St. Louis Cardinals: Top notch team, average standards

Another day another manager looking for a job, while the St. Louis Cardinals decide to stand pat.

The question stands: why aren’t the St. Louis Cardinals holding themselves to similar standards or actions in keeping with other teams in MLB?

On Thursday, the New York Yankees parted ways with Joe Girardi after ten years together. This is coming off of a season where Girardi and the Yankees were one game away from the World Series.

In recent weeks the Yankees weren’t the only team to part ways with their successful managers. The Boston Red Sox and Washington Nationals both fired their managers after playoff appearances.

After a second straight year coming and going with no playoff berth, fans would expect a big change to come. Unfortunately for them, it didn’t. There have been some big moves around the coaching staff including bringing Jose Oquendo back to St. Louis and the recent hiring of Mike Maddux, but that may not be enough.

You can only do so much to try and cover for someone’s deficiencies.

Joe Girardi, John Farrell and Dusty Baker all won 90+ games this year. Mike Matheny hasn’t won 90+ games since 2015. Maybe overall wins aren’t that big of a deal when it comes to a manager, but playoff berths are and between those three managers there were five playoff berths the last two years, compared to the Cardinals’ zero.

The Yankees, Nationals, and Red Sox are holding themselves to a standard, a very high standard. The St. Louis Cardinals should be holding themselves to this same standard.

The St. Louis Cardinals are on the same tier as these teams, unquestionably, but fans don’t see it. All three of these teams made the playoffs, the Cardinals didn’t but the front office didn’t see fit to make a change. The Cardinals have always had a commitment to winning but the front office must be seeing something that fans are not.

It isn’t like St. Louis isn’t a top notch destination. They have youth, money and a great fan base. Essentially this team could have had the pick of the litter if they made an early move. Instead they decided to bolster the staff around the manager. Maybe it works, but if it doesn’t fingers need to be pointed.

Mike Matheny has been given another chance; will he take advantage of that? Hard to say.

The St. Louis Cardinals are one of the most successful baseball franchises in the league. So why aren’t they acting like it? If there isn’t a drastic improvement in 2018, expect heads to roll and rightfully so.

Next: Under-the-radar bats

Hopefully the additions to the coaching staff will bring forth a big change in the culture of this team. Making changes to improve are important but wins and playoff appearances speak volumes.