The Cardinals' hesitance to splash the cash places pressure on their drafting acumen

The St. Louis Cardinals have long beaten the drum of being a team that team that grows from within, and that philosophy is becoming even louder in 2025 as the team cuts payroll and renews its commitment to drafting well and developing players into strong major league contributors. Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said at Winter Warm-Ups that the team's history of picking lower in the draft has been a point of sacrifice for the Cardinals and that the best way to field a winning team is to have good young players coming through the system.

But the idea that the Cardinals have historically laid the foundation of their team through homegrown talent isn't quite true. The last bona fide superstar who came through their system was Albert Pujols. Since then, they have developed solid complementary pieces: Alec Burleson, Lars Nootbaar and Brendan Donovan won't be considered stars, but they can help the team. However, what has historically gotten the Cardinals over the hump is the trade market, and that's where the current iteration of the Cardinals are skimping.

If the Cardinals are not going to be aggressive in free agency or on the trade market, it puts even more pressure on their player development.

In the past, the Cardinals traded young talent with high expectations for players who could fill an immediate hole in the roster, and the moves paid dividends. In 1998, the Cardinals traded Braden Looper and company to the Florida Marlins for Edgar Renteria, and in 2009, they shipped Brett Wallace, their second-ranked prospect at the time according to Baseball America, to the Oakland Athletics for Matt Holliday.

Now, as contracts for big-name players get pricier, the Cardinals have increasingly shied away from entering the deep end of the trade market, and it appears that with the retool, that aversion will grow further. If Holliday and Renteria had played in the current game and commanded the amount of money that players of their ilk receive now, it's questionable whether the Cardinals would have pulled the lever on those trades.

If the Cardinals are no longer comfortable making the deals necessary to propel them from good to great, they need to pray that their new focus on the minor leagues produces serious results. Drafting and developing has long been a way for the Cardinals to compete in the postseason, but it's going to be elevated from a nice-to-have side piece to the most critical component in how well they can perform in upcoming seasons.

The rise of analytics and Statcast has knocked the Cardinals off of their lofty perch when it comes to proper prospect development, and just as hitters need to make continual adjustments when their weaknesses are discovered, the Cardinals have to keep up with the new normal in baseball. The team's minor league system was a mess, as Willson Contreras mentioned, so the Cardinals have their work cut out for them when it comes to enriching the lower levels.

The Cardinals can still be successful on a tight budget — just look at the Cleveland Guardians and the Tampa Bay Rays — but they have to realize that all facets of scouting, drafting and developing have evolved, and their approach must evolve with it. The next Pujols isn't just going to fall into their lap.