Long-time Cardinals rival lauds organization for handling of franchise favorites

The St. Louis Cardinals can be criticized for many things over the last half decade or so. Cutting back on staff and not backfilling those positions after COVID clearly hurt the organization. Not filling out a more competent rotation in 2022 wasn't a wise decision with the benefit of hindsight. Delaying the rebuild while grasping at wisps of contention in 2024 and 2025 wasn't prudent.

One thing fans shouldn't criticize the Cardinals for lately is how they've handled franchise cornerstones.

Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, the Cardinals were one of the best teams in the National League. This success came, in part, from stars like Scott Rolen, Jim Edmonds, Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, Chris Carpenter, and Adam Wainwright. The Cardinals worked effortlessly to keep these superstars with the club during their primes, and in the cases of Molina and Wainwright, the club was able to make them Cardinals for life.

A long-time rival of the St. Louis Cardinals, Andrew McCutchen recently spoke up in defense of how the Cardinals handled their cornerstones.

Pittsburgh Pirates legend Andrew McCutchen defends the St. Louis Cardinals for honoring legends like Albert Pujols, Adam Wainwright, and Yadier Molina.

In a post on his Twitter/X page, Andrew McCutchen defended the Cardinals for giving fans an opportunity to see organizational legends at the end of their respective careers. A Pirates fan and raido host, Josh Rowntree, posted saying that the Pirates gave Andrew McCutchen a three-year reunion tour with little success. He made the post that the team would be better moving on from McCutchen than signing him for a farewell tour.

McCutchen responded by citing several organizations that kept their aged stars for the fans.

"I wonder, did the Cards do this Wainwright/Pujols/Yadi? Dodgers to Kershaw?Tigers to Miggy? The list goes on and on. If this is my last year, it would have been nice to meet the fans one last time as a player," wrote the five-time All Star. "You see, this is bigger than baseball! Bigger than looking at a 40 man roster and cherry picking numbers that fit your agenda or prove why your opinion matters. The fans deserved at the very least to get that opportunity."

McCutchen hits hard the idea of giving fans the satisfaction of seeing him wear the jersey one more time. While he will be 39 for the entirety of the 2026 season, McCutchen still believes he can contribute in the majors.

McCutchen's references to Pujols, Wainwright, and Molina is noteworthy, as he went head-to-head against these legends for well over a decade. The Cardinals signed Pujols to a one-year deal in 2022 in the future Hall of Famer's final year in 2022. This one-year, $2.5 million contract gave Albert one final go in St. Louis before he departed baseball as a player, and he didn't disappoint. Handing a 42-year-old player a contract is risky regardless of his pedigree, but the Cardinals saw an opportunity to pay homage to Pujols and give fans a chance to celebrate their star first baseman.

Yadier Molina's final two contracts with St. Louis were both one-year deals, the first valued at $9 million for the 2021 season and the second at $10 million for the 2022 season. Both of these contracts came after back-to-back years of below-average offense for Molina (87 OPS+ in 2019 and 83 OPS+ in 2020). Molina's offensive decline continued, but St. Louis saw his value as a leader and defender along with fans wanting to give him one more goodbye.

Adam Wainwright lasted one year longer than Molina and Pujols as a result of a one-year, $17.5 million contract for the 2023 season. Wainwright was solid in 2021, and he was an above-average pitcher in 2022, but he fell dramatically in 2023, finishing the year with a 7.40 ERA and a 59 ERA+. The Cardinals knew rolling out a 41-year-old starter in 2023 would be risky, but they opted to keep him on the team to serve the fans and help him reach the 200-win milestone.

Andrew McCutchen's reference of the Cardinals keeping Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright, and Albert Pujols in their late years of playing shows his respect for the Cardinals as an organization. McCutchen understands the finances of the game, but his admiration for stars and veterans is endearing.