ST. LOUIS — In the midst of one of the strongest rookie seasons ever by a Cardinal, JJ Wetherholt and the club are closing in on another significant milestone for their future together.

The Cardinals and their infielder are finalizing an eight-year extension that will cover several years of free agency and be the largest financially of its kind from the club, a source described to the Post-Dispatch. ESPN first reported that the agreement was in place.

Officials with the team have declined comment.

The agreement is set to eclipse Albert Pujols' $100 million extension as the largest for the Cardinals to a player yet to reach an arbitration hearing. It is the largest contract the Cardinals have ever given a player yet to reach a full year of service time.

The New York Post reported Wetherholt's deal is worth $112.5 million.

There are bonuses included that would allow it to grow, per a source.

This is the most significant signing yet for Chaim Bloom since he moved into the president of baseball operations position this past fall. The extension is the largest for the Cardinals since Paul Goldschmidt signed one in the spring of 2019 on the verge of free agency.

Wetherholt's contract will be the fourth nine-figure contract for the Cardinals joining the extensions finalized with Pujols and Goldschmidt and the free-agent signing of Matt Holliday in January 2010.

Wetherholt, 23, has been the Cardinals' everyday leadoff hitter since opening day, and he's among the rookie leaders this season in almost every category while also being among the top defensive second basemen in game. The seventh overall selection in the 2024 draft, Wetherholt has hit .267 with a .362 on-base percentage and a .411 slugging percentage.

He has 13 home runs and 57 runs scored in 87 games.

Wetherholt's 16 Outs Above Average at second base are the most for the position, and only Kansas City shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. has more at any position this season with 17.

He's already set the club records for home runs by a rookie second baseman and with 3.9 Wins Above Replacement in the first half of the season he's on pace for one of the best rookie seasons ever by a Cardinal.

Wetherholt's contract joins a trend of long-term deals for some of the majors' best young talents. Earlier this season, the Tigers signed Kevin McGonigle to a n eight-year, $150 million deal and the Pittsburgh Pirates signed their top prospect, shortstop Konnor Griffin, to an eight-year, $140 million contract. Both players are younger than Wetherholt and thus will have a chance to reach free agency still in their 20s.

Asked earlier this season about some of his peers signing long-term deals, Wetherholt said: "I think about it a little bit."

Toward the start of his first season as president of baseball operations, Bloom spoke with the Post-Dispatch about his view of extensions for young players and the timing of them.

“Any extension that is well in advance of free agency — sometimes those get portrayed as things the teams bestow on players," he said. "That is not really how I look at them. What they really are is an agreement between the team and a player to share risk. Obviously, early in a player’s career, he’s carrying a lot of the risk, and later in careers, when he hits free agency, that risk shifts to the club. Really (an extension) is an arrangement when we agree to take on a lot of that risk, and in exchange, we’re able to extend our term of control over a player.

“You can line up on the desire to do that.”

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