ESPN’s Jeff Passan delivered breaking news on Friday that the St. Louis Cardinals have signed star rookie JJ Wetherholt to a “nine-figure contract” extension that will “buy out multiple years of free agency.”
BREAKING: Rookie standout JJ Wetherholt and the St. Louis Cardinals are in agreement on a long-term contract extension that will buy out multiple years of free agency, sources tell ESPN. Wetherholt, 23, has been tremendous and is the latest rookie to land a nine-figure contract.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 10, 2026
Wetherholt, 23, has been one of the best players in the majors through just 87 games of his big-league career. He entered play on Friday night with a .267/.362/.411 slash line, 13 homers, and nine stolen bases in nine tries. Additionally, he’s graded out as an elite second baseman, valued at 16 outs above average (only Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. has been assessed a higher OAA among MLB defenders at 17).
So, it’s been easy to see why Wetherholt was considered by many evaluators to be a top five prospect in baseball entering this season, and it’s easy to see why the Cardinals would want to make sure he’s under contract for a long time.
But one commenter in Passan’s replies clearly isn’t familiar with Wetherholt, and their response led to another memorable Passan takedown on social media.
“Bro I don’t even know what position he plays how about you include that,” X user Gooners Never Say Die replied to Passan.
Bro I don’t even know what position he plays how about you include that.
— Gooners Never Say Die☠️ (@GoonersDream) July 10, 2026
“stop gooning and learn ball,” Passan responded.
stop gooning and learn ball
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 10, 2026
That instantly went viral and led to plenty of reactions on social media.
https://t.co/327LWN3KYq pic.twitter.com/sxzhTCD5oB
— Sleeper (@SleeperHQ) July 10, 2026
Never deleting this app lmao https://t.co/svtiZHcQnb
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) July 10, 2026
Passan is a damn legend. https://t.co/vQ5MMAM9bg
— Matt Verderame (@MattVerderame) July 10, 2026
Far more than any other prominent sports insider, Passan has long been willing to show off his personality on social media and hasn’t been afraid to dunk on people in his mentions.
Can you imagine Adam Schefter tweeting this at someone lol https://t.co/r5pKisijio
— Football Analysis (@FBallAnalysisYT) July 10, 2026
And beyond providing entertainment, Passan is also quite good at his job as a baseball reporter. The Awful Announcing staff named him Best Sports Media Insider of 2025.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.