Cardinals Reportedly Won't Prioritize Playoffs In 2025; Painful Restructuring Awaits

St. Louis could have a few down years ahead

Sep 8, 2017; St. Louis, MO, USA; The St. Louis Cardinals mascot Fredbird standing for the national anthem at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images / Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals have regressed over the last decade as the franchise once renowned for its player development struggles to produce and retain quality top prospects.

It was recently revealed that Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak has been financially restrained by ownership throughout his tenure, leading to a colossal mess within the organization.

The Cardinals' depleted farm system might force fans to swallow the hard pill that their beloved team could be in for a small rebuilding phase.

"The Cardinals missed the postseason for the second consecutive year and appear ready to revive the infrastructure that once served as a conveyor belt for polished homegrown players," The Athletic's Katie Woo reported Friday morning.

St. Louis' tremendous ability to draft and develop players propelled the club to victory in the 2011 World Series over the Texas Rangers. However, as time passed and other teams mimicked the Cardinals' tactics, they fell behind the curve.

"Though they do not plan on tanking, people briefed on the Cardinals’ plans say the organization is preparing to shift its focus on upgrading the minor leagues and the player development department, even if it means going down a path seldom taken in baseball-mad St. Louis: accepting the possibility of not putting the major-league team in position to contend," Woo continued.

For the last few years, the Cardinals have sought to win by making the right moves in the offseason while neglecting resources to help develop prospects into big-league-ready stars. A recent example of this would be Jordan Walker, who's still making fundamental errors in the outfield and hasn't fully seized his true potential yet.

After back-to-back seasons of missing the playoffs, the last thing Cardinals fans want to hear is that next year could have a similar outcome.

In the short term, this news is heartbreaking and painful to hear. Hopefully, we'll be looking back on this organizational shift a few years from now and be grateful the Cardinals risked a third straight losing season to fix the major underlying problem -- player development.

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