After trading away Nolan Arenado, Brendan Donovan, Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras this offseason, the St. Louis Cardinals are headed for a (likely) rough year at the major league level.

However, with all the prospects acquired in those trades, the Cardinals do have a burgeoning farm system that will be exciting to pay attention to. That farm system's growth will be the biggest factor in getting the Cardinals back to contention. The organization hasn't been to the playoffs since 2022.

On Tuesday, MLB Pipeline released its Top 30 prospects for the Cardinals organization, so let's dive in with what you need to know:

How the prospect eligibility works:

It's worth noting that -- for these purposes -- prospects are players with no more than 130 at-bats, 50 innings pitched or 45 days on a Major League roster, with one major exception. Foreign professionals -- players who are at least 25 and have been professionals in a foreign league for at least six seasons -- do not count, so you will not see offseason signings such as Tatsuya Imai or Kazuma Okamoto in these rankings.

1) INF JJ Wetherholt

2) LHP Liam Doyle

3) C Rainiel Rodriguez

4) OF Joshua Baez

5) SWP Jurrangelo Cijntje

6) C Leonardo Bernal

7) LHP Quinn Mathews

8) C Jimmy Crooks

9) LHP Brandon Clarke

10) RHP Tekoah Roby

1) That's a lot of catchers. Three catchers in the top 10 is very rare and a potentially big luxury. With Yohel Pozo and Ivan Herrera in the big leagues already, the Cardinals have a surplus of catching talent. Could they utilize one of them down the road in a trade? It's certainly possible.

Crooks is 24 and has already made his major league debut while Bernal is projected to debut next year and Rodriguez in 2028.

2) There's a lot of instant impact coming. The Cardinals aren't necessarily ready to compete in 2026, but they do have a first wave of young players who are absolutely going to be up this year. Wetherholt, Baez, Cijntje, Mathews, and Crooks are all anticipated to be in the big leagues this season. Liam Doyle is projected to make his debut in 2027, but don't count out a possible 2026 debut for him either.

5) Jurrangelo Cijntje (acquired from Seattle for Brendan Donovan)

9) Brandon Clarke (acquired from Boston for Sonny Gray)

13) Yhoiker Fajardo (acquired from Boston for Willson Contreras)

18) Tai Peete (acquired from Seattle for Brendan Donovan)

You can view it in full right here. 

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