The next St. Louis Cardinals front office needs to address this reoccurring issue

Over the past decade, the St. Louis Cardinals have created a trend that you would think all fans would be in support of.

Many teams in MLB do not operate in this manner and many fans would desire to have their team make decisions like this. Homegrown stars will ride out their arbitration years and then depart for free agency for the big contracts. It makes more logical sense to sign players to extensions before they become too expensive for your business model. The Cardinals have built a winning tradition where players want to stay and win. The Cardinals recognize this and act in favor of keeping a sustainable roster on an affordable budget. So where is the downside with this?

The Cardinals have a problem with signing players prematurely to lengthy contracts. Locking in players long-term should be a good thing right...? Most fans would think so. However, for the Cardinals, it has become a negative trend that is leading to more failure than success. Over the years, we have seen many players receive contract extensions or free-agent deals that seem a little too aggressive on length in term or average annual value. It is especially frustrating when it is for unproven players within the organization or if it is for players who are obviously on the decline in their careers.

Let's start with the 2016 season. Mike Leake signed a free agent deal to come to St. Louis for five years, $80 million dollars, with a full no-trade clause. At the time, the Cardinals came off of a very strong 2015 season and wanted to carry momentum for 2016. John Lackey left the team to join the rival Cubs and Lance Lynn was out with an injury. So solidifying the rotation makes sense. But signing a number four or five starter to a five-year contract seemed a little extreme at the time.

As it turned out, Leake's contract was one of the worst deals made by the John Mozeliak front office. Leake lasted nearly two seasons in St. Louis before being dumped for a minor-league prospect. The Cardinals were stuck paying out $17 million just to dump the remaining $53 million owed. It could've been worse, but it is still a bad business decision.

During that off-season, the Cardinals signed reliever Brett Cecil to a four-year, $30.5 million dollar contract also with a full no-trade clause. This deal has less guaranteed money, but the Cardinals had to swallow this entire contract and take the seismic loss. A four-year contract is very bold for a relief pitcher, let alone one who is 30 years old. The trade-off with this deal is that Brett Cecil was barely on the mound. He pitched 100 innings over two seasons before battling relentless injuries. The on-field value was horrendous, where he posted a 4.29 ERA, 4.13 FIP, and a 1.357 WHIP.