Cardinals Could Bounce Back By Mimicking Fellow I-70 Club's Offseason Approach

St. Louis could learn a thing or two from the Royals

Nov 3, 2022; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Royals owner John Sherman introduces Matt Quatraro as manager during a press conference at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals front office has disappointed the loyal fanbase for far too long and it might be time to try a different offseason strategy.

Last winter, Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak retooled the pitching staff with a haul of veterans but that was basically it -- not much else was added to increase the club's chances of turning things around from a 91-loss season in 2023.

The bare minimum by the Cardinals' front office is getting old for dedicated St. Louis fans and perhaps it is time to copycat a close enemy's offseason approach.

"The (Kansas City) Royals, who lost 106 games last year, wanted to get better quickly," The Athletic's Brittany Ghiroli wrote Tuesday. "They recognized that player development and amateur scouting weren’t going to be enough, so they supplemented the roster in free agency, aggressively adding more than a half-dozen players. Now, with a winning season already in hand, they’re on the precipice of clinching a postseason berth, perhaps as early as this week." 

The Royals didn't spend crazy money on one or two superstars last winter to successfully go from being the second-worst team in baseball to playoff-bound the following season. They strategically added quality players in areas of need without putting the franchise in too much debt.

"'Sometimes you need that slap upside the head, right?' Royals owner John Sherman, who greenlit the expenditures, asked reporters this spring," as transcribed by Ghiroli. “We don’t know what’s going to happen, but we cannot tolerate something like that again for our fans.”

St. Louis will miss the playoffs for a second-straight year this season, and it's time for Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. to be a man of his word and get the team back to winning. If the franchise wants things to be different in 2025, an aggressive offseason strategy should be considered.

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