Why are there Cardinals fans who no longer value making the playoffs?

During the offseason, I was more optimistic about the St. Louis Cardinals’ performance than most, but even I didn’t see them as a World Series contender.

Of course, I believe that anyone can win come October (as history has proven time and time again), but that doesn’t mean I love the idea. I would much rather see a team develop into a favorite in the National League than see them stay at 85 wins and “wait and see what happens.”

Still, I’m excited to see a team make the postseason and what happens next.

Why are there so many fans who see it differently?

I’ve been thinking about this question for a while now. When I’ve talked to people about this team’s playoff potential, many people, even if they agreed with me (or wondered what a playoff team would look like), weren’t comfortable with the idea of ​​not being in the same class as the Dodgers or Phillies.

I’m not saying that people shouldn’t want this team to be great. I’m always going to want this team to get better and better. I’m talking about people who would say that making the playoffs this year is a failure or a continuing disappointment.

I have some ideas why this narrative exists…

Reason #1 – Sports fans in general have begun to develop an extreme “win or lose” mentality

Think about it. Almost all of our sports rhetoric these days (especially in the other major sports in America and in soccer around the world) revolves around whether or not your team is a championship contender.

From a fan perspective, that has always been the end goal of professional sports: to try to be the team that wins the trophy at the end. But over the last few decades, we have seen the loss of long-term team success and fans enjoy the ride of a core that keeps trying to get over the hump.

While basketball teams in the ’80s or ’90s would try to beat the reigning champions year after year, the entire NBA seems to switch teams in the space of three to four years. All you have to do is look at where players were playing five years ago. A lot of this comes down to player empowerment, but fans and media constantly push the narrative that if a team doesn’t win the championship or come close, they might as well blow it all up.

I remember when I was growing up, NFL quarterbacks basically stayed with one team for their entire career, aside from moving later in their careers when they were no longer great players. Today, you see guys like Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Kirk Cousins ​​and Russell Wilson constantly changing teams.

In Major League Baseball, the league has had to implement “anti-tanking” measures in recent years to prevent teams from following the formula of the Chicago Cubs or Houston Astros. Instead of being consistently good like the Cardinals, teams saw the incentive in just being bad for half a decade or more in the hopes of acquiring enough talent to be a World Series contender. They would rather be bad for several presidencies and possibly have a “better” chance of winning the World Series for a two- to three-year period than actually be consistently good and wait to see if a particular year might be their time.

For Cardinals fans who are looking to fully rebuild and not just be good enough to make the playoffs, I think it’s important to remember that for every Cubs or Astros, there are the Athletics, Tigers, Marlins, Angels, White Sox, Pirates or Reds who never really get out of that vicious cycle, or teams like the Blue Jays, Mets, Brewers or Mariners who emerge from their rebuild and end up, just like the Cardinals, getting knocked out early in the playoffs.

Even the Phillies, who many fans point to as the team they think the Cardinals should be more like, had the longest playoff drought in baseball from 2012 to 2022. This team has been fun and exciting to watch over the past few years, but the ten-season break between playoffs has resulted in a single World Series appearance so far.

Theory #2 – Some Cardinals fans just want big changes and don’t believe that will happen if they win

I get it, the latter part of John Mozeliak’s tenure as President of Baseball Operations hasn’t been as fruitful as the beginning of his time leading the club, and he’s really made a lot of mistakes in leading this team. The time for a leadership change is fast approaching, and Mozeliak is as aware of that (and for it) as anyone.

There’s a strong possibility that Mozeliak’s role will change after the season ends, no matter how this season goes. If it doesn’t, you can bet he’ll be done running baseball operations after the 2025 season. I’m not sure how many people really realize that, and if they did, maybe they wouldn’t be as fixated on destroying the team as they have been over the past few years.

It’s also fair to say that there are a lot of fans who want the owners to spend more money. I’ve heard people say that the Cardinals have to lose before they’ll spend money, so they’re hoping this team falls apart to teach the owners a lesson. Look, I’m not saying it’s wrong to think that way, I also think the Cardinals need to spend more money, but being in the top 10 in salaries in a given year doesn’t make you a World Series contender.

In fact, this year alone, six of the top ten highest-paying teams are currently out of the playoffs, and only three teams in the top ten are even leading their own division. Spending more money helps, but what matters most is how you spend your money.

Yes, new leadership will be needed soon and it’s time to get the league’s expenses under control, but I don’t think losing solves any of those problems.

What makes Cardinal Nation so great is its commitment to excellence. But what really makes Cardinal Nation special is their dedication to a style of baseball that few other organizations can match.

I don’t know about you, but I’m happy that in almost every season I’ve followed this team (2004 is the first season I can remember…yes, I know, I’m not that old), I can expect the Cardinals to be in the playoffs. They’ve won two World Series since 2006. Only the Giants and Red Sox have won more, and the Astros are the only other team with two. They’ve had several great teams that came up short (2006 and 2013) and many others that were in the running for a championship (2012, 2014, and 2015 really come to mind).

I know most of these dates are at least a decade old now, which is another reason why changes are coming soon. But I want the Cardinals baseball team to look more like what I just went through, not the hyped-up rebuilds other organizations are doing. This city deserves much more than a team that loses 100 games for multiple seasons in the hopes of regaining relevance and letting it go. This fan base deserves an organization that is at the top of the sport, fielding competitive teams year after year that prepare for championship opportunities without ever having to tear anything down.

This organization has somehow managed to return to that brand of baseball when the shine began to fade, and I am confident that the city of St. Louis will soon see that brand of baseball again.

For now, try to enjoy a competitive team. It’s fine to point out the weaknesses, but why is it so bad to want that team to be in the playoffs even when the odds are against them?