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.

Unfortunately, the trend continued

The 2016 offseason brought Cardinals fans arguably the worst contract in team history. You know who this is. The player who led the Calvary in Chicago to their first World Series win in 108 years. His lead-off home run in Game 7 is hanging in every bar in the Windy City.

Dexter Fowler decided to switch sides in the rivalry by landing a five-year, $82.5 million dollar contract in St. Louis......with a full no-trade clause. The Cardinals lost Jason Heyward the prior season to their arch-rivals who became a clubhouse leader on that World Championship team. The Cardinals decided to pluck the Cubs' now iconic centerfielder as a clap back hoping they can return to playoff contention. Instead, they wasted 82.5 million dollars. One of our prior articles addressed this by saying Fowler was not a total failure in St. Louis. But it did agree that the contract was too long. Are we seeing the trend now?

2017 brought fans the extension of Carlos Martinez. At the time, he was one of the best young arms in the National League, He was an all-star, had already pitched in the World Series, and continued to excel as a starting pitcher. The Cardinals wanted to lock him in on a team-friendly deal and did so on a five-year, $51 million contract.

He started off the extension strong with a great 2017 season and start to 2018. An injury slowed him down in 2018, and he eventually moved to the bullpen. 2019 brought us the closer Carlos Martinez who was a roller coaster on the mound. He either was the best closer in baseball, or he was walking the bases loaded and choking the game away. The rest of his career played out with injuries and controversy and his tenure in St. Louis ended with ERA's above a 6.00 in 2020 and 2021. His career would be over by age 29.

Following an iconic 2018 run, the Cardinals were ready to extend Matt Carpenter. Carpenter changed his game entirely and became one of the more feared sluggers in the National League. Over a full season, Carp had his best season of his career in 2018 where he posted a 143 OPS+ and he got his career high in homers with 36. This was the signature season for the future Cardinals red jacket recipient. The Cardinals agreed to keep Carpenter as a lifelong Cardinal in 2019 and inked him to a two-year deal worth $39 million dollars.

As most of you remember history, it was not kind to fans with this contract. Carp's production fell off a cliff and the Cardinals decided to not bring him back after 2021. It looked to be the end of the road for a once-great Cardinal. Instead, he went berserk in New York and he is somehow still playing. Props to you Matt Carpenter.

2019 also brought Cardinals fans the contract of Andrew Miller. The shutdown postseason horse started to fade in his last season in Cleveland which brought many question marks to his pending free agency. As teams approached with caution, John Mozeliak and brass decided Andrew Miller was their guy. They inked him to a contract that ended up being three years for $37 million. The highly regarded players union player was transcendent with his 2016 playoff run and the Cardinals saw value in both. What they actually got in return was three seasons of 103.2 IP, a 4.34 ERA, and a 4.62 FIP. Fans do not miss the slider that could never land as a strike.