photo: 2023 Winter Warm-Up fan lineup pre-opening (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
Since 2008, I have tracked St. Louis Cardinals Winter Warm-Up autograph prices. The just-for-fun exercise looks at the comparative fan popularity of the various players, currently and in the past, as gauged by the organization.
Ideally, all signings will sell out at the highest prices the market will bear. After all, the annual event is a fund-raiser for Cardinals Care, which does so 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 13 through Monday, January 15 with the event being held at Busch Stadium and Ballpark Village.
At the time of the initial announcement, on Wednesday, December 6, 46 individuals from the team’s past and present are scheduled to sign for a fee, 42 of them in person. Autograph tickets go on sale on Monday, December 11.
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 2022 as well.
The top dogs
| Top dogs | Autograph | Trend |
| Willson Contreras | $125 | |
| Tommy Edman | $75 | |
| Paul Goldschmidt | $75 (pre-signed) | down from $150 (live) |
| Jordan Walker | $75 | up from $30 |
A year after the team’s three remaining stars were all $150, none of them are currently scheduled to be back in 2024. Adam Wainwright has retired; Paul Goldschmidt will provide pre-signed baseballs only and Nolan Arenado is not listed among the WWU participants.
That leaves second-year Cardinal Willson Contreras at the top priced signature for 2024 at $125. Rising star Jordan Walker shoots up from $30 last year to join Tommy Edman at $75, the same price as Goldschmidt’s pre-signed balls.
Middle of the pack
| Middle of the pack | Autograph | Trend |
| Nolan Gorman | $50 | up from $30 |
| Sonny Gray | $50 | |
| Lars Nootbaar | $50 | up from $40 |
| Ryan Helsley | $45 | |
| Brendan Donovan | $40 | |
| Oliver Marmol | $40 | |
| Masyn Winn | $40 | up from $25 |
| Dylan Carlson | $35 | down from $50 |
Two other young faces on the rise, Nolan Gorman and Lars Nootbaar, earned a nice increase to $50, the same price as new starting pitcher Sonny Gray. Outfielders Tyler O’Neill and Dylan Carlson are heading in the opposite direction. (Update: On Friday, December 8, O’Neill was traded to Boston.)
Others among this group at constant prices from last year are closer Ryan Helsley, Brendan Donovan and manager Oliver Marmol. Shortstop Masyn Winn also had a bump from $25 last year to $40.
Mid-tier picks
| Mid-tier picks | Autograph | Trend |
| Alec Burleson | $30 | up from $20 |
| Kyle Gibson | $30 | |
| Lance Lynn | $30 | |
| Steven Matz | $30 | down from $40 |
| Matthew Liberatore | $25 | down from $30 |
| Luken Baker | $25 | |
| Daniel Descalso | $25 | last signed in 2014 |
| traded on 1/5/24 | ||
| Andre Pallante | $20 | down from $25 |
| Zack Thompson | $20 |
The common thread among almost all the players here is that they should make major contributions to St. Louis in 2024, but their autograph prices are in the more reasonable $20-$30 range.
This group is pitching-heavy with three members of the projected rotation (Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn and Steven Matz) as well as former prospects Zack Thompson, Matthew Liberatore and Andre Pallante. Hitters include Alec Burleson, Luken Baker and Richie Palacios. New bench coach and former Cardinal player Daniel Descalso rounds out the set. All look to be good bargains.
Value picks
| Value picks | Autograph | Trend |
| Jose Fermin | $15 | |
| Ivan Herrera | $15 | |
| JoJo Romero | $15 | |
| John King | $10 | |
| Buddy Kennedy | $10 | |
| Packy Naughton | $10 | down from $15 |
| James Naile | $10 | |
| Michael Siani | $10 |
As members of the 40-man roster, these players all have some MLB experience but are looking for more. Of them, each of whom will sign for $10 or $15, relievers John King and JoJo Romero along with catcher Ivan Herrera have the best shots of making the opening day roster.
Prospects
| Prospects | Autograph | Trend |
| Gordon Graceffo | $10 | back from 2023 |
| Tink Hence | $10 | back from 2023 |
| Max Rajcic | $10 | |
| Drew Rom | $10 | |
| Thomas Saggese | $10 | |
| Victor Scott | $10 |
This group consists of six prospects hoping to make their St. Louis debuts soon. Victor Scott, newcomer Thomas Saggese and Tink Hence lead the way from a group that included Walker and Winn the year before.
Former Cardinals
| Hall of Famers | Autograph | |
| Whitey Herzog | $50 (pre-signed) | |
| Ted Simmons | $50 (pre-signed) | |
| Ozzie Smith | $50 (pre-signed) | |
| Tony La Russa | $50 | |
| Alumni | Autograph | Last |
| David Freese | $75 | 2021 |
| Ray King | $40 | 2018 |
| Steve Kline | $40 | 2011 |
| Tony Womack | $40 | ? |
| David Eckstein | $25 | 2021 |
The quartet of Cooperstown Hall of Famers remain a good buy at $50, though the baseballs from Whitey Herzog, Ted Simmons and Ozzie Smith are pre-signed. It is good to see that Tony La Russa will be back and in-person for 2024.
The group of Cardinals alumni includes several who have not been at Winter Warm-Up for some time. The biggest name (and highest signing price at $75) is 2011 World Series hero David Freese, who declined induction into the Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2023.
Update (12/15)
After tickets went on sale, four additional alumni were added to the roster of priced signers. Two, Randy Flores and Bo Hart, moved from the free to fee designation for 2024.
| Alumni additions | Autograph | Last |
| Randy Flores | $20 | 2023 free |
| Bo Hart | $20 | 2023 free |
| Ryan Ludwick | $10 | 2023 |
| Xavier Scruggs | $10 | 2015 |
Among the missing
| 40-man missing | 2023 | Notes |
| Nolan Arenado | $150 | |
| Ryan Fernandez | NA | new Rule 5 |
| Giovanny Gallegos | DNA | |
| Moises Gomez | DNA | |
| Adam Kloffenstein | NA | new 40-man |
| Miles Mikolas | $40 | |
| Riley O’Brien | NA | new 40-man |
| Pedro Pages | NA | new 40-man |
| Sem Robberse | NA | new 40-man |
| Jared Young | NA | new 40-man |
| Guillermo Zuniga | DNA | |
| Prospects missing | 2023 | Notes |
| Michael McGreevy | $10 | |
| Connor Thomas | $10 | off 40-man |
More names may be added to the 46 scheduled to participate, including 42 in person shown above, but 11 members of the current 40-man roster were not among the initial list of signees. Same for two prospects who signed at the event a year ago.
Of course, some or all could still join the 2024 WWU roster later. The two most obvious players missing from 2023 are Arenado and Miles Mikolas.
Moved on
| Moved on | 2023 |
| Adam Wainwright | $150 |
| Jack Flaherty | $45 |
| Paul DeJong | $30 |
| Jordan Hicks | $30 |
| Dakota Hudson | $25 |
| Andrew Knizner | $20 |
| Jake Woodford | $20 |
| Chris Stratton | $10 |
| Drew VerHagen | $10 |
| Jake Walsh | $10 |
| Jordan Montgomery | DNA |
| Juan Yepez | DNA |
| Genesis Cabrera | DNA |
| Freddy Pacheco | DNA |
14 members of the 40-man roster in January 2023 are no longer in the organization. 10 of them signed autographs at WWU last year.
Freebies
Typically, up to two dozen former players and notables sign for free during WWU. When those names are announced, this article will be updated with that information. These tickets will be made available in early January.
Update
The following 14 free signees were announced on January 3. Tickets are available.
| Alan Benes | Andy Benes | Gary Bennett | Bill DeWitt Jr. |
| Bill DeWitt III | Bernard Gilkey | Rick Horton | Al Hrabosky |
| Kyle McClellan | Bengie Molina | John Mozeliak | Kerry Robinson |
| Jason Simontacchi | Brad Thompson |
In conclusion
The 27th annual Winter Warm-Up, a three-day event, will take place on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. weekend; Saturday, Sunday and Monday, January 13-15, 2024. 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 the first week of January. Children under 4 are free.
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 restrictions and limits carefully before buying your tickets.
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, January 14 this year. Tickets are $300 and $200 each. Details here.
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