The Cardinals must strive to entertain fans in 2025

For nearly 30 years, winning has been everything for the St. Louis Cardinals. Fans flooded into Busch Stadium every season with the expectation of playoff-caliber baseball, and the team usually delivered. The Cardinals' attendance numbers and television ratings were routinely among the top in the league. But in 2025, where victories could be sparse as the Cardinals hit the reset button, the team may need to find another avenue to lure back the casual fan.

While the Cardinals' success played a massive part in gaining them a devout fanbase, it was more than just winning that drew fans to the stadium and glued them to their television sets. The Cardinals also played a fun brand of baseball. Those who were around for "Whiteyball" in the 1980s rave about how entertaining the Cardinals were during that decade, with their frequent basestealing, outstanding defense and clutch hitting.

Now, with a team that is expected to skew younger, the Cardinals need to pray that exciting baseball will be back on the menu.

Outside of 2022, when Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado put up MVP-level seasons and Albert Pujols returned with a vengeance in the chase to 700 home runs, the Cardinals' last gasps of relevance didn't always make for required viewing. Some of that is the Cardinals' fault: They've been unable to develop a superstar since, arguably, Matt Carpenter, forcing them to look externally for talent. It's a far cry from the 1980s, when the Cardinals seemed to have an exciting young player debut every season: Willie McGee in 1982, Danny Cox in 1983, Terry Pendleton in 1984, and Vince Coleman and Todd Worrell in 1985.

But the blame can't be placed entirely on the Cardinals. Baseball has increasingly become a three-true-outcomes sport, where plate appearances so often end with a home run, walk or strikeout. The prevalence of analytics has hurt the game in the minds of many fans, although the league has enacted several rule changes in an attempt to reverse some of these trends, including limiting pickoff attempts and enlarging the bases to encourage steals. The results have been promising, as 2024 saw the most stolen bases around the league in 109 years, but the sky-high strikeout rate and reliance on the long ball remain a concern.

The Cardinals might have discovered a solution to this problem, and it begins with 22-year-old shortstop Masyn Winn. Winn stormed onto the scene for his first full season in 2024, and his blazing speed, dazzling defense and rocket arm might conjure up memories from fans of those venerable teams from some 40-odd years ago.

Winn will play a pivotal role in whether the Cardinals will be fun to watch in 2025. He needs to remain the leadoff catalyst that he was last season, and he should let his personality loose around the dugout and in interviews. Winn said last season that he is ready to be the face of the franchise, and even if the Cardinals don't win a significant number of games, having a player for fans to rally around will be crucial in getting people to the gate.

Winn is likely to be the driving force, but he's not the only player whom the Cardinals will depend on to provide a worthwhile viewing experience. Lars Nootbaar has become old hat for many, as his struggles to remain healthy have limited his appearances in the past few seasons, but if he can stay on the field, his charisma and enthusiasm should prove infectious to teammates and fans.

Ryan Helsley is the Cardinals' main attraction on the mound and was a treat to watch for the more pitching-inclined fans. Although his appearance in games is much less of a guarantee than Winn's, Helsley should remain a force as long as he remains on the roster, and his 100+ mph gas will continue to earn approving nods.

The Cardinals' transparency with fans and the media during Winter Warm-Ups is likely to have a marked effect on how supporters will react to the upcoming season. If the front office acknowledges a potential step back in 2025 but pledges to remain diligent with its renewed focus on player development, a good number of fans might accept that and be willing to buy in to the young core. But if John Mozeliak and the owners continue to talk down to fans and remain cloaked in clichés and tired jargon, there will be far more frustration regarding the opacity of the team's goals.

The Cardinals might not field a winning team in 2025, but whether they can supply a product that the average fan can enjoy will be paramount in determining the future of the Cardinals brand.