I fully expect to be called a hypocrite for saying this since my radio career also requires speaking, but sometimes we talk too much and I’m including the St. Louis Cardinals leadership over the past several
seasons. I have the deep conviction that less is more when it comes to how much we divulge about our thinking regarding St. Louis Cardinals personnel and strategy.
The issue of crossing the sharing boundary came to mind as I came across a new report on ESPN about the St. Louis Cardinals and Nolan Arenado being “on the same page” about finding a trade partner for him. They quoted Chaim Bloom as saying “”We all feel it’s best to find a different fit. We’ll work on that, and we’ll work on that with him.” This brought back a key problem I had with previous President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak. During the last offseason, he said on December 9, 2024 when asked about the possibility of trading Nolan Arenado “It’s my intention to try”. I have to ask the question why does he or any other Cardinals representative need to say anything? Aren’t you limiting your negotiating power with teams when they know you’re aggressively looking to trade a player?
The need to keep our business behind closed doors is not only for potential trades. I thought the handling of the Willson Contreras catching (or not) situation was a disaster. If there was a problem between Willson and the pitching staff, why was this not handled internally without turning it into a public dumpster fire? Oli Marmol questioning Tyler O’Neill’s hustle on the bases to the press was another cringe moment. Finally, Marmol and hitting coach Brant Brown publicly questioning Jordan Walker’s preparation and dedication is questionable. I suppose that they were trying to light a fire underneath him in hopes that the public call-out would inspire him to prove them wrong. I have a colleague who is also a lifelong Cardinals fan who said that this was the technique some coaches use when players don’t respond after private meetings. In my opinion, those are the types of players you trade or release instead.
There is the chance that I have selective amnesia, but my perception is the St. Louis Cardinals never said much about trade intentions or internal issues during the Albert Pujols, Yadi Molina and Adam Wainwright era. The only exception I can think of is when Brendan Ryan was called out by Chris Carpenter. The Cardinals had such strong clubhouse leadership during that legendary run that the players would seem to regulate any team problems behind closed doors. I remember ESPN doing an interesting look at how the Cardinals clubhouse culture was the real secret to their success. That was back in 2015. It seems obvious that after Pujols, Molina and Wainwright called it a career that the St. Louis Cardinals now lack that type of leadership.
As the Cardinals are now into a rebuild, is it too much to ask that we circle the wagons and not tell the rest of the baseball world what we’re up to? I really hope that Chaim Bloom will keep his cards (pun not intended) close to his vest as he and the rest of the management team decide the best way forward with internal personnel and outside acquisitions. Talk to the press like a politician and say words without really answering questions. Put all of the press world on a need to know status and there’s nothing about trade intentions that they need to know. I would also kindly request that we seek out the types of talented players who also have the chops to be clubhouse leaders and enforcers. That must become a Cardinal culture characteristic again.
