The good, bad, and ugly of the St. Louis Cardinals offseason so far

After the worst season in decades, the St. Louis Cardinals look to make things better with an offseason where they smash the reset button.

The Cardinals went into 2023 hoping for a championship run but were quickly thrown off track with injuries and unnecessary drama. It's a trend the team shares hope in not repeating. The fan base doesn't want it repeated either, as by season's end, Busch Stadium had uncharacteristically empty seats.

While John Mozeliak, Cardinals president of baseball operations, plans to concentrate on pitching, pitching, pitching, the team has some other glaring needs as far as consistency from their veteran duo of Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt, a healthy outfield with some power bats, messaging with Willson Contreras, and just better all around vibes.

The team was frustrated all season long. It didn't help with manager Oli Marmol discussing the behind-the-scenes concerns with the media. It didn't help issues that, except for Adam Wainwright, the team didn't vocally or physically have each other's backs. It was apparent and just disturbing to see all season. This season should have been a lesson in being a team. So, it may be appropriate for Marmol to say that he wants to "weed out" the players who don't have a team mindset. It's just the way that it is presented that is questionable.

Let's discuss the good, bad, and ugly of the season thus far.

Good - Mozeliak and The DeWitts are on the same page

According to reporting from the St. Louis Business Journal, Cardinals President Bill DeWitt said the team will be "aggressive" this offseason in hopes of returning to their winning tradition in 2024. DeWitt said the plan is to increase payroll even as the club budgets for a decrease in revenue next season.

This does align with, and make possible, John Mozeliak's professed plans to get at least three starting pitchers for next season. There will, without a doubt, be other moves that must be considered during the offseason that will increase payroll. It's great to see DeWitt use the term "aggressive" to assess the team's plans.

The results from 2023 were terrible, and it's great to see the organization, as a whole, on the same page to right the ship. It will be interesting to see how this shapes up for the Cardinals over the next few months.