As teams in the National League adapt to the new way of thinking, spending big to win now, the St. Louis Cardinals have refused to change and remain set in their ways.
After President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak discussed the payroll and how he planned to increase it for 2023, the offseason has been somewhat of a letdown for Cardinals fans.
Aside from signing Willson Contreras, the Cardinals have done nothing else.
While several fans are enraged, other fans are having a little bit of fun with it, with one creating a hilarious meme to sum up the common strategy of the front office.
The Cardinals front office even when they are second in attendance. #STLCards pic.twitter.com/ckJqdAzAzn
— Cardinal fan (@CardinaIfan) January 17, 2023
As mentioned in the tweet, the Cardinals were second in attendance in 2022, thanks in large part the retirement tour of Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols generating some more revenue.
Unfortunately for the fans, that hasn’t spurred the team into action to try and sign any more impact players.
When teams began their spending spree, they failed to negotiate with any of the key left-handed bats on the market, such as Joey Gallo and former Cardinal Matt Carpenter.
A bargain move is still possible, but that’s where the joke comes in.
The Cardinals remain very selective when it comes to spending money in the offseason, and have essentially done the bare minimum, or less.
They tend to bank on cheaper options, some of which work, and others that don’t.
And so, as things stand today, Contreras remains their only offseason acquisition, though Ken Rosenthal had reported that they had discussed a trade with the Miami Marlins for Pablo Lopez.
