5 front office missteps that defined the 2024 Cardinals

The mishandling of Jordan Walker

Watching the Cardinals continually misuse Jordan Walker elicits a sense of morbid fascination, like gawking at a car accident. The team's former top prospect and seemingly budding superstar spent most of the 2024 season in Triple-A in an attempt to unlock his power. After scuffling for much of his tenure in Memphis, Walker began to find a groove, and the Cardinals called him up in August only to platoon him against left-handed pitchers despite his splits showing that he was more effective against right-handers. He was then sent down again so he would receive more consistent playing time.

2024 has been an extension of the Cardinals' abhorrent treatment of Walker that began in 2023, when he was producing well at the major league level but was demoted because the Cardinals wanted him to find a more optimal launch angle after nearly half of his batted balls were on the ground.

Walker has never been a player with 40-homer potential, so it's mystifying that the Cardinals are attempting to mold him into one instead of maximizing the strengths he already possesses. The Cardinals can't seem to decide how to best utilize Walker, and that likely comes from disagreements between management and the front office. (More on that later.) It's beginning to curtail what looked like limitless potential, through little fault of Walker's.

Walker still has a strong chance to blossom into an excellent player, but the Cardinals' inability to handle him properly could doom him to becoming another "what if" story — at least until another team gets its hands on him.