I think Cranny's statement in a past post is very telling:
They strove for greatness when they traded for Goldy and Arenado.
The Cardinals, no doubt, have been striving to improve their team, but unfortunately they have no drivers or mechanics for their Miatas or Mazarattis, In other words, your garage can be full of nice cars and equipment, but if you don't know how to drive them or take care of them, they are any other car.
Each organization has different departments that are responsible for the on-the-field product. Acquisition, Research, Development, Analytics, Advanced Scouting, Baseball-Specific Strength Training, Position-Specific Development, Offensive Development, Body Assessments, Nutrition, Baseball Sports Psychology, etc. Tieing all those together and giving each player and coach an opportunity to be successful can be negated if the organization has a "bad culture."
While speaking this week with two people involved in MLB Development, it was told to me, "The Cardinals are known as an organization that is in the mud." They're ability to value human capitol and create value has vaulted them to the bottom of MLB organizations.
To give the POBO a farewell tour for an entire year instead of ripping off the bandaid and improving now, is further proof that the top of the Cardinal food-chain values themselves over the people under them.
