St. Louis Cardinals: Not getting Giancarlo Stanton may be a great thing

JUPITER, FL - FEBRUARY 16: General Manager John Mozeliak (L) and owner William DeWitt, Jr. of the St. Louis Cardinals speak at a press conference at Roger Dean Stadium on February 16, 2011 in Jupiter, Florida. (Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images)
JUPITER, FL - FEBRUARY 16: General Manager John Mozeliak (L) and owner William DeWitt, Jr. of the St. Louis Cardinals speak at a press conference at Roger Dean Stadium on February 16, 2011 in Jupiter, Florida. (Photo by Marc Serota/Getty Images)

The St. Louis Cardinals are finally done with this failed attempt at signing a superstar and thank goodness for that.

I have been quiet from Redbird Rant posts for a couple of weeks. I have had a lot to say, but I was frustrated at the St. Louis Cardinals fans, as a whole, and needed to collect my thoughts while letting the Stanton trade play itself out.

I am disappointed in Cardinals fans not for wanting a superstar in Giancarlo Stanton, but that we continually look like beggars on twitter. Look, we have trended down, everyone sees it. But, to blame it on the front office is completely wrong. It just bugs me that fans ride the roller coaster of news and are always willing to trade players away in their own opinion without looking at what makes a team succeed.

Since 2011, the Cardinals have been on the wrong side of deals, not because they signed bad ones, but because players do not want to come to the greatest baseball town in the world and, yes I truly mean this, the best fans in the world. Even if we get a little too passionate.

First was Albert Pujols, after winning the World Series in 2011. Now I know, the Cardinals sort-of low balled him at $200 million (Reports vary depending on who you read on the exact offer). However, at the time for the Cardinals to offer that much money was incredible, and instead of staying he took the lucrative, and now terrible deal with Angels.

Another was the most famous offer to Jason Heyward. We once again offered a hefty nearly $200 million dollars. He admittedly took less money and also took a few passive-aggressive shots at the Cardinals by saying Cubs have a better core of young players.

Obviously, it worked out for him winning the World Series in 2016, but boy oh boy, the Cardinals got lucky. Even if the Cubs won a World Series. The Cubs are stuck with that terrible deal, while in need of pitching as well as it is almost time to start signing their young core to bigger contracts.

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What about David Price? We offered him a lucrative contract that would have been richest in franchise history for our team.

Once again, money lured him away to the Red Sox for $30 million more dollars. Even David Price, who grew up loving the Cardinals did not come.

Stanton is on a long list of players that decided that they did not want to come to the Cardinals. Maybe it is for the better?

Who knows, but the last three times we got denied after offering big time money, the players went on to stink it up.

All and all Cardinals fans, just because a team spends money, does not mean they win. No players are truly worth what they make when you add in regression to a players performance over time. Heck, even with the “MVP” season he had this year with fifty-nine bombs, he actually barely earned his contract.

I had him valued, with my Predator Baseball Statistics, over the past three season $21.63 million per year. Last year, I admit, he was worth 4.33 Wins Above Average, also according to my stats, worth a little over $40.1 million. Really though, how long will that last and can he stay healthy?

When he is paid $32 million in his age 35 and 36 season, whatever team picks that contract up will regret him at that point unless they win a World Series title with him. Not to mention they will have not just those two years left, with a payment of $29 million and $25 million in his age 37 and 38 seasons respectively. In my opinion, you are going to eat a lot of money even if you get a few more quality years.

Next: Stanton officially rejects move to STL

I will leave you with this: why not use the money and sign serious bullpen pieces or get two high quality bats for the price you were willing to pay Stanton? Maybe even wait until next year when really prized possessions are on the market like: Manny Machado (3B), Bryce Harper (RF), Josh Donaldson (3B), Charlie Blackmon (CF), Dallas Keuchel (SP), Craig Kimbrel (RP), Zach Britton (RP), Adam Warren (RP), Andrew Miller (RP), or Cody Allen (RP)?

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