The St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame is stuck between a rock and a hard place

The St. Louis Cardinals are giving fans their annual opportunity to vote for whom the team should induct into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2026, and the Cardinals are prepared to enshrine more than one fan-picked player this year. The candidates are Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, Brian Jordan and George Hendrick.

Hmm, I wonder which two of these will receive the most votes?

Pujols and Molina are certain to be inducted in 2026, their first year eligible for the Cardinals Hall of Fame, and some fans have grumbled about the fact that the two will be subjected to a vote at all given the landslide victories they are sure to obtain, with many believing that they should both get in automatically. But the Cardinals may have less of a choice in the matter than they'd like to admit.

Making fans vote Pujols and Molina into the Cardinals Hall of Fame is another sign of the organization's stagnation.

The St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame exists to commemorate the best players, coaches and executives in the history of the club. Its inaugural class in 2014 saw 22 past members of the team receive a spot in the ring of honor, including legends such as Bob Gibson, Stan Musial, Lou Brock, Ozzie Smith and Dizzy Dean. All are deserving of the induction, but the Cardinals might have been a bit shortsighted with their decision to add so many players in one spurt.

For decades, it appeared that there would be no end to the team's churning out future superstars and that the Cardinals Hall of Fame pipeline would continue humming along. But now, the Cardinals are beginning to witness a drying out of shoo-in candidates for the organization's Hall of Fame, forcing them to reach further into their pocket every season to find deserving players.

If the Cardinals were to induct Pujols and Molina immediately, Cardinals fans would not receive their yearly opportunity to vote, and, more importantly, the Cardinals can wait longer to induct Jordan or Hendrick, thus allowing them to run it back with the same players for later years instead of inducting one of them in 2026 and scrounging for new candidates in 2027 alongside Adam Wainwright. Essentially, it allows them to kick the can down the road in seeking out deserving candidates.

Sound familiar, Cardinals fans?

The team's lack of success in recent years isn't doing them any favors when it comes to potential Hall of Famers within the organization. One might be able to make a case for Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, but although they had a few years of success with the birds on the bat, the team flatlined in the postseason, leaving the two with legacies that don't feel complete.

It might seem a bit surprising that, given the dwindling choices for Cardinals Hall of Fame members, the organization is planning to induct Pujols and Molina in the same year, but the two are generally inseparable when it comes to the Cardinals' success in the 2000s and their 2011 championship, so it would be illogical to place one in before the other.

It's understandable why fans would want Pujols and Molina to skip the need for a vote that everyone already knows the results to, but it's necessary if the faltering Cardinals want their Hall of Fame to retain relevance in these lean years. With the season expected to bear little in terms of results, fans can at least look forward to seeing Pujols and Molina putting on their well-earned red jackets.