Here's a fun stat: since the 21st century began, the St. Louis Cardinals have only finished a season under .500 twice: in 2007, the year after they won a World Series, and in 2023. Every other season they've finished over, with 16 playoff appearances, 11 division titles, four league championships and 2 World Series rings. The 2010s, the Cardinals were routinely excellent, with 5 seasons of over 90 wins. It felt like they were in the NLCS every year, and were able to bring in terrific players, build excellent prospects and put together great teams out of next to nothing.
The 2020s so far have been a lot less noteworthy for the Cardinals. They've made the playoffs 3 times but have never made it out of the wild card round. They never truly recovered after firing Mike Shildt, as Oli Marmol's reign as manager has been particularly divisive. After the 2022 playoff collapse they've struggled to get consistent production out of Nolan Arenado, Miles Mikolas or Nolan Gorman. For the first time in a while, the Cardinals banked on a lot of prospect that weren't worth it, guys like Matthew Liberatore, Jordan Walker, Dylan Carlson, Juan Yepez and Andrew Knizner. And that turned into free agent signings that weren't worth it, like Steven Matz, Lance Lynn and, ultimately, Willson Contreras, who's beginning to really frustrate the fans. Apparently the Cardinals posted their lowest attendance in the history of Busch Stadium III the other day. It's a frustrating product now, and the Mozeliak factor has made it even more of a strain for Cardinals fans.
I never would have predicted this. Especially after the last two decades. How the Cardinals could go from thriving to completely at war with its own brand in just 5 years.
There are pieces of this team that have promise, but they're not going the direction they should be. Alec Burleson is a very good hitter, and is better at contact stuff than true power. Burleson's hitting .291 with 16 homers and 60 RBIs. He's just a big guy that loves to hit. He's not the most versatile guy there is, but he's a great lineup presence. I put Victor Scott Jr. in a similar category, where he's fast and great on defense but only hits .233. The ideal five-tool guy that the Cardinals were promised hasn't shown up. Nolan Gorman's a .225 hitter, Jordan Walker's even more limited, Lars Nootbaar strikes out too much and Andre Pallante isn't consistent. Brendan Donovan and Masyn Winn are the closest thing this team has to sure bets in their prime, and even they have their flaws. Donovan I see getting dealt in the offseason.
The best time for the Cardinals to actually benefit from their replenished farm system is actually coming up. Mikolas will be gone, Arenado might be dealt, and the emphasis will be on seeing about a lower-key, youth-led version of this team. There's a ton of prospects that could make the leap, and hopefully they won't be rushed. And if that works then the Cardinals could be back on track. If not...the 2020s are gonna be a decade that won't even be discussed as much as the 90s in Cardinals history..
Coming Tonight: An Angels pitcher whose steadiness and consistency was welcome in yet another noncompetitive year.
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