It’s time to show the St. Louis Cardinals some tough love

With the St Louis Cardinals seemingly at their lowest point in possibly decades, the organization appears content. Meanwhile, a growing number of fans seem to be expressing their discontent.

The St. Louis Cardinals haven’t had a losing season since 2007. That season sparked the end of an era and saw the team dismantle their aging core. GM John Mozeliak took over for the fired Walt Jocketty and set to trading franchise favorites Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen. Since that point, the Cardinals have been remarkably consistent. However, could the walls be crumbling down before our eyes?

As the Cardinals currently sit here in the first week of August, they find themselves a distant third place in the NL Central division. A push to prevail with a wild card spot also seems like a difficult task. The Cardinals currently seem to be in a situation that could find them breaking their streak of winning seasons. At least the front office is taking notice and taking action, right?

Wrong.

The trade deadline was the latest indicator that the front office is completely out of touch with the majority of the fan base. A team that rightfully didn’t make any significant trade deadline adds instead attempted to patch a hole in the starting rotation. The acquisition of pitchers J.A. Happ and Jon Lester could best be described as slapping a band-aid on a leaking dam. Both pitchers have had great careers and could certainly help the team fill a need for innings and quality starts, but overall is nothing more than a bare minimum stopgap. Arguably, the team should have been sellers. A playoff push is exceedingly unlikely and trading some players for longer-term assets might have been a wiser choice.

It sure seems like a growing segment of the fan base is getting increasingly fed up. Empty seats at Busch Stadium the past week or two have been noticeable. That’s the best thing that can happen for those fans wanting change. The Cardinals take a full stadium every night as validation for their team and the product on the field. If fans are not satisfied with that product, the solution is simple. Stop going to games.

If fans unite and spend their entertainment dollars elsewhere, surely the St. Louis Cardinals will notice. With the exception of the Nolan Arenado trade, which I was certainly happy about and gave the organization their deserved props for, the front office has done next to nothing for two years. With a team that could be looking at their last run with franchise cornerstones Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright, they have squandered that chance.

With Arenado facing an opt-out following the season, the team sees no urgency in proving to him that they can build a championship team around him.

With significant payroll coming off the books after the season, the time to reshape the team into a real contender could be coming. It’s shaping up to be a pivotal offseason and one that could define the team’s trajectory for many years to come. If the team acts aggressively and urgently, they can start to fix some glaring issues with the roster.

If they twiddle their thumbs as they have in recent years, there’s no reason to think things will change. The team has no clear direction and as long as they’re filling the stadium and getting fan engagement, the status quo will be fine by them. The days of championship aspirations for the Cardinals are gone. Don’t let them try to convince you otherwise. Actions (or in the Cardinals case, lack thereof) speak louder than words.

If you’re reading this and you are unhappy with the direction the team is going, my advice is to stop going to games. If enough people withhold their hard-earned money, the organization will probably look at that as fans not buying into their product. If the product isn’t generating revenue, it’s likely a sign that it’s time to make changes to said product.

The 2007 Cardinals were coming off of a championship. The team held onto their aging players a year longer than they maybe should have, in hindsight. After that losing season in 2007, they changed course and dramatically altered their roster. Regardless of whether the 2021 Cardinals wind up with a losing season or not, it’s quite possibly the worst team since ’07.

Are you tired of watching boring, subpar baseball from your favorite team? Are you frustrated with the lack of action and direction from the front office? Do you want to see meaningful moves made this upcoming offseason? If so, it could be time to show the St. Louis Cardinals some tough love.