Updates 1/5/23
Reliever JoJo Romero has been added to the list, though no price was immediately posted. 16 free autograph names have been added to the appropriate section below. Those tickets will be available on Friday, January 6.
Updates 12/15-12/16
From the Cardinals: “The St. Louis Cardinals and Cardinals Care are thrilled to announce the addition of newly signed All-Star catcher Willson Contreras and Cardinals top prospect and 2022 Minor League Co-Player of the Year Jordan Walker to the 2023 Winter Warm-Up autograph ticket lineup.”
The price for Contreras’ signature is steep at $125, with Walker a major bargain at $30. Not surprisingly, the latter sold out the first day.
Since 2008, I have tracked St. Louis Cardinals Winter Warm-Up autograph prices. The just-for-fun exercise allow us to see what the organization believes the comparative fan popularity of the various players to be, as well as changes over time. The annual event is a fund-raiser for Cardinals Care, which does much to help the community, so the needy are the winners.
The three-day Winter Warm-Up fan event is held each January over Martin Luther King weekend. This year’s dates are from Saturday, January 14 through Monday, January 16.
This year, however, rather than list values from the pre-COVID days, we will start relatively fresh. The 2022 event was canceled due to the MLB lockout, and eventually, thanks to COVID, so was 2021, but not totally.
Two years ago, autograph prices were announced with the transactions handled via mail. That year, the model had been changed, with separate prices depending on what item would be signed. Some would only sign a baseball, while others only put their ink on a photo. Personalizing was extra, for those who offered it.
It appears that for 2023, the Cardinals have returned to the simpler 2020-and-earlier model of one price per signer. At the time of the initial announcement, on Monday, December 12, 42 individuals from the team’s past and present are scheduled to sign for a fee.
Six of them sold out in the first few hours of availability. They include stars Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado and Adam Wainwright ($150 each), first-year standouts Lars Nootbaar and Brendan Donovan ($40) and prospect Masyn Winn ($25).
The groupings below are mine, but the prices come from the Cardinals. The Trend column represents a general comparison to those individuals who had listed prices in 2020 and/or 2021.
The top dogs
| Top dogs | Autograph | Trend |
| Paul Goldschmidt | $150 | up |
| Nolan Arenado | $150 | up |
| Adam Wainwright | $150 | up |
In 2020, only Yadier Molina’s autograph fetched $150. Now, the team’s three remaining stars are all that price. Wainwright has doubled and Goldschmidt jumped from $100. This will be Nolan Arenado’s first WWU.
Middle of the pack
| Middle of the pack | Autograph | Trend |
| Tommy Edman | $75 | up |
| Dylan Carlson | $50 | |
| Tyler O’Neill | $50 | |
| Jack Flaherty | $45 | down |
| Ryan Helsley | $45 | up |
| Oliver Marmol | $40 | |
| Steven Matz | $40 | |
| Miles Mikolas | $40 | flat |
| Brendan Donovan | $40 | |
| Lars Nootbaar | $40 |
Tommy Edman earned a nice increase from $45 last year to $75. He passed Jack Flaherty heading in the exact opposite direction.
Fitting for an All-Star closer, Ryan Helsley jumped up and was joined by two 2022 surprise standouts, the popular pair of Nootbaar and Donovan.
Value picks
| Value picks | Autograph | Trend |
| Paul DeJong | $30 | down |
| Nolan Gorman | $30 | down |
| Jordan Hicks | $30 | down |
| Matthew Liberatore | $30 | down |
| Dakota Hudson | $25 | down |
| Andre Pallante | $25 | |
| Chris Stratton | $10 | |
| Drew VerHagen | $10 |
The common thread among almost all of the players here is that they are looking to have a better 2023 than 2022. The first five fetched higher prices for their autographs previously and all look to be good bargains.
Emerging players
| Emerging players | Autograph |
| Alec Burleson | $20 |
| Andrew Knizner | $20 |
| Zack Thompson | $20 |
| Jake Woodford | $20 |
| Ivan Herrera | $15 |
| Packy Naughton | $15 |
| James Naile | $10- |
These players all have some MLB experience but are looking for more.
Prospects
| Prospects | Autograph |
| Masyn Winn | $25 |
| Gordon Graceffo | $10 |
| Tink Hence | $10 |
| Michael McGreevy | $10 |
| Connor Thomas | $10 |
| Jake Walsh | $10 |
This group consists of prospects hoping to make their St. Louis debuts soon. Winn clearly leads the way, but only because his friend, Jordan Walker, is not among the current WWU participants.
Former Cardinals Greats
| Greats | Pre-autographed | |
| Hall of Famers | baseball | Trend |
| Ozzie Smith | $50 | down |
| Ted Simmons | $50 | down |
| Whitey Herzog | $50 | down |
| StL HOFers | Autograph | Last |
| John Tudor | $75 | 2018 |
| Jason Isringhausen | $75 | 2016 |
| Ray Lankford | $75 | 2018 |
| Alumni | Autograph | Last |
| Rick Ankiel | $15 | 2020 |
| Ryan Ludwick | $10 | 2010? |
We have three groupings here. The trio of Cooperstown Hall of Famers look to be a good buy at $50, as they had been $75 previously. Note the baseballs are pre-signed.
None of the three Cardinals Hall of Famers have signed at WWU for a number of years, so they could be great targets for those who don’t have their autographs.
The final pair are name-brand Cardinals. Ryan Ludwick may not have signed for over a decade, back to when he was an outfielder.
Among the missing
| Missing | Pos’n | Notes |
| Jordan Montgomery | SP | |
| Giovanny Gallegos | RP | |
| Wilking Rodriguez | RP | new |
| C | new – added later | |
| Juan Yepez | UT | winter ball? |
| Genesis Cabrera | RP | winter ball? |
| JoJo Romero | RP | |
| Jose Fermin | 2B | new |
| Moises Gomez | OF | winter ball? |
| Guillermo Zuniga | RP | new |
| OF | added later | |
| RP |
While more names will be added to the 42 scheduled to sign shown above, there are at least 11 noticeable in their current absence.
Of the 10 40-man roster players listed, seven are either brand new to the organization or may be playing winter ball in Latin America during WWU. Two of the other three are not US natives, with Jordan Montgomery standing out.
Freebies
Up to two dozen former players and notables typically sign for free during WWU. When those names are announced, this article will be updated. Free autograph tickets will be made available on January 6, 2023.
Here they are:
| Alan Benes | Andy Benes | Scott Cooper | Bill DeWitt Jr. |
| Bill DeWitt III | Randy Flores | Bernard Gilkey | Bo Hart |
| Rick Horton | Al Hrabosky | Greg Mathews | Jason Motte |
| John Mozeliak | Kerry Robinson | Jason Simontacchi | Brad Thompson |
Greg Mathews is a new name with Jason Simontacchi back for the first time since 2017.
In conclusion
Each individual typically signs for just one or two hours on one of the three days only, so check the detailed event schedule and any limits carefully before buying your tickets.
The 26th annual Winter Warm-Up, a three-day event, will take place on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. weekend; Saturday, Sunday and Monday, January 14-16, 2022. Three-day event passes are already on sale for $50 for adults and $25 for children 4-15 years of age. Single-Day tickets will go on sale January 6. They will cost $25 for adults and $15 for children. Children under 4 are free.
For full WWU information, including signing schedules and ticket ordering, follow this link.
Related activity
Many of the event participants also appear at the St. Louis Baseball Writers’ Dinner, always held on WWU Sunday night. Tickets are $300. and $200. each. Details here.
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