Can Cardinals count on breakthrough seasons to fish them out of a financial whirlpool?

Best Podcast in Baseball

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Sports, Baseball

4.8 • 673 Ratings

🗓️ 14 January 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

"Empty seats are empty seats; no-shows are no-shows," says St. Louis Post-Dispatch sports columnist Jeff Gordon. "When you’re just accepting reduced attendance and you’re pointing to that for reduced payroll, now you’re setting yourself up for a spiral."

Yet to spend a cent this offseason on a major-league free agent, the Cardinals are banking big on breakthrough seasons from their young players and betting there will be buy-in -- literally -- from fans. The payoff could be sparking interest and ticket sales from fans interested in a new direction, but the risk is significant as the Cardinals could spin into a financial whirlpool that leads to more severe cuts or a complete overhaul once new leadership is in place.

In a brand new Best Podcast in Baseball, host Derrick Goold is joined by Gordon to discuss what the Cardinals' actions tell us about their situation and their motives. The Cardinals went 3-for-6 on finalizing deals with arbitration-eligible players, leaving salaries for Lars Nootbaar, Brendan Donovan, and Andre Pallante undetermined for the coming season. They could go to hearings unless there is traction for a multi-year extension. But what does it say if the Cardinals don't pursue any of those? What if this spring is the first spring in awhile without an extension? Could that all be a setup to give Chaim Bloom maximum payroll flexibility when he takes over as president of baseball operations and move on from this roster and even its "next core" players to a deeper rebuild?

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold. Now entering its 13th year, find BPIB weekly throughout the 2025 season wherever you get your podcasts.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The best podcast in baseball is brought to you by Closets by Design.
0:05.6	Update your closet, garage, office, pantry, and more.
0:09.0	Imagine your home totally organized with closets by design.
0:12.6	Call 1-800 by design.
0:14.4	That's 1-800 by design.
0:17.0	On the other hand, empty seats or empty seats.
0:19.1	No shows are no shows.
0:20.2	And I think this, you know, when you're just accepting reduced attendance and you're pointing
0:27.4	to that for reduced payroll, now you're setting yourself down for a spiral downward business
0:33.1	wise.
0:34.5	And for a franchise that's tied to a lot of other business around the ballpark, I find that really interesting.
0:38.9	I understand to retool, the winter warm-up's a chance for the franchise to do some different type of messaging, more positive messaging.
0:45.9	So I think fans are ready for a to you by closet by design of St. Louis.
1:02.3	I'm St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derek Gould. Join this week again by our instant offense, our online sports columnists, our everything from tip sheet to hockey columns
1:14.6	to chime in on baseball development. It's Jeff Gordon of STL Today.com.
1:19.7	Boy, I totally botched that, Jeff. It's Jeff Gordon of STL Today.com and the St. Louis Post Dispatch.
1:28.2	Who better to talk about?
1:29.6	It's a development that I want to talk to you about as soon as I get like the marbles out of my mouth.
1:33.5	Sorry about that, Jeff.
1:35.9	Well, there's a lot of excitement going to this season, I suppose, for spring training.
1:40.9	Boy, some guys better come through.
1:43.7	They're banking on a lot here, Derek.
	...

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