Three ridiculous decisions the Cardinals have made over the last 10 years

Over the past 10 years, the Cardinals have fallen on hard times. While they have mostly remained competitive, as well as a perennial postseason team, their once proud status as World Series contenders has vanished.

All of this began during the 2014-15 offseason, and since then, the Cardinals have made several more questionable decisions, from standing pat at trade deadlines and offseasons to making several deals that shouldn't have been made.

The Cardinals have not reached the World Series since 2013, much less won since 2011. For a team that prides itself on consistently winning, that is quite a long time.

Now, the Cardinals find themselves on the outside looking in for the first time since 2018, having fallen well short of the postseason this year. Their complacency and poor decision-making have led them to where they are now. It's been a gradual cycle over the past several years that finally came to a culmination.

In this piece, we will be discussing three foolish mistakes the Cardinals have made that led them here.

1. Not signing Max Scherzer

Earlier this month, Randy Karraker of 101 ESPN revealed that when St. Louis native Max Scherzer was a free agent in 2014, he wanted to sign in St. Louis, and even told Adam Wainwright that he'd sign regardless of the amount of money.

Unfortunately, the Cardinals didn't budge. To be fair, Wainwright was still an ace at the time, but the Cardinals missed a golden opportunity to build a super-team with Scherzer and Wainwright heading up the rotation.