By Rob Rains
While the Cardinals owners said Monday that they believe the time is right for the team’s “reset,” they also acknowledged what has to happen for it to be successful.
The young players getting opportunities have to play well, and the fans have to buy into the process.
“The plan is to play with our young players and get them to develop a base where we can add to that and have high confidence that we can be competitive,” said Cardinals’ chairman Bill DeWitt Jr.
DeWitt and his son, team president Bill DeWitt III, spoke with reporters on the final day of the team’s annual Winter Warm-up.
“We’ve tried for our messaging to be consistent with the reality of where we are,” DeWitt III said. “Even if we had tried to pull the wool over our fan’s eyes, it would have lasted maybe a second.
“They understand what is going on. They understand the cycles of professional sports. They understand I think where we are in the cycle. I think the word “rebuild” doesn’t apply in this case. Pick your re-word – reset, renewal, whatever – because we have a nice young corps of players we really have to clear the path for playing time for all of them so we know what we have. When we can properly identify the guys who are going to be the foundation for our future success, then we can start adding back in various ways to supplement what we have internally.
“Until then I think our fans know exactly what we are trying to do and hopefully they are on board with it and will hang in there with us.”
How long the “reset” will take, and if it will be as successful as the ownership hopes, is another question.
“It’s a risk business, no matter which way you go,” DeWitt Jr. said. “There’s always risk. Players may or may not perform as you hoped they would. There may be injuries. There’s no magic wand or magic strategy to ensure success.”
After two years of failing to reach the playoffs, and last season drawing the fewest fans since moving into Busch Stadium III in 2006, the Cardinals have cut the team payroll for 2025 and so far this winter have not acquired a player through free agency or a trade. They are still attempting to trade third baseman Nolan Arenado, which has proved difficult because of the no-trade clause in his contract.
Trading Arenado is really the final piece of the “reset” plan to open up at-bats for Nolan Gorman at third base and other players at other positions.
DeWitt Jr. admitted there are multiple factors involved in dealing Arenado.
“We would prefer to go with younger players and Nolan himself if he can find the right opportunity would prefer to play with a team that on paper at least has got a top chance of being a World Series champion,” DeWitt Jr. said.
“But having said that, that’s not so easy to find … And he likes it here. It’s not like he’s begging to leave. But I think it would be good for him if he could find one of those teams. He’s a Hall of Fame type player and we’re happy to have had him.”
If Arenado is traded, he would become the fourth veteran to depart from last year’s team, joining Paul Goldschmidt, Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson.
“I think you have to be realistic of where you are in the cycle,” DeWitt Jr. said. “We’ve had great teams and great players. There’s a cycle that occurs generally. We’ve made every effort to have the best teams that we can have, but it’s at a sacrifice. We haven’t had draft choices because we lost them when we signed players. We’ve generally picked low in the draft.
“The best way to build a championship club in my view is to have good young players coming through the system and when you go a period of time where you don’t have the luxury of early draft choices, it’s very difficult. You can’t just spend your way into it.”
When the Cardinals had the seventh pick in the amateur draft last season, it was their highest selection since 1998. With good luck in the draft lottery this year, the team moved up to the fifth overall pick.
In recent years the Cardinals forfeited early draft picks for signing free agents Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras.
“There’s a balance there,” DeWitt Jr. said. “I think we’re in a good spot. We’ve got a good corps of young players; we’ve got more coming. I think if you look at our system it’s as good as we’ve seen for a while.
“I feel confident that if we have the kind of progression with our team, the fans will come in full force.”
DeWitt told a story about his father, also a longtime baseball owner, and a card that he had on his desk which quoted Branch Rickey as saying, “Get the players and the rest will take care of itself.”
“That’s kind of where we were,” he said. “In today’s world you would say, ‘Get the ballplayers and develop them and the rest will take care of itself.”
As various players took turns over the weekend speaking with the media, much of the conversation centered on their belief that the results on the field in 2025 will be better than perhaps the fans expect.
“What comes to mind is youthful energy,” said outfielder Lars Nootbaar. “We’re excited. We’re excited about what’s going to happen. I think you have a bunch of guys who are ready to compete and kind of play with their hair on fire.
“It’s like let’s compete every day. Let’s get better every day. Let’s grow as a group … We take pride in that; understanding that this is our time to take that step.”
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