Latest / Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast / It's Chaim Bloom time in St. Louis

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It's Chaim Bloom time in St. Louis · Cardinal Territory: A St. Louis Cardinals Podcast

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: The Saint Louis Cardinals off season is officially underway. In
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: the last four days, John Mozelock has stepped down, Heim
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Bloom has stepped up, Alie Marmel is back heading into
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty six, and Buildwick Junior has pledged to spend
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: money differently heading into a crucial winter here in Saint Louis.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to Cardinal Territory, the official Saint Louis Cardinals
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: podcast of the Foul of Territory Network. I'm your host,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Katie Woo. Let's just cut to the chase. The Heim
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Bloom era is here at long last. The Cardinals new
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: president of baseball Operations was introduced Tuesday at BUSHADI and
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: by Chairman Bildowa Junior. And I've had many many people
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: ask me my thoughts on the introductory presser. First things
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: were first things first, excuse me. Press conferences are essentially
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: exactly that, right, especially an introductory one such as this.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: It was unique because it just has doesn't happen a
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: lot here. This is just the second change in leadership
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: in the de Witt ownership tenure, so again pretty rare,
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: just based on what we've known about the history of
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: this franchise. Still, I thought him's opening comments essentially part
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: of the cliche here knocked it out of the park.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: For him to touch on the history of the Cardinals,
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: starting with branch Rickey and going all the way through
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: from Walt Jockey to John Mozelots where we are right now.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: It showed his appreciation of the history of this organization
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: and also if you listen to what his goals are
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: and what his intentions are with this franchise, really brought
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: a kind of fresh, modernized approach, which I think is
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: exactly what this organization needs. The Saint Louis Cardinals are
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: not the Saint Louis Cardinals about their history and tradition.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: It is what makes this franchise unique. It's what it's
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, it is what makes this franchise special. However,
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: to sit here and say that the Cardinals are a
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: modernized baseball team, I don't think would be accurate. So
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: to get the Cardinals forward to where they need to be,
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: and we'll get to that where the vision for the Cardinals,
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: you have to appreciate the history, acknowledge the history, and
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: then figure out how you can modernize the organization and
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: compliment both things, both the past and the future, and
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: I thought him's opening presser spoke to the importance of
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: doing so. So let's talk about that presser. If you
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: haven't already, you can hear and read about it on
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: the Athletic. The main quote that stood out to me
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: in the introductory press conference on stage, the one that
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: was televised, was the one the headline we can't take
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: shortcuts and we won't. I think him made it very
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: very clear his expectation for the organization going forward is
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: to make the Cardinals contenders again. And we've talked about
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: this on the show. What that means. It's not about
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: winning eighty five games, hoping to win on the margins,
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: get lucky and sneak into an expanded playoff format. Absolutely not.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: Let's read some quotes from that press conference. Hein Bloom said,
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: we are not where we need to be, so let's
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: acknowledge that because they aren't. He continued to say, we
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: are not where our fans expect us to be, and
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: we are not where we expect ourselves to be. Our
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: goal is to fuel the team every year that can
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: compete for the division and for World Series championship. So
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: right off the bat. He's established exactly what the goal is.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: The goal is to compete for the division. The goal
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: is to compete for World Series Championship. Goodbye Wildcard participation trophy.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: It was fun, well it lasted. That is no longer
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: the expectation, nor should it be. Hein Bloom went on
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: to say, we have talent here, we have more talent coming,
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: and we have some of the makings of that core,
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: but we need more. Our top priority will be to
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: build our talent base for the long term. That may
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: mean hard decisions and short term sacrifices, but to get
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: where we want to go, we can't take shortcuts and
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: we won't. So he's established what the goal is. He's
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: established also what the priority is. The priority is building
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: the talent base for the long term future through the
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: draft and development model. We have heard ownership for over
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: a calendar year. Now say that is the goal, to
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: rebuild the team through drafting and developing. Him slays it
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: out right here with his priority. Short term sacrifices, hard decisions, yes,
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: those are going to happen, and it's essential, he believes,
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: to ensure the long term sustainability of making his ball
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: club a perennial contender again, essentially getting the Cardinals to
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: where they need to be again. So don't expand on that.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: We will always want to win, all right, that's a
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: direct quote from him, Bloom. It means that you're not
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: viewing a traditional Rebuilds and ownership have said the same,
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: and we've said the same here on the show. The
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: Cardinals are not tearing all the way down to the studs.
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: They don't need to do that. They will still try
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: to build a competitive club, but the focus remains the
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: long term. Bloom goes on to explain. He says, we
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: will hunt moves the decisions that allow us to do
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: that win right now too, as long as they also
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: serve our ultimate goal. But when we have to choose
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: between short term gratification and our bigger goal of contending consistent,
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: we will choose the long term. We will make moves
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: of that ultimate goal in mind, because, simply put, that's
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: where this organization needs to be. All right, right there,
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: we have it laid out. Do we know exactly who's
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: going to be traded, what payroll is going to look like,
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: who are they going to sign a free agency, what
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: the roster's going to look like, no, we're not going
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: to know that here on October second of a four
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: month off season. And I understand those are the questions
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: fans care about right now. But when you're going out
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: and you're setting the tone on what you want your
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: tenure to look like as the new president of baseball
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: operations for the Saint Louis Cardinals, he spelled it out
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: right there for you Cardinals fans. Here's the priority. Here's
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: what we're doing right now. Here's how that's going to
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: help us explain or get to and attain our long
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: term goal. Here's what that long term goal is. We
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: at least have a clear, transparent picture on what the
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: organization feels is the most direct way to make the
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: Cardinals perennial contenders again. So already we have more clarity
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: about twenty six and beyond than we did twenty twenty five.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: For me, I think that's a win as terms is
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: in terms of how introductory press conferences go. Now. There
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: was also an hour long breakdown session with Tim and
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: the local traveling beat writers on Tuesday, and you can
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: read more about that in The Athletic as well, where
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: we discussed a little bit more of the nuance things.
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: We talked about, the outlook for Nolan Arnado and Sunny Gray,
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman, seasons, what the pitching looks like.
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: All of these things are super important and they were
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: addressed right, but not nearly to the extent that I
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: think fans would like to hear. That is just simply
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: because of the timing of the calendar. We don't know
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: what the trade market looks like. The postseason is just
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: it's literally still going on and it's opening round. I'm
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: watching the Yankees and the Red Sox right now. It's
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: for nothing. We're not going to know what the trade
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: market looks like or the free agency market looks like
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: until middle of November. So for the Cardinals, for Cardinals
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: fans who want to go out and say, well, who
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: are they trading? No, no front office knows that. All right,
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: Here's what we do know. Nolan Arnado expects to be
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: a trade candidate this winter. Sonny Gray has expressed desire
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: to play for winning ball club. Both veterans are owed
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: considerable money on their deals, but their situations are not similar.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: For Ronado, it's about moving on from both for both sides,
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: because as we've talked about countless times on the show
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: moving on as what's best for both parties. For Sonny Gray,
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: it's if there's a contender that he wants to play for,
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: he'll go. But there's still a spot for him on
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: this team. Obviously, we know about the Cardinals' pitching depth
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: they could really use him. So the Cardinals don't necessarily
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: have to trade Sunny Gray, but if he decides he
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: wants to go, then they will. They have to trade
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: Nolan Arnado, which brings us to another point later on
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: the show about ownership and spending. We'll get to that.
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: So we have a little bit of cleary down how
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: they're viewing both of those veteran players, and you, obviously,
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: as a front office exactlyrule number one is to never
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: bash your players. So I wasn't at all surprised to
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: see or hear bloom evaluations of Jordan Walker and Nolan
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: Gorman seasons. But I will say I thought his take
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: on Jordan was especially interesting. Here's a quote him. Bloom said,
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: we all have a good idea of what the adjustment
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: for Jordan should look like. I give him a lot
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: of credit for trying to do that mid season. I
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: felt it was something you hope to see good results
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: in season, but really the off season was going to
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: be the real test of trying to really cement that
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: and have it be second natured. Sap if you heard
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: this before but the same loss. Cardinals once again asked
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: Jordan Walker to make a mid season adjustment in the
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: middle of the year and freaked out when the results
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: didn't follow him. Is spot on here in saying this
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: off season is pivotal for Jordan because it's going to
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: give him a chance to really I have the approach
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: already identified, the adjustments already identified, and a chance to
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: stick with it. I wonder if Jordan Walker is a
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: candidate for Winter Ball in that regard, maybe I'll follow up.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: But to expect someone like Jordan for the third season
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: in a row to make an adjustment on the fly
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: and have success is really tough, especially when you factor
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: in that he is just twenty three years old. So
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: I expect the Cardinals to be high on Walker, give
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: him one more year, and if he doesn't commit to
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: that adjustment in the off season, that's on him. The
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: ball is now on Jordan's court to make the adjustment.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: But I think the Cardinals are right in giving him
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: this off season to try to get it right and
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: essentially giving him one more chance come twenty six. Last
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: thing from the High and Bloom presser. We talked about
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: the front office. The focus here is going to be
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: on adding staff, not subtracting. It was my takeaway from
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: this writer's session. Bloom will hire a general manager at
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: some point, but it's unlikely or unsure, i should say,
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: of the timing of that higher. It might not happen
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: this offseason, but there are plans to do one eventually.
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: Most of the senior leadership should also return, but there
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: is some heavy front office across baseball turnover here. So
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: my understanding was the positions are open to come back,
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: but if there's another opportunity, we'll certainly allow you to
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: interview for it. Bloom said as much. He said, we're
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: working through things, but I would like hope and expect
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: that our senior folks will all go forward with us.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: I do anticipate that we will have some of the
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: sh into the front office group, when and in what roles.
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: I'm not ready to say that yet. He did say
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: Alie Marvel will be back in twenty twenty six, and
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: we will address that later in the show as well,
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: So TLDR or in this case, too long didn't listen?
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: Changes are coming for the Cardinals. Expect not a lot
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: of clarity about the trade market or free agency market
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: until the off season actually starts. Right now, What can
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: we expect to see in October? Front office expansion, adding
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: more roles both in scouting and player development, and seeing
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: if any coaching changes are going to take place. But
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: with Alie Marvel coming back, I really don't think that'd
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: be the case, unless it's you know, maybe one or two.
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: But who's to say? Speculating here all right? Time for
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: our first break because I am desperately running out of breath.
• 10:45
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• 11:51
  Speaker 1: All right, let's talk about ownership. At that same press conference,
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: Chairman Bildewett Junior and team president build with the third
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: We're also available at the podium. And I thought the
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: messaging about spending was different than and years prior. Let's
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: pull up this. These stories are all in black and white,
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: as you can see because we've read them all. Hopefully
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: your page on the Athletic looks the same. Please read
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: my work. Let's talk about the spending change. Ownership has
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: said it. I thought this is if you really read
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: between the lines here, ownership is telling you they are
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: going to spend, just not in the ways that you're
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: going to see on the major league payroll. And if
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: you're a fan, you're thinking, uh, literally, what the heck?
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: That's all I care about. I get it. The only
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: way that a fan can see if an ownership or
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: team is spending is to look at the major league payroll.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: That's the only way you can prove it. And we
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: don't know what that payroll is going to look like,
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: but I would suggest it's probably not going to look
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: all that high compared to twenty twenty two and twenty
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: twenty three. We're probably looking at something similar to twenty
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: twenty five. However, ownership is said they haven't really discussed
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: payroll at length. There are things being considered here, the
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: TV deal with Manuel Sports Network, Midwest team attendance, all
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: that stuff that we talk about at this time of year.
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: So if you're a fan, you're thinking, well, if they're
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: not gonna send the team payroll, how do I know
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: if they're spending. Here's a quote from Buildewit Junior. We're
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: obviously looking to build a better team. We're not going
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: to throw everything out and start from scratch. We've got
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: some good players coming. We've got a bunch of good
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: young players on the club. Now we'll build all around.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: We'll build around all of that. Him and I haven't
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: even talked about payroll. We don't know what our payroll
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: is going to be. I can't tell you right now,
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: but we are going to provide the resources for him
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: to build what he's talking about building. That is ownership
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: speak for, we have to actually invest in the infrastructure
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: of our ball club. Who would have thought, we know
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: about the player development debacle of twenty twenty four. Expect
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: the Cardinals' ownership to continue investing in those areas with
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: more staffing, more technology. The spring training complex is undergoing
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: renovations that should be ready for spring training twenty twenty six.
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: Fingers crossed there, and you're looking for additional spots and
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: scouting both at the international and domestic level, all right,
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: and the draft process. All of these areas are going
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: to be addressed as the Cardinals move towards being a
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: true draft and development club. Now, I asked bil DeWitt Junior,
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: based on market size, because the Cardinals do consider themselves
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: mid market, But while I said, given the market size
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: and the advanced spending of big markets like Los Angeles
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: and New York and name any other big market teams,
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: I asked why draft and developing he believes is the
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: best route to sustain this long term consistency that the
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: Cardinals in high and bloom are talking about. And to
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: what Junior said, we all what we call a mid
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: market franchise, even though we're small in terms of the numbers,
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: but the Cardinals have always done more than their weight.
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: We're not trying to buy the most expensive free agent. Historically,
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: this franchise has had its best and most success with
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: players they've developed. That is true. You think about the
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: Cardinals and when they were real true World Series contenders,
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: they had a core of players they developed, and they
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: went out and through those core of players were able
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: to either trade for a top talent or to go
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: out and sign one. But they developed their stars. They
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: developed Yiaddy Armalina all right, they developed Albert Pooles. They
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: traded for Adam Waynwright in his minor league career and
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: then continued to develop him into one of their best
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: pictures in history. They had fringe players, or not French flayers,
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: excuse me, supplementary players. Look at twenty eleven Daniel descalso,
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: Skip Schumacher, John Jay, Alan Craig. Those guys alone, you're
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: not winning a World Series with, but collectively with stars
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: that they then went out and either traded for or
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: acquired via free agency, they had a true competitive club
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: without having to go buy the most expensive free agent.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: A more recent example of this club, I think when
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: the Cardinals were at their peak in twenty nineteen. This
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: is when they had the core of a really exciting
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: Jack Flaherty, Paul DeYoung, Colton Wong, Tommy Edmond, Harrison Vader,
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: that core of guys, and they went out and they
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: traded for Paul Goldschmidt. I still to this day wonder
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: what that twenty twenty Cardinals team would have done without
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: a COVID year. But that is the moot point. That's
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: what the Cardinals are committing to. Spending because in their
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: haste to keep up with payroll and the big teams,
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: they severely neglected their player development. We know this, that's
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: why we're here. We spent the last year talking about it.
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: So when Cardinals ownership says they're committee to spending differently
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: and this is where it's going, you're not going to
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: see it reflected in the payroll. You are going to
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: see it reflected ideally in the quality of the player
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: they're developing if they spend right. That's not to say
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: the Cardinals are going to spend at all. They almost
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: certainly have to add a starting picture because they have
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: like three. But again, we don't know exactly what that
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: picture looks like, and we won't for another month or so.
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: So let's focus right now on the things we can
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: control that are actually worth talking about, not all the
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: hypotheticals that we don't really know are going to happen anyway.
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: Another thing that's different about ownership spending habits. According to
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: multiple sources, and I've put this in that story as well,
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: ownership is going to be more open to including money
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: in trades, and that's something they've historically shied from. This
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: is especially notable Giving Nolan Arnado's current status, we know
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: he has over forty million dollars remaining on the remaining
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: two years of his deal. The Cardinals ownership was less
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: than enthused about including additional money last year during trades.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: I do not think that will be the case in
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: this situation this year. Probably not for Sunny Gray as well.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: So ownership knows they have to change things that say
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: nothing about the business operations with BUILDEW with the third
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: addressing they've heard. I'll read this quote because it was
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: a good one. This is from BUILDEW with the third
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: talking about attendance. We've all seen it. The numbers are down.
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: It's not something that we're happy about. To the extent
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: that that's a message. That message has been received. Okay, yeah,
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: no kidding. The Cardinals ranked nineteenth in attendance. Here's some
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: stats from that story. They set a record low in
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: season attendance and lost over a million fans in attendance
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: since twenty twenty three. For perspective, from nineteen ninety eight
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: to twenty twenty three, the Cardinals reported over three million
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: fans per season, rivaling only the Los Angeles Dodgers intern
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: of highest season attendance. This year, Saint Louis fell below
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: MLB's median nineteenth and total attendance at two point two
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: five million average the average number of tickets sold per
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: game twenty seven seven hundred and seventy eight. It was
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: by far the lowest mark of the Dewittz ownership tenure,
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: and not including the pandemic restricted seasons right and over
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: the last fifteen seasons. I think it would be like rare,
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: maybe a handful of games if the Cardinals had a
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: single game attendance mark below thirty five thousand. They exceeded
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: that mark just nine times this season, just nine out
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: of eighty one games. So congratulations, Cardinals fans. You made
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: your point very clear. You will not be showing up
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: until you see significant changes, which is your right. Bildowt
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: Junior has said, We've listened to our fans and they
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: want value. So expect some changes in terms of tickets
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: and concessions and parking and of course increased downtown safety.
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: These are all things ownership welly spending on business wise,
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: because it's just as important in bringing fans back to
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: the ballpark than the product on the field. Look, we
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: all know this. The Cardinals won games Cardinals times are
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: going to show up again. But I think that if
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: and maybe I'm wrong, I don't think I am If
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: this ownership group and this new front office is transparent
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: and open about what they're trying to do and makes
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: good on the business side, you know, finds a way
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: to make tickets more affordable, parking concessions, stops raising ticket
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: prices in certain areas, then you'll start to see people
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: trickle back to the ballpark in twenty twenty six. That
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: is the hope. So when we say again the Cardinals
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: ownership is committing to spending differently, this is what we mean.
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: All right, break time. Let's hear from Aj Prasinski, who's
• 19:37
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• 19:39
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• 19:40
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• 20:43
  Speaker 1: All right, last segment. In case you hadn't heard, but
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: you definitely did. Manager Ali Marma will be back in
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty six. High blooms Thatt on Tuesday. Not really
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: a surprise. I think it was only a speculation because
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: the front office change, which is natural, it will be
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: the last year of his contract and this is notable.
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: The Cardinals have historically operated where they have not had
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: a manager enter a lame duck season. We asked Heim
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: Bloom in that writer's session if there have been conversations
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: about a potential contract extension for all yet, and he
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: has said no, But I'll go ahead and read it, said,
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: I'll mess up the quote. Almost there. Oh, it's on
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: my computer. He said, we haven't really talked about that yet.
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: I have really enjoyed the relationship that I've been able
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: to build with Ali so far. The hope is that
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: this is something we can keep building on and it
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: keeps going forward. So I would axpect more clarity on
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: the Cardinals coaching picture overall in the next couple of weeks.
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: But it was pretty clear to me watching those two
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: interact behind the scenes, especially in the second half when
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: him was around the team more and more, even more
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: importantly arguably how he interacted with his players, especially in
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: September when things were getting kind of dicey in terms
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: of the record. It was very clear to me that
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: this was a manager who could have lost the clubhouse.
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: What the Cardinals front office, John Moseaylock asked Allie Marvel
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: to do this year was incredibly hard. It was essentially
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: try to win as many games, but you're going to
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: have to play some of these players more over others,
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: regardless of performance. And you got to keep everyone on board.
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: And I mean, I'll just read this quote from Brennan
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: Donovan at the end of the season. I think he'll
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: say it better than I can. Before the season started,
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: we said the season was not about wins and losses.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: We cannot control wins and losses. What we can control
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: is our preparation and our style of play. Allie held
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: us accountable to that. It's a sign of good leadership.
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: Donovan went on to say, you look at what he
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: did this year, how he managed an extremely young group.
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: I think he did a hell of a job. When
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: you have players backing you up like that, noticing and
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: noting what kind of situation you were brought into, and
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: noting that you did not lose the clubhouse. In fact,
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: you gained a lot of respect from your players. Well,
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: that's kind of a no brainer to bring Alli back,
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: at least for the final year of his contract. We
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: will see if those contract negotiations for an extension take place,
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: and if they go anywhere, I'll be monitoring, you know,
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: that a couple of other cardinal names to monitor as
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: we go in to the managerial carousel of twenty twenty five,
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: there are already so many openings. Albert Pools, perhaps you
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: know the name is reportedly the leading candidate for the
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: Angels managerial job. He is at When I say leading
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: candidate according to multiple sources tools to myself, Ken Rosendal
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: and Sanblum over the athletic owner Artie Reno's top pick.
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: So we'll see how that goes. Ron Washington, of course,
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: was told he was not coming back. Neither was interim
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: manager Ray Montgomery. So could we see Albert Pooles managing
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: in Anaheim? Maybe? I don't know, monitor that. Skip Schumacher.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: Will he get a job managing again. He is currently
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: serving as a senior advisor for the President of Baseball
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: Operations of the Texas Rangers, Chris Young. Bruce Bochi and
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: the Texas Rangers decided to mutually part ways a couple
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: of days ago. So that spot is opening certainly looks
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: like a pretty easy subway for Skip Schumacher should he
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: decide he want to manage again. I know around the industry,
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: Skip is highly sought after and it's believed he'll be
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: a manager as soon as he wants to be once
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: more after two year stint with My Marlins. One more
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: name to watch out Cardinals bench coach Channel Discalso is
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: seen as a rising star as a potential manager, real candidate.
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: He is sure to get at least a couple of interviews.
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: He interviewed for the open for the White Sox job
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: that was opened last year in twenty twenty four, and
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: I would expect again with multiple different destinations valuing player
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: development and a modern game, that he'll get a look.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: I wonder if San Francisco, now that Bob Melvin was
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: let go, would be an option for an interview place.
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: After all, Discalso is from the Bay Area. So those
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: are the three names I'm watching from the Cardinals. Hopefully
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: we'll have more news about the coaches soon. Until then
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: and he can say up to date with everything else
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: here at Cardinal Territory, Bernie and I will be back
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: with you all soon. I'm out of here. Taylor Swift
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: is dropping a new album in ninety minutes. I got
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: our mentally prepare for that. Thanks always for following Hope.
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: It was a very very busy first week of the
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: off season for my sake, hopefully it's not that way anymore.
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: But for your sake you already know we'll have plenty
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: of the action covered here for you. This is Cardinal Territory.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: Thanks for watching, Jack,