A decade of mediocrity has caused the Cardinals to fall from grace

As a fan who grew up with the Cardinals of the 2000s, I have high expectations for the historic franchise. I was lucky to be able to see two World Series championships and one of baseball's best players play for a decade in St. Louis. Few stretches in the history of the organization rival the stretch from 2000 through 2015.

Only one other organization in professional baseball boasts more World Series championships than the Cardinals: the New York Yankees. Only the Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Francisco Giants have more league pennants. Additionally, those three organizations are the only ones to boast a greater winning percentage than the Cardinals across the history of baseball.

The Birds on the Bat are synonymous with Major League Baseball.

However, the last decade of Cardinal baseball has felt largely uninspired. Strictly according to winning percentage, the Cardinals have been one of the best teams since 2013; they had a .556 winning percentage from 2013-2023. Great! That's the fourth-best in all of baseball. However, if you limit the scope to 2016-2023, the team drops to a .527 winning percentage, ninth-best in baseball. Removing the 2013 and 2015 seasons hurts the winning percentage dramatically.

I don't put much stock into the number of players a team has represent them in an All-Star game. Fan voting has largely decreased the lore that these dignifications once held, but from 2000-2012, the Cardinals averaged 3.6 All-Stars a season. In the years since, they've averaged just 3.2 per year, 2024 excluded, though that hurts the latter number even more.

From 2000-2012, the Cardinals missed the playoffs just four times in 13 years. From 2013-2023, the team missed the playoffs four times in just 11 seasons. They are currently on track to miss the playoffs this year, so that would make five times in 12 seasons.

I'm not sure why the team has felt largely average over the last decade of baseball. It's partially due to an epidemic of mediocrity across baseball that has permeated several franchises. Another contributing factor to the team's recent malaise is a lack of consistent star production. From 2001-2011, the Cardinals could say they had a top-five player -- Albert Pujols, of course -- in all of baseball on their roster. Adam Wainwright, Paul Goldschmidt, Matt Holliday, and Nolan Arenado have had stellar seasons, but the consistent Cy Young or MVP level of production hasn't been there.

Some blame can be laid on the front office as well. While ownership has the final say on how much money is spent, John Mozeliak and his team determine where said money goes, and it hasn't always been spent on the best players in recent history.

Regardless of who is to blame for the franchise's recent underwhelming output, the results have left a fanbase that is just as frustrated as they are wearied. It's difficult to see such a historic franchise muddle around the middle of the league for so many years. It seems as though the era of utter dominance in baseball has been replaced with an era of creating a team that can contend but not overwhelm, and that's left many fans dispirited.

The once-storied franchise doesn't have the appeal that it once held anymore. A string of adequate seasons since 2015 paired with a decrease in national attention has stained the glorious St. Louis Cardinals franchise.