4 offseason changes that need to happen if the Cardinals miss the playoffs again

The St. Louis Cardinals have continued to dig themselves a hole that feels more insurmountable after each passing series. After the team's embarrassing 6-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Monday, the Cardinals sit at 60-59 on the season. They are now 7.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the division, and the San Francisco Giants have passed them in the Wild Card race.

There is still an inkling of hope for a playoff berth -- FanGraphs gives them an 11.6% chance -- but those hopes are fading more and more. If the playoffs were to start today, this would be the second consecutive season where the Cardinals missed the postseason. That would be just the third time this century the franchise has gone back-to-back years without a playoff appearance.

There are many reasons why the Cardinals have failed to reach the postseason these past two years. Aged and average pitching staffs, defensive failures, and an unreliable offense are the most glaring from the player's perspective.

From a coaching and management perspective, bullpen moves and roster transactions haven't been ideal, and money given to free agents hasn't been used in the most efficient way. When a front office has to operate on a strict budget, the money spent must be prudent. That hasn't been the case recently for the Cardinals.

Typically, when an organization fails repeatedly, drastic changes are made. A front office can decide to do a full rebuild, or they can hit reset and work with the bulk of the roster that has been effective. It is likely the Cardinals choose the latter path. The DeWitt family won't take to a full rebuild kindly, as that means fan attendance will plummet more than it already has this year.

Due to this unprecedented reality that the team now operates in, it is likely that some changes are made this offseason as a result of the team's lackluster output these past two seasons. Some of these could be minute changes while others could be sweeping redirections of the entire organization and its philosophy.

These 4 changes must happen this offseason if the Cardinals miss the postseason once again in 2024.