ST. LOUIS — The Cardinals franchise, which underperformed expectations, will abandon this season’s fortunes and focus on rebuilding for 2024, club president John Mozeliak makes the boldest declaration yet. made no attempt to hide the fate of the strategy. We will migrate in the future.
This is an attempt to tackle an area the Cardinals ignored last offseason and how quickly they will recover from a disappointing 2023 that is likely to get even uglier as the team plays a string of Finals 2, 1 games. It will almost certainly determine what you can do. /2 months.
“I think it’s fair to treat the trade deadline as a pitch, pitch, pitch, right?” Mozeliak declared this season to be a lost cause, and it looks like the Cardinals could face each other in 2024. asked rhetorically, vowing to strive for a speedy reconstruction. “I think the goal is to work on as many pitches as possible.”
Having a 15-game winning streak and four playoff appearances in the last four seasons, the Cardinals are declaring themselves out of postseason qualification by August, which is downright nasty to the system. admitted Mozeliak. But a 10-24 start and a fainting from June 8-15 is unlikely to fight back late this season, and it’s enough to convince the front office that the roster building needs major changes. It was enough.
“Well, definitely not,” Mozeliak said of the midseason rebuilding of the Cardinals, who haven’t recorded a losing season since 2007. “I don’t know if I’d use the word ‘not trying to compete. Given the current state of this club, we know it’s not working out of the box, so we know we need to make some changes. ”
Most of these changes will likely go to the pitching staff that struggled early and late in the game. Coming into Monday’s game against the Marlins, the starters had a 4.74 ERA (25th in MLB), the relievers had a 4.50 ERA (25th in MLB) and had 21 offensive saves (most in MLB). Miles Mikolas and Stephen Matz are the only two starters currently under contract for 2024, but Adam Wainwright is ready to retire and Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty are two high-profile pending players. is a free agent. The Cardinals have signed Mikolas to an extension, but will not pursue a deal with Flaherty or Montgomery, potentially signing both players before the trade deadline in hopes of getting long-term pitching help.
“From a salary perspective, I think there should be some room for growth.” [to add pitching] from available resources,” Mozeliak said. “Part of it is people leaving [the payroll]. We’re thinking about how we’re going to evaluate our pitchers, and we’re seriously considering that with upper management. … Read more [pitchers] It will be incorporated into future thinking. ”
Mozeliak expressed disappointment over how his contract with free-agent catcher Wilson Contreras went this season, with veterans giving up minutes to Andrew Knysner and rookie Iván Herrera after problems with the pitching staff. In retrospect, Mozeliak said it was the team’s mistake not to increase the thickness of the pitch.
“I mean, it’s a fair question and I think I’ll add more starting pitchers and add more bullpens,” Mozeliak admitted candidly. “A lot of the decisions we made didn’t work out because of a. injuries and b. performances. But obviously it was called for this year.”
The Cardinals’ partial lineup changes began Monday when the club named disgruntled reliever Genesis Cabrera for appointment and signed reliever Ryan Tepera. The Cards also plan to bring Tyler O’Neal back to the starting lineup in left field, likely for trade purposes. Outfielder Oliver Marmol said center Lars Nutvaal, invaluable rookie Jordan Walker at right, and O’Neal will start in the outfield, meaning Dylan Carlson and Alec Burleson. He said he would be under time pressure.
Mozeliak says he will not be willing to trade mainstay stars Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado as they will likely play a key role in the club’s return to power in 2024. rice field. 1, the team’s plans are likely to change to focus on 2024 plans.
“Will the direction change depending on the results and the wins and losses?” Probably not at this point,” he said. “Given where we are and where we are, the result would be something like this.” [a rally] It’s very difficult to change. It doesn’t change the way we think about how we use our energy and time. ”
