Cardinals Sign Willson Contreras - Major League Baseball

Cardinals Sign Willson Contreras to 5 Years, $87.5 Million

By Chris Gray

Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images

December 7, 2022

The St. Louis Cardinals agreed to sign catcher Willson Contreras to a five-year deal for $87.5 million on Wednesday. Contreras was an All-Star for the third time in his career in 2022 for the Chicago Cubs. His slash line was .243/.349/.466 with 22 home runs, 55 RBI, and an OPS+ of 128. Additionally, Contreras is coming off the lowest strikeout percentage of his career, at 21.2%. (Note: Strikeout percentage is the percentage of all plate appearances ending with a strikeout.) His strikeout percentage was 28.6% in 2021. So Contreras made a 7.4% improvement in strikeout percentage between 2021 and 2022. The 30-year-old has an overall strikeout percentage of 24% for his seven-year career.

Contreras is consistently one of the best offensive catchers in the league. He has smashed 21 or more home runs in a season four times. He has had an OPS+ of over 118 four times in his career. Contreras has only had an OPS+ of under 106 one time in his career. After a decrease in Contreras’ hard-hit percentage of batted balls between 2017 and 2018, he has increased his hard-hit percentage in each season since.

Molina Retires, Cardinals Sign Contreras to Fill Void

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After future Hall of Fame Cardinal Yadier Molina retired, there was a giant void to fill. It is difficult for anyone to ever fill the void of a future first-ballot Hall of Famer, but Contreras is probably the best free-agent catcher available. Molina was an amazing defensive backstop who matured offensively relatively late in his career. He spent his entire 19-year career in St. Louis and won nine Gold Gloves, including eight consecutive Gold Gloves, and was an All-Star 10 times, including seven consecutive trips. Molina led all of MLB in caught-stealing percentage four times. He finished his career with a 40% caught-stealing percentage. The league caught-stealing percentage during his career was 27%. Contreras is 30% for his career versus 26% for the league, so he is above average.

Molina will be remembered for a long time in St. Louis, but Contreras has a strong arm and a good bat. Chances are that Contreras will not be remembered like Molina but he ought to be able to help the Cardinals win.

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Chris Gray

Chris is a writer, philosopher, and web developer. He is currently the Web Developer and a Contributing Editor for Sport Relay.

When Chris was young, he played Little League Baseball for years. In addition, he used to look at the statistics on baseball cards to compare the different players and trade the cards with his friends. As a teenager, he worked as a Computer Technician until he landed a position as a Network Administrator at a middle school in Los Angeles, California.

Feeling unfulfilled with a lack of education to combine with his work and life experience, he returned to school, obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy from UCLA, and now spends his time writing, investing, thinking, programming, and enjoying baseball.

Cardinals Sign Willson Contreras to 5 Years, $87.5 Million