Paul DeJong Is The St. Louis Cardinals Face Of The Franchise

Albert Pujols is in St. Louis and emotions are flying high. Pujols is arguably the greatest Cardinal in the history of the franchise. That was before Pujols skipped town when he signed a massive 10-year contract worth $240 million with the Angels. St. Louis wisely passed on that poison pill contract. Pujols has been a disaster in LA.

Still, it got me thinking with Pujols in St. Louis again. Who is the face of the franchise for the St. Louis Cardinals? Yadier Molina is probably the logical response. I certainly won’t try to argue it. Molina, 36, is also on the back 9 of his career and won’t be there forever. There are a lot of names that make sense. When push comes to shove, Paul DeJong would be my pick. DeJong just might be the next face of the franchise. The problem is, nobody sees it yet. I’m telling you to start paying attention.

If I told you that Paul DeJong was the 14th best hitter in baseball, would you believe me? You don’t have to. Fangraphs has the evidence to suggest just that. DeJong currently has a 2.9 WAR mark which puts him as a top 15 hitter in the sport. DeJong’s numbers are good, but they don’t jump off the charts. .264/.353/.472 with 13 homers and 35 RBI’s is good. No doubt. But how does that make DeJong an elite player?

There are a lot of positives with DeJong’s game. He only strikes out 18.7 percent of the time. He’s made just 3 errors on the entire season at a premier position. DeJong is also walking more than 10 percent of the time. His 117 WRC+ mark also ranks near the top of the board at the position. All of DeJong’s field metrics are also outstanding.

While DeJong isn’t the obvious choice that jumps off the page, maybe he should be. DeJong, 25, is only in his third big league season. That ‘Jump’ hasn’t come yet, but I promise you that it will. The Red birds shortstop has a nice swing and never tries to be the hero. Consistency matters and DeJong is the model of it. DeJong also wants to be a Cardinal. He bleeds red. I wouldn’t necessarily call this a smart decision, but DeJong signed a super team friendly contract. The Cardinals have DeJong locked up through 2025. He is owed just $26 million for the next 6 years. After that, he has two reasonable club options. That should be considered one of if not the best contract in the sport. Especially for a budding star at shortstop that already produces good offensive numbers.

DeJong is or will be the face of the franchise. Who is the other option? Paul Goldschmidt has only been in St. Louis for a few months. He’s also 31 years of age already. The Cardinals have some nice arms but it’s tough to tell which one will take the biggest leap. Kolten Wong has had his ups and downs but definitely doesn’t have the high ceiling. Quantify it any way you want, DeJong is the best asset the Cardinals have. He also has a chance to be a Cardinal for life.

While Albert Pujols made a serious impact in St. Louis. He never was a Cardinal for life. DeJong is that guy and puts up great numbers for the shortstop position. DeJong represents the new wave of talent in the Cardinals system. It’s time to start recognizing it. The Cardinals have not won a World Series title since Pujols left. DeJong gives the Cardinals their best chance since to win another title.