that Miami would like to emulate when it comes to drafting and developing impactful hitters.

MIAMI, FL—The St. Louis Cardinals have a significant advantage over the Miami Marlins when it comes to revenue. They're projected to spend a franchise-record $181M on payroll during the 2024 season, per Roster Resource, nearly twice as much as Miami. That gives the Cardinals front office the flexibility to invest in proven veteran stars like Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt.

However, for the second year in a row, Arenado and Goldschmidt are performing well below their career averages. Entering Tuesday, St. Louis holds a National League Wild Card spot with a 36-35 record mainly because their homegrown position players have taken the next step in their development. Seven of the 13 hitters on their active roster are players age 27 or younger who have spent their entire professional careers in the Cardinals organization.

"Number one thing is they had Paul Goldschmidt and Yadier Molina to look up to and ask questions to, sit next to their locker and game plan with them and understand that every component of the game matters," said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, a former Cardinals player and the club's bench coach in 2022. "You can't really ride the highs and the lows. You gotta stay as full as you can."

Schumaker spoke about two key players in the Cardinals lineup: Iván Herrera and Brendan Donovan. This season, Herrera is slashing .280/.339/.381/.720 with three home runs, 19 RBIs and a 106 OPS+. After being limited to 26 MLB games over the last two seasons, he's been serving as St. Louis' main catcher, filling in well for the injured Willson Contreras.

"He got to sit next to Yadi and watch him work," said Schumaker. "Then he gets to sit next to Contreras and watch him work. I think very fortunate. He has a lot of talent. He worked hard in the offseason. You can tell when watching the Caribbean Series where he really put together some really nice offensive days. He's a smart kid. I know that, so it's not surprising to see where he's at now."

As a rookie in 2022, Donovan won the National League Gold Glove as a utility player. This season he's slashing .248/.321/.372/.693 with five home runs, 30 RBIs and a 98 OPS+, mainly starting in left field for the Cardinals.

"Donovan is a special human," said Schumaker. "He tries to mimic everything that Paul Goldschmidt did when I was over there. Pretty good guy to follow because Goldy believes in the baserunning as much as he believes in the hitting. When you care about every aspect of the game, usually you become a winning player. Donovan no doubt is a winning player."

On Monday, the Cardinals beat the Marlins in their series opener by a final score of 7-6 in 12 innings. Another homegrown hitter, shortstop Masyn Winn, supplied the game-winning two-run home run in the top of the 12th.

Although the Marlins have earned a reputation for developing quality pitching, there is a huge contrast between them and the Cardinals on the hitting side. The only homegrown position player to spend any time on Miami's active roster this season is Nick Fortes. Fortes showed promise as a hitter when he first came up, but in 2024, the catcher has been among MLB's worst offensive players.

Under new president of baseball operations Peter Bendix, the Marlins have begun trading away veterans for hitting prospects who can contribute in the future, but most of the organization's talent will need to come from the MLB Draft and international free agency. Triple-A Jacksonville's Victor Mesa Jr. and Javier Sanoja are among the homegrown options who could receive their first taste of the big leagues by the end of this season.

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[THOMAS JOSEPH]

I enjoyed the article and found much in it with which to agree. Scouting and developing require competent people in the organization to do those jobs. Respect for those in the jobs of the previous Marlins' regimes, the outcomes indicate they did not have that competency regarding position players. Although I lean heavily toward fifty percent of the whole rigmarole being a crapshoot (a la the Billy Beane character's "you don't know" retort in "Moneyball"), I will also bow to those with solid records. Not only individuals but also organizations as a whole excel and struggle. There is no doubt the St. Louis organization is a talent conveyor belt. Its culture of success is a significant contributor. People believe/buy into the culture, there is management support, adequate resources are allotted, and a solid communication foundation flourishes. Of course, available dollars translate into front-office flexibility and creativity. These things require a strategy and discipline, combined with the aforementioned competent personnel, and some time. Not to be hyperbolic, but the situation looks a bit like Noah building the Ark - both hopeless and foolish. There's probably no divine intervention in the mix but give Bendix a chance.