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I think its the old landscape saying for new plants: sleep, creep, and leap over 3:years.
’26 probably pretty rough, ’27 better and we can see it coming together, ’28 win the division and be an actual sustainable contender.
Now, all of this depends on Bloom being good and pushing the right buttons…
That’s good about the minor leagues. I had figured they would be shut down too.
I hope the CBA gets worked out ahead of any 2027 work stoppage though…
Pirates are actually spending money.
I really think we are in for a last place finish in 2026; 4th at best
Not playing baseball in 2027 would badly damage the development of our minor leaguers and some younger major leaguers.
I know what the team is trying to do but coupled with the broadcasting rights issue – I can’t ever remember feeling this bleak about Cardinal baseball.
While the Cards aren’t good now they are a storied and established franchise.
I just worry that they will end up taking a second broadcast rights pay cut right on the heels of the first one.
It’s also liklely that subscribers have to pay more while the team gets less.
Is there any way that the Cardinals could set up their own broadcasts? I know that is an enormously complex undertaking that would essentially be owning and managing a huge company.
So I guess this is the right thread
With Contreras joining Gray in Boston that opens up 1b full time for Burleson.
Can Bloom make a move that does not involve Boston? Time will tell.
I really, really hope the Cardinals do not have Walker pencilled in on the 2026 ML roster. He needs to go ahead and rent an apartment in Memphis.
The of and right handed bats are still a huge concern at moment. Surely they will not go into the season with what they have??
You have to figure Arenado and one of Donovan or Nootbar is gone.
Not listing Walker, who does that leave to play outfield?
Scott, Nootbar / Donovan, ??
Right handed bats: Herrera / Pages, Saggesse, Winn – that’s it (I refuse to list Walker).
If Pages is catching you could DH Herrera but he will need a few days off – so as it stands right now we’d only have 3 rh bats in the lineup. Seems like a pretty big problem.
Hunter Dobbins only started 11 games in 2025 because his season was cut short by a torn ACL in his right knee that he suffered in mid-July. He also had a previous stint on the injured list with a right elbow strain
12.5 seems a bit rich but – it seems to be the cost of doing business. They paid Matz 11 per year for 4 years and he couldn’t stay healthy.
The Cards need a volume of starting pitching possibilities and an even larger volume of minor league prospects so that some are actually good and can help the big league club by playing or being trade chips.
The best simulation game I have seen is the old Pursue the Pennant – now Diamond Mind Baseball.
It is great for playing cross era games because it normalizes the player stats against the league average for the year the player played.
It even does it for fielding / errors.
A .300 hitter in 1930 was average while a .300 hitter in other seasons would be among the best.
This is definitely a quantity over quality signing but – what can it hurt – If they get 1/3 to 1/2 season of starts out of him I guess that will be mission accomplished?
https://awfulannouncing.com/mlb/fanduel-reduces-jim-hayes-role-cardinals-broadcasts-alexa-datt.html
Looks like this will be a change for 2026.
I would think that the boys have packed it on for the holidays and that nothing more is likely to occur until mid to late January?
Looks like nobody’s buying what the Cardinals are selling – at least not anywhere near a price that would benefit us…
How in the world did the Cardinals end up picking 13th? For some reason I thought they were on the top 6 – was that not true?
There are probably more trades coming plus a dumpster dive or two if necessary.
Quantity over quality.
I guess this would be a good time to define ‘competitive team’
Outside of simply fielding a squad, what does that term mean to each of you.
For me – being ‘competitive’ means being a plus or minus .500 team and it is the least any franchise should try for – even during a rebuild.
With the bloated playoff system, hanging around .500 generally keeps you in the mix for WC3 up to or even into the last week or two of the season – at least on paper.
This is the space the Cardinals have lived in for most (not all) of the last decade and the ‘get in and get hot’ model of team building has worn might thin with a big chunk of the fan base.
Begining towards the end of 2021 through 2022 and into 2023 we all experienced double digit inflation combined with shrinkflation (less product for a smaller price increase)
We all go to the grocery store. The same trip today costs 25-35% more than it did in early 2021 – and prices will never go back. Our incomes will never catch back up at our (most of us) advanced ages
As far as a trip to StL goes, hotel room prices have skyrocketed as has the cost of eating out.
I’d bet Bill’s ballpark village gross income has suffered as prices for everything have reached the puke point for a lot of people.
The days of post covid revenge travel finally petered out in mid- 2024.
Baseball as a whole needs to rework its archaic regional broadcast system in order to maximize that revenue stream – and I think that is slowly happening.
Fan engagement and putting a good or even better a great product on the field and then providing your fans with multiple ways to give you their money has always been the formula but the specific ways to separate fans from their money is always evolving. Baseball in general and the Cardinals specifically are behind the curve.
The cost of attending a big league ballgame is ridiculous. The Cardinals have always been a regional draw meaning that many fans travel in for a series and food and hotel costs are also ridiculous.
It’s not just the cost of the tickets.
I don’t trust or distrust Bloom yet. I will give him a two year window to sort this crap out and put a playoff caliber team (WC 1 or better: ie top 4 in the league) on the field – so that’s ’26 and ’27 to get sorted and then arrive in style in ’28.
After spending an enormous amount of time asking AI to research the impact on the number of wins and losses a ML manager has on a teams record – ‘the computer says’ up to 4-5 wins and as many as 7-8 losses.
Taking the two extremes with +5 wins being a great manager and -8 wins being a putrid manager the spread is a maximum of 13 games – which is significant.
Stepping further out onto the AI limb it suggests that the vast majority of ML managers influence 2-3 games per year – either way.
So unless the manager is horrifically incompetent to the point of being silly – no matter who is in the dugout it’s plus or minus 2 to 3 games a season from a strictly procedural management point if view.
Now, if the manager creates / allows to fester a toxic clubhouse culture where the players are absolutely miserable and at each other’s throats then from a human resources standpoint I could see a massively negative impact. On the other hand a really good clubhouse chemistry where everyone gets along and has each other’s back – while pleasant – will not lead to a massive increase above talent level in wins.
Personally I think Marmol is a middle of the road, competent ML manager who probably learned a lot about keeping his mouth shut after the Tyler O’Neil base running drama.
In my opinion he was too young when he was promoted but after 4 years he’s now not.
If the Cardinals ever get back to at or near the top of ML baseball – say an actual NLCS contender – then those 4-5 games that a truly elite manager brings to the table will actually matter. Unfortunately, that’s not a likely discussion for at least a few years…