Cardinals Star Thinks Phenom Can Be Next St. Louis 'Great'

The St. Louis Cardinals are a team with a bright future despite negative buzz around the organization.

It's hard to think in the long-term when it comes to professional athletics. We are in the social media age and the attention span is small. In baseball terms, you're only as good as you played the day before. A few losses in a row pretty much always leads to speculation about tearing down a roster and on other hand a few wins leads to World Series chatter.

It's an intriguing time and the Cardinals specifically are interesting to follow. The club hasn't had a good start to the season at 9-14 and that has led to plenty of trade deadline speculation. While this is the case, there's no denying that there is talent with the organization right now. Although things haven't worked out so far this season, there are reasons to have hope about this franchise.

There are plenty of prospects -- like JJ Wetherholt -- to be excited about but also young guys on the big league roster who should be able to help for years to come. One big example is shortstop Masyn Winn. Not every team can boast a 23-year-old franchise shortstop but that's exactly what the Cardinals have in Winn. He's already one of the best defensive infielders in baseball -- he's currently in the 98th percentile in OAA -- and he's shown flashes offensively.

Last year, Winn finished the season slashing .267/.314/.416 with 15 homers, 57 RBIs, 11 stolen bases, and 32 doubles in 150 games. He finished with 4.9 wins above replacement as a 22-year-old rookie. That's pretty insane.

Clearly, he has caught the eye of third baseman Nolan Arenado who said he has a "chance to be great" while speaking to MLB.com's Bill Ladson.

"Lars Nootbaar has been great," Arenado said to Ladson. "Brendan Donovan has been a stud. Victor Scott II has taken (positive) strides compared to last year. He is a totally different player. Jordan Walker is working hard in the outfield. He is getting better. Masyn Winn has a chance to be great. He has a lot of tools. These guys all have a chance to be good. It’s just a matter of putting in the work."

If an eight-time All-Star and Hall of Fame-level talent like Arenado has this much to say about Winn, fans really should be fired up. Who knows how this season is going to go, but there are pieces to build around and there may not be a bigger one than Winn.