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St. Louis Cardinals Sign Kolten Wong to Five-Year Contract Extension

By Patrick Karraker

Sep 30, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong (16) throws to first base after a force-out against t he Pittsburgh Pirates during the seventh inningat PNC Park. The Cardinals won 11-1. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 30, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong (16) throws to first base after a force-out against t he Pittsburgh Pirates during the seventh inningat PNC Park. The Cardinals won 11-1. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /
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The St. Louis Cardinals will have Kolten Wong in the fold as their second baseman at least through the 2020 season.

As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch‘s Derrick Goold first reported on Wednesday morning, the St. Louis Cardinals have signed second baseman Kolten Wong to a five-year contract that will lock him up through the 2020 season (along with a sixth-year option for 2021, which comes via SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo). Giving Wong a long-term deal after just his second full season–and third in the big leagues overall–further displays the Cardinals’ commitment to getting emerging position players locked up early and delaying their free agency. They’ve done the same in recent years with players such as Yadier Molina, Matt Carpenter, Allen Craig, and Jaime Garcia, and while not all of those deals have worked out exactly as the Cardinals hoped, they’ve prevented the team from having to spend exorbitant amounts to re-sign their own stars in free agency.

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Via Cotillo, Wong will be guaranteed $25.5 million over the five years of the extension, which kicks in next season. That’s an interesting predicament considering that Wong’s presumptive backup, Jedd Gyorko, is in line to make $41 million over that same period if the Cardinals pick up his $13 million-dollar option for 2020. Regardless, though, getting an above-average starting second baseman (which Wong has shown himself to be through his first two full big-league seasons) locked up through at least his age 29 season for roughly $5 million a year will be a major steal if Wong can continue ascending.

If the lefthanded-hitting Wong continues improving at the rate he has over the past two years, he should be a near-All-Star-quality player in the near future. Wong’s problem is that he has burned out at points in each of his full seasons–which can definitely be attributed in part to the fact that he played 150 games, 24 more than his previous career-high–but he’s been extremely productive when he’s been on.

Wong had a great two-month stretch during July and August of 2014, when he hit .270 with nine homers and 19 RBI in 168 at-bats. Otherwise, though, his performance at the plate was generally spotty throughout his rookie season. In May of 2015, Wong hit .318/.380/.509 with five homers and 16 RBI. He wouldn’t be nearly that hot again until September, when he hit .284/.345/.378 with no homers and 8 RBI.

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Even if his performance at the plate isn’t always as consistent as it could be, though, Wong provides value as one of the majors’ better defensive second basemen and as the Cardinals’ most talented baserunner (38 stolen bases over the past two seasons). He’s got the potential to be a legitimate difference-maker, and even if he isn’t, the Cardinals have Gyorko locked up until 2019, anyway, so they have a built-in insurance plan.

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