Cardinals sneaky, over-decade-long streak shines light on their greatest obstacle

The St. Louis Cardinals are a storied franchise for a number of reasons. Very few organizations in baseball can rival the consistency with which they win games or the championship pedigree that they carry. Perhaps even fewer organizations can compare to the decades of ruthless support they've received from their fanbases. That has allowed this "small market" team to punch well above its weight class for over 100 years now, and a major reason why we've seen so many stars wear the Birds on the Bat.

Stan Musial. Rogers Hornsby. Bob Gibson. Lou Brock. Ted Simmons. Ozzie Smith. Mark McGwire. Albert Pujols. Yadier Molina. Adam Wainwright. There are so many legends we can list in this franchise's history, and they've always been at the center of the club's success.

An era seemed to end when Pujols left town back in the winter of 2011, and while the Cardinals maintained success for a number of years after he left and fell off for reasons outside of losing Pujols, his departure has left a void in the Cardinals' organization that has yet to be filled.

The presence of a consistent superstar.

Yes, Paul Goldschmidt enjoyed a very fruitful run with the Cardinals, and Matt Carpenter had himself a "Hall of Very Good" kind of career. Yadier Molina was a superstar in my book, but not the kind that can truly be a middle-of-the-order bat for your club outside of a few seasons.

The Cardinals have missed that "dude" in their lineup for a while now, not just one that has an incredible season or two, but a guy who can truly lead the club year in and year out. And one sneaky, over-decade-long streak speaks to that.

Brendan Donovan marks the 14th straight season that a different Cardinals player has led the team in bWAR

On my ever-growing list of topics I've wanted to cover since the season ended, this peculiar streak by the Cardinals is one I wanted to touch on as a microcosm of one of the greatest hurdles facing the Cardinals as they look to the future. @QuinnSTLCards over on X posted about the phenomenon the other day, and it made me want to move the topic to the top of my queue to get some of my thoughts out there.

This is a topic we've been following on the site for years now, and one I anticipate we will continue to do so until a true face of the franchise emerges on the Cardinals roster.

Yadier Molina was for sure that kind of player, but again, he did so in a way that was heavily impacted by his defense and the hard-to-measure but profound impact he made on the Cardinals' pitching staff. Goldschmidt had the pedigree and even won an MVP with the Cardinals, but he wasn't truly a top 10-15 player most years he was with the club. Arenado also had that pedigree, but outside of his top-three MVP finish in 2022, he was underwhelming compared to those expectations.

The middle of the Cardinals' order has been a revolving cast of characters for years now. Some have stayed longer than others, but none have truly planted their flag as that difference-making superstar that many past Cardinals greats have. Even if I lower the bar for a "homegrown" player, Carpenter was a Cardinals Hall of Famer for sure, but he didn't quite have enough "elite" seasons to qualify for what I'm talking about.

The Cardinals aren't without potential internal options, though. Ivan Herrera's bat continues to look the part, and if he's able to stick as a primary catcher, I think he's got a great chance of being that guy. Even if he's an outfielder, as long as he's healthy, that moves the needle big time. He can do it as a DH; it just sets the bar for his bat all the higher.

JJ Wetherholt is so exciting, but again, he's a prospect, so as high as I am on him and as much as I believe he'll be a special talent, we have to see it. Rainiel Rodriguez is showing signs as a teenager that only stars in this league have, but again, he hasn't even reached Double-A yet.

Another name could emerge. The club could go after an outside solution. But if they want to be that team again, the team that can compete with anybody in baseball, they'll have to find a star, one that puts up numbers year after year.