The Cardinals' shrinking pull is reflected in their signings' hometowns

As the once-proud empire that was the St. Louis Cardinals crumbles, so too has their ability to lure free agents to the team. A notable example was Giancarlo Stanton, who opted not to waive his no-trade clause to go to St. Louis following the 2017 season. While in hindsight, that was a bullet dodged, the fact that a star player had spurned the Cardinals was a surprising and disappointing development in St. Louis.

Now, as the Cardinals repeatedly get dragged through the mud regarding their ability to develop players and they struggle to field a consistent winner, more free agents are opting for greener pastures, leaving the Cardinals clinging to their past success in a desperate attempt to woo talent to the team. But if the Cardinals' recent signings are any indication, most of the players willing to play for the franchise are those who are natives of Cardinals country.

The Cardinals' recent signings are overwhelmingly players who grew up in the shadow of the team.

Sonny Gray is from Tennessee. Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson are from Indiana. And their newest signing, Phil Maton, hails from central Illinois and grew up a Cardinals fan. The only major league free agent signings of the Cardinals over the past two years who were not born and raised in the area were Keynan Middleton, Brandon Crawford, and Matt Carpenter, and of those three, Carpenter was a Cardinal during their run of success, and Crawford played during that period, albeit for the San Francisco Giants.

As star free agents continue to gravitate toward teams on the coasts, the Cardinals are left clutching at the scraps, but the question is whether the Cardinals are even attempting to sign the more lucrative free agents on the market. Are they taking their shots on players and getting rebuked, or are they only looking at free agents who are from the general Cardinals vicinity? The recent tightening of the Cardinals' purse strings seems to suggest that the Cardinals are happy to wade in the shallow end and go after the players who are from their own backyard.

With this in mind, it can be maddening to think about some of the top local talent in recent years that the Cardinals chose not to pursue, even if they had specifically asked to be Cardinals. Mark Buehrle, who attended Francis Howell North High School in St. Charles, lasted until the now-nonexistent 38th round in 2001 and said after the 2015 season that he wanted to pitch for the Cardinals or retire. Despite his wishes, the Cardinals failed to come calling for his services.

One of the larger sticking points for fans is the fact that Parkway Central's Max Scherzer has never worn a Cardinals uniform. "Mad Max" has put together a Hall of Fame resume on the mound and said after the 2014 season that he had consulted Adam Wainwright about the possibility to play for his hometown team.

The Cardinals don't deserve a massive heap of criticism for not signing Scherzer that season, but even deep into Scherzer's career, people have speculated that the Cardinals would try to acquire him given his roots. It's worth wondering whether the Cardinals would have done that if they weren't taking the "youth movement" route, as they now seem to jump at the chance to sign players who fondly remember the team's glory years.

St. Louis' storied baseball history and nearly unmatched success have led to the sport's outsized popularity in the region when compared with many other U.S. cities, but if the Cardinals can't improve in the next few seasons, the sport could begin to lose its luster in the area, leading to fewer kids playing the game and thus leaving the Cardinals with a smaller local pool to choose from.

The Cardinals have to rebound as a team if they want to reemerge as a top destination for free agents who aren't from the area and didn't grow up as Cardinals fans. But if the team doesn't fix its myriad of problems, the Cardinals might not even have the local talent to fall back on in the coming years.