How long the St. Louis Cardinals' rebuild takes is dependent on a lot of factors, namely key trades and key prospects.

This offseason will be a key one to determine what happens in both situations.

The Cardinals have several former or recent All-Stars in third baseman Nolan Arenado, second baseman Brendan Donovan and starting pitcher Sonny Gray that have all been mentioned in trade rumors over the last several months.

St. Louis also has one of the top prospects in baseball. And where he starts his major league career could be based on which, or either, of those aforementioned infielders get moves this offseason.

Shortstop J.J. Wetherholt is ranked as the No. 5 prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline and the No. 4 on Baseball America's top 100.

Wetherholt was the seventh-overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft and was named the Cardinals' Minor League Player of the Year earlier this week. Fans are anxiously awaiting to see what the former West Virginia Mountaineer will do in the majors. The only question is where he'll make an impact.

Shortstop is Wetherholt's natural position, but he's capable of playing second or third base.

Wetherholt ended this past season with the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds. He played 12 games at third base with Memphis.

This past season, Wetherholt played 167 innings at second base, 526.2 innings at shortstop and 111.2 innings at third.

On the offensive side of things, Wetherholt scored 82 runs across 109 total games at Double-A and Triple-A levels. He hit 28 doubles, two triples and 17 home runs with 59 RBIs and slashed .306/.421/.510 with a .931 OPS and stole 23 bases in 26 attempts.

Wetherholt has a very real chance of making St. Louis' Opening Day roster in 2026, but there could be some road blocks.

The Cardinals already have a Gold Glove-winning shortstop in Masyn Winn, who will be under his last year of pre-arbitration in 2026.

That means if the Cardinals wish to create a runway for Wetherholt, either Donovan or Arenado have to go.

Of those two, Arenado is the most likely candidate to be traded. He's older and has seen his offensive numbers slowly decrease over the last several seasons. He waived his no-trade clause and is still a plus-glove at third base, meaning at worst he can be a platoon option for a team.

Donovan is coming off an All-Star selection in 2025 and will be under his second year of arbitration in '26.

Things can change and St. Louis can always move players over to accommodate whatever shape the roster takes. But looking at the team now, it seems that third or second base will be in Wetherholt's future.

RELATED CARDINALS STORIES

CARDINALS ANNOUNCE NON-TENDER DECISIONS: Catcher Yohel Pozo and pitchers Jorge Alcala, John King and Sem Robberse will all become free agents. CLICK HERE

MLB INSIDER DISCUSSES POSSIBILITY OF TRADE INVOLVING CARDINALS INFIELDER: Brendan Donovan seems to be getting mass interest from teams around the majors. CLICK HERE

FORMER CARDINALS PITCHES PROPOSES INTERESTING RULE CHANGE: On the Card Territory podcast, two-time All-Star Lance Lynn suggested the MLB should introduce a winter trade deadline. CLICK HERE

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