10 burning questions the Cardinals must answer if they want to win back their fans

Question #3 - Will the DeWitt family cut payroll or invest more into this team to regain support from fans?

Speaking of ownership, there has been a growing displeasure amongst fans regarding the lack of spending on payroll compared to other top clubs in baseball.

I think most fans understand that the Cardinals are just not going to spend like the Dodgers, Yankees, and Mets. But could they start having payrolls that are more comparable to the Astros, Rangers, Cubs, Blue Jays, and Giants? I think so.

I always hesitate to use payroll numbers that we find on public sites since most tend to not be the most accurate, but FanGraphs seems to do some of the best work out of the free stuff that is out there. They have the Cardinals sitting with the 12th-highest payroll in baseball currently, sitting around $182 million for 2024. For reference, the Cubs, who have the eighth highest payroll in baseball, are estimated at about $225 million in payroll, $43 million more than St. Louis.

Yes, I think fans are right to be worried about payroll numbers currently, and I have no doubt those frustrations will grow next season if the Cardinals cut payroll this offseason.

It is no secret that the Cardinals are not getting the same attendance and fan engagement that they used to. It's still stronger than most clubs, but it's not likely the cash cow it was before. The continued uncertainty surrounding RSN rights and a tough economy do not help matters either. Please don't hear this as me defending ownership, I'm just pointing to the things they are going to point to if they do decide to shrink payroll back.

Should the Cardinals cut payroll back next season, I think they will be putting themselves in a tough spot early on with fan support. It will take a lot of winning to get fans back to the ballpark, but if the Cardinals invest more money into this club, they could boost excitement and bring fans back to the stands.

Now, with that being said, what is far more important than the Cardinals spending more money is spending their money wisely. Frankly, you can have the highest payroll in baseball and still be a bad team. While deals for guys like Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray seem to be good investments, the Cardinals have names like Miles Mikolas and Steven Matz that cause them buyer's remorse.

How about Dexter Fowler, Brett Cecil, Andrew Miller, Mike Leake, Matt Carpenter's second extension, and Adam Wainwright's final deal? Those are just some of the biggest mistakes from recent years but are great examples of the poor management of resources from this front office. Clubs like the Brewers, Rays, Guardians, and Twins consistently do more with less and are living proof that wise investments can get you in contention without having a payroll the size of the Cardinals', let alone the top dogs in the game.

Again, I'm not saying the Cardinals should not spend more, I'm just saying they also need to spend better.