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The St. Louis Cardinals don’t usually lose. It's strange to see them fighting to stay above . 500 after years of being a perennial contender in the National League. Yet 2024 will mark their second-consecutive season without a playoff berth. The future doesn’t look particularly bright either with serious adjustments being considered within the front office.
The consensus is that the main culprit for St. Louis' recent downfall is their lack of resourcing for their player development. The funds are limited as are the number of coaches. St. Louis employs only five full-time minor-league instructors. The Cardinals once had one of the best minor-league systems in the league. Now their top prospects are struggling more than progressing.
Katie Woo of The Athletic spoke to several Cardinals employees about the state of the franchise. Most of them were on the same page.
“We’re in trouble,” one team employee said. “This is not easily fixable within the next year or year after. This is going to take some time.
“I don’t know how this was f—ed up so bad over the last few years.”
“It’s broken,” another staffer said. “Our system is broken in a way. How it got there, I don’t know.”
The Cardinals made the playoffs four-straight seasons from 2019-22, winning one series and two division titles. They have two World Series wins and four NL pennants over the past 20 years. St. Louis will hold onto that for a while.
Cardinals not ready to spend
Cardinals fans might not like what they're about to read, but there seems to be a direction St. Louis will eventually have to go in if they want to soften their payroll. The Cardinals are preparing, or at least are thinking of, not contending over the next few years or not going out of their way to build a contender.
MLB teams have won without stars before. It's hard to win championships or compete consistently without those impact players, but postseason berths can and do happen.
However it shakes out for the Cardinals this offseason, they'll have to replace several players. First baseman Paul Goldschmidt is a free agent, as is key reliever Andrew Kittredge. Starting pitchers Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn have club options above $10 million.
St. Louis could look a lot different in two years, and it's a wonder if the Cards will be contending by then. That's not a statement that the franchise is used to.
The NL Central figures to be pretty wide open over the next few seasons. The Milwaukee Brewers will probably remain the favorite after capturing their third division title in four years. St. Louis has won two division crowns in the last nine years.
Even if the Cardinals don’t feel great about their playoff prospects entering the 2025 season, they could still sneak into the dance. Oliver Marmol will be on the hot seat for much of the year if he's not fired. A third-consecutive season without playoff baseball would undoubtedly result in his dismissal from the team.
