Cardinals News: Trade rumors, broadcast blues, Yadier Molina wins award as manager

Things have been mildly bleak and boring for the St. Louis Cardinals the last few weeks. What new trade rumors are floating around? How have finances been affected by lower viewership and attendance numbers? What is Yadier Molina up to in the Dominican Winter League?

Here's a review of recent Cardinals news and updates.

All is quiet on the trade front.

Katie Woo of The Athletic recently reported that the odds of Nolan Arenado starting the season with the St. Louis Cardinals are growing. After Arenado declined a trade to the Houston Astros in the middle of December, things have slowed down with the third baseman's market. Part of that is related to Alex Bregman still being available on the open market, and the other part of this stoppage would be related to Arenado's contract.

Ownership is still adamant about cutting payroll, and that handcuffs John Mozeliak's freedom in sending cash with Arenado. According to Woo, "Now both the Cardinals and Arenado are facing a plausible reality where the 10-time Gold Glove winner remains in St. Louis next season. There has been minimal traction on Arenado’s front since the Astros deal fell through." Woo lists the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees as candidates to trade for Arenado, but no further depth was provided.

Now, Mozeliak must shift his focus to trading other players like Erick Fedde and Steven Matz. Both starting pitchers have received interest from two American League Central teams in the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians. The San Francisco Giants could also be a fit for the swingman Matz.

Attendance, viewership, and listeners have slowly decreased for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Anyone who has watched a Cardinal game since the start of the 2023 season knows that attendance is down in the stadium. For the first time in 18 years, attendance at home games dipped below the three-million fan mark. Not only has the amount of fans in seats decreased these past two years, but people are no longer watching or listening to Cardinal games at rates they once were.

According to Dan Guerrero at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Over the last two seasons the local Cardinals telecasts have lost a massive 47% of their audience. Key contributing factors are the aforementioned distribution problems Diamond has had plus two consecutive seasons of substandard on-field performances by the team." Only 3.9% of the Bally Sports Midwest's market watched games for the Cardinals this year. The team's home opener drew its lowest figure in 23 years.

Radio shows that discuss sports have also been cut recently, as KFNS (590 AM) dropped local programming in July to save money. 101.1 ESPN dropped its morning drive-time show that featured Randy Karraker, Dan McLaughlin, Brooke Grimsley, and producer Matthew Rocchio.

These cuts are a product of regional sports network complications and fan malaise surrounding the Cardinals.

Yadier Molina wins Manager of the Year in LIDOM.

On a more positive note, former Cardinal Yadier Molina was announced as the Manager of the Year in the Dominican Winter League on January 1st. Molina led Aguilas Cibaenas to a 28-22 record and a second-place finish in the league.

When Molina became manager of Aguilas on October 28th, the team had a 2-7 record. He was able to go 26-15 record as manager of the ball club.

Cardinal fans have been clamoring for Molina to manage the Cardinals, but his brother stated recently that Molina is waiting a few more years to manage in Major League Baseball despite having plenty of teams asking him to join their staffs. One would assume that the Cardinals would be Molina's preference, but he won't wait for them to extend an offer if he has other options.

Seeing Yadi have success as a manager once again is promising to fans who want to see their former catcher come back in a manager role down the road.