The Cardinals have become a mediocre team, and MLB needs to make changes to keep from becoming a mediocre league

“Life is like a game, Charlie Brown... Sometimes you win... Sometimes you lose. I'll be happy if I just make the playoffs.” - Charles M. Schulz.

“I'm not here to finish last, I'm here to win championships.” - Alex Cora.

The 2024 baseball season is almost done. The Cardinals are also almost done. 

Two very disappointing seasons in a row. Two seasons of not making the playoffs. In the three seasons prior, they squeaked in making the wild card round and lost all three times. 

The Cardinals have the reputation of having a goal of getting to the playoffs and seeing what can happen. This worked out for them in 2006. After winning only 83 games, they won the World Series. This is not a sustainable strategy. Things have changed in 18 years. However, they seem to still prefer the Charlie Brown philosophy over Alex Cora’s.

You will see stories written about how this team needs to change, from player development to an entirely new front office. Will they feel the need to change because winning the World Series seems out of reach if they continue with the same strategies, or will they change simply because they are losing the fan base and, by default, revenue?

The goal of every professional sports team should be simple. Win the championship. The fans are smart enough to know that won’t happen every year. They are also smart enough to know only a few teams have aspirations every year to go home with the trophy. This is not good for the league. Baseball needs to have more teams fighting for that trophy.

If there are teams that don’t have that as their goal, what could the league do to make sure that every team is competing to win the World Series instead of trying to be Wild Card participants? Are there changes MLB could make to put teams on a more equal footing and incentives that would make more teams do everything they could to make that their goal instead of just making the playoffs? Here are a few.

Payroll 

This is not just about the Cardinals. When the top team has a salary just over the combined salaries of the bottom four teams, there is a problem. MLB needs to implement a salary floor and a hard salary cap, no tax. This makes all teams more competitive. This takes away the justification of spending to revenue.

TV Contract

One excuse the Cardinals made this year was the uncertainty of the TV contracts. MLB has enough power that they should be able to have a league contract. You could still have regional markets but all under one umbrella. All teams sharing from the same revenue pool would add some stability.  

World Series Bonuses

As it stands now, the MLB leaves it up to the winning teams to determine how much of their bonus goes to players, staff, etc. That amount is significant and should be enough of an incentive for the players to want to win. A full share for the Texas Rangers was about $500K. 

What about the teams? There are added ticket sales, merchandise, etc, but what if the team was rewarded with a bonus for winning? What if the Dewitts knew there would be $100 million sitting there if they won the World Series? Put some requirements on the money so that only 20% went into their pockets but the rest must go back into the team. Lower ticket prices, stadium improvements, a fund for a new stadium, so they aren’t going back to the taxpayers every thirty years. 

Fewer playoff teams

One of the worst things that has contributed to the “just make the playoffs” mentality has been the expanded playoffs. Forty percent of the teams now get in. You no longer have to aim for the World Series. You no longer need to aim to win your division to make sure you get in. Now you can just be one of the 6 teams in your conference. With more teams thinking they have a shot, it has made the trade deadline more boring. It has also led to teams like the Cardinals stuck in the middle with one foot in the pool and one foot out.

It is not good for the league to have teams with different objectives. To have some teams believing in World Series or bust and others just happy to make the playoffs is a problem.

If teams have gotten to where mediocrity is a goal, then maybe it’s time for the league to make changes, unless they are happy with a mediocre league. The Cardinals' fans are not mediocre and expect more.