Cards Need an Owner Who Doesn't Need to make a profit

[BrockFloodMaris]

DeWitt is an amazing investor and has bought the Cards for $150 million and turned it into a $2.5 billion investment. I applaud him for that but evidently, he needs to make more money from the team. That's understandable, but if for example, the Taylor family bought the Cardinals, Andy and the family make so much money from Enterprise car leasing that they could treat the Cards as a loss leader and tax write-off. I understand the advantages that the mega market teams have in broadcast revenue, but I get the sense that they aren't concerned with making short term money from the ballclub. DeWitt owns Arby's franchises and lots of other investments but perhaps he could keep the stadium and sell the club to someone like the Taylor's who would do so as a way to honor the city and keep making gazillions renting cars and bring the Cardinals into a competitive club for free agents and be willing to operate as a loss for a while. I've lost confidence in the DeWitts. They want to do things on the cheap. Perhaps they have to. Having investments doesn't necessarily translate to cash flow. I spent decades mocking the futility of the Cubs. Now, I fear, we are going to flounder for a long time.

And I need a girlfriend who is a supermodel.

[nighthawk]

Dewitt purchased a dynasty put together by Jocketty. He fired Jocketty. Walt brought in LaRussa, Duncan, McGwire, Walker, Pujols, Molina, Carpenter and much more. After firing Jocketty, Cards were still strong for a few years but the synergy dropped quickly after that. Replacing Walt with Mo was the beginning of a huge downturn. I’m not anti- DeWitt but Bill and his son don’t know as much about baseball as they think they do. I’m hopeful that Bloom can be the next Walt. I’m skeptical. Retaining Oli makes me extremely skeptical

What dynasty did Jocketty put together from 1994, when he was hired, to 1995, when Dewitt purchased the franchise? The team had a 115-143 record in 94-95. How is that a dynasty?

[ClassicO]

Define profit?

If I buy stock at $150,000,000 and it appreciates over 30 years to $2.55 billion, and some years had dividends (operating profit) and others did not, did I profit?
Yes, not operating profits every year, but having a 17-fold value increase is extremely good. And I can hang on to the stock, knowing that when I sell it, it will bring that enormous value gain.

P.S. - They bought the team for $150 million, but then sold the parking garage for $150 million, so they made back their investment in year one.

Except your $150M stock purchase has no operating costs and no taxes unless you sell. Soooo, not an apples to apples comparison in the slightest.
With selling the garage, they theoretically made their initial investment back, but you again don’t mention the fact that its costs money to run a franchise and there’s a cost of doing business when doing real estate deals. So, again, you’re not thinking it all the way through.
I don’t know if the cardinals are cash flowing or not, but your explanation of profit needs some work.

"Operating profit" takes into account the costs. It is total revenue minus operating costs. Nice try.

[82birds]

I would think being competitive for a playoff spot and averaging 35-40 thousand a night would be more profitable than the current state of Oli Ball. But maybe I'm wrong.

Just having the lazy, lame (donkey) Mo out of the picture will be a huge bonus. That guy was a putz.

he was waaaaaaay worse than a putz.

[Cranny]

I would think being competitive for a playoff spot and averaging 35-40 thousand a night would be more profitable than the current state of Oli Ball. But maybe I'm wrong.

Just having the lazy, lame (donkey) Mo out of the picture will be a huge bonus. That guy was a putz.

he was waaaaaaay worse than a putz.

He was a part of the successes the Cardinals enjoyed over the 30 years he was with the team.

[Goldfan]

I would think being competitive for a playoff spot and averaging 35-40 thousand a night would be more profitable than the current state of Oli Ball. But maybe I'm wrong.

Just having the lazy, lame (donkey) Mo out of the picture will be a huge bonus. That guy was a putz.

he was waaaaaaay worse than a putz.

He was a part of the successes the Cardinals enjoyed over the 30 years he was with the team.

When Mo was on his own He was TERRIBLE……and since you brought up 30yrs…….He’s leaving the team in a state at least as bad as 30yrs ago. This is not a glorious legacy.

[Bomber1]

I would think being competitive for a playoff spot and averaging 35-40 thousand a night would be more profitable than the current state of Oli Ball. But maybe I'm wrong.

Just having the lazy, lame (donkey) Mo out of the picture will be a huge bonus. That guy was a putz.

he was waaaaaaay worse than a putz.

He was a part of the successes the Cardinals enjoyed over the 30 years he was with the team.

And he was the main part of the failure that has been 2016-2025.

[Cranny]

I would think being competitive for a playoff spot and averaging 35-40 thousand a night would be more profitable than the current state of Oli Ball. But maybe I'm wrong.

Just having the lazy, lame (donkey) Mo out of the picture will be a huge bonus. That guy was a putz.

he was waaaaaaay worse than a putz.

He was a part of the successes the Cardinals enjoyed over the 30 years he was with the team.

And he was the main part of the failure that has been 2016-2025.

The way to judge anyone, is to look at both their successes and their failures. If you only look at Mo's failures, your views are too one sided.

[AZ_Cardsfan]

Got to remember DeWitt is just the majority owner. Not the sole owner. As such there has to be accord on decisions related to profits and losses. And most humans like profits.

It's asking a lot for an angel with billions to swoop in and then run the team at a loss for us. To be honest I don't think DeWitt and Co have reaped massive profits other than the unrealized gain of the team. We will never know unless they open the books.

Regardless what we do know is if the team remains in the hands of people who aren't willing to take large personal losses for the gratification of fielding a champion then the team will always have limitations placing it around the middle of the pack financially.

As an aside I had a guy quoting a garage redo and we talked baseball. he has season tickets to the Diamondbacks which cost him about $11,000 per seat. These are really nice seats behind the batters circle on the visitors side.

He told me the same seats in Dodger stadium for the Dodgers is $120,000 a year. I don't know if that is true but if it is it indicates they are making bank not only on TV rights but also ticket sales.

[cardstatman]

If 8 million people move from Los Angeles to St Louis, the Cardinals could spend like the Dodgers!

[JuanAgosto]

I would think being competitive for a playoff spot and averaging 35-40 thousand a night would be more profitable than the current state of Oli Ball. But maybe I'm wrong.

Just having the lazy, lame (donkey) Mo out of the picture will be a huge bonus. That guy was a putz.

he was waaaaaaay worse than a putz.

He was a part of the successes the Cardinals enjoyed over the 30 years he was with the team.

And he was the main part of the failure that has been 2016-2025.

The way to judge anyone, is to look at both their successes and their failures. If you only look at Mo's failures, your views are too one sided.

He was a putz. He can thank Jocketty, LaRussa, Duncan, Pujols, Yadi, Chris Carpenter, and Wainwright for the success. The arrogant lazy (donkey) didn't do squat.

[WLTFE]

I would think being competitive for a playoff spot and averaging 35-40 thousand a night would be more profitable than the current state of Oli Ball. But maybe I'm wrong.

Just having the lazy, lame (donkey) Mo out of the picture will be a huge bonus. That guy was a putz.

he was waaaaaaay worse than a putz.

He was a part of the successes the Cardinals enjoyed over the 30 years he was with the team.

And he was the main part of the failure that has been 2016-2025.

The way to judge anyone, is to look at both their successes and their failures. If you only look at Mo's failures, your views are too one sided.

He was a putz. He can thank Jocketty, LaRussa, Duncan, Pujols, Yadi, Chris Carpenter, and Wainwright for the success. The arrogant lazy (donkey) didn't do squat.

+1...his legacy is a [fork]ing joke and so are the front office (donkey) kissers who continue to support him.

[Hoosier59]

The Cardinals should never spend like the Dodgers, unless things change under the new agreement. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t able to spend more than they have been doing! I believe that the only years the Cardinals haven’t turned a profit are the COVID season and the seasons since that they started going cheap, trying to recoup those Covid loses. It really might not just be the DeWitts either. As has been stated, there are other owners, maybe they are the ones who are pushing more for profits, instead of trying to put together a successful team.
However, someone is to blame, and it’s not just the owners. Mo was given money, and he spent it quite poorly! Goldschmidt and Arenado were brought in to sustain a winning team, and unfortunately they didn’t hold up. Gorman, Walker, Scott, and a few others were the new hope, and so far they have failed. So, there was a plan, and it just didn’t go as was conceived. Most likely the new plan is to weather out the storm until after the new bargaining agreement and see what the playing field is like then. Maybe then they’ll start trying again. Let’s hope so, or the Cardinals are going to keep losing more and more fans, and money!

[Goldfan]

I would think being competitive for a playoff spot and averaging 35-40 thousand a night would be more profitable than the current state of Oli Ball. But maybe I'm wrong.

Just having the lazy, lame (donkey) Mo out of the picture will be a huge bonus. That guy was a putz.

he was waaaaaaay worse than a putz.

He was a part of the successes the Cardinals enjoyed over the 30 years he was with the team.

And he was the main part of the failure that has been 2016-2025.

The way to judge anyone, is to look at both their successes and their failures. If you only look at Mo's failures, your views are too one sided.

You’re a businessman. If you takeover a successful business and have a few good years riding the wave of success that was in place before you…..then once you’re the only one truly guiding the business and you run it into the ground……YOU ARE NOT A SUCCESS, YOU DON’T HAVE A SUCCESSFUL LEGACY

[Bomber1]

I would think being competitive for a playoff spot and averaging 35-40 thousand a night would be more profitable than the current state of Oli Ball. But maybe I'm wrong.

Just having the lazy, lame (donkey) Mo out of the picture will be a huge bonus. That guy was a putz.

he was waaaaaaay worse than a putz.

He was a part of the successes the Cardinals enjoyed over the 30 years he was with the team.

And he was the main part of the failure that has been 2016-2025.

The way to judge anyone, is to look at both their successes and their failures. If you only look at Mo's failures, your views are too one sided.

The fact of the matter is that the past 10 seasons have been a failure overall.

I don’t much care what he did 15-20 and more years ago.

And his employer shouldn’t have cared either. If he would have acted as most employers do, we would already be on the other side of the rebuild.

[mattmitchl44]

The fact of the matter is that the past 10 seasons have been a failure overall.

I don’t much care what he did 15-20 and more years ago.

And his employer shouldn’t have cared either. If he would have acted as most employers do, we would already be on the other side of the rebuild.

IMO, more than one thing is true:

(1) Since about 2016, I think the direction of Cardinals' ownership has been to keep chasing the level of success from 2000-2015 by putting more resources towards the ML club while not updating and improving the player development side. I think that, along with the dealing of some prospects (Alcantara, Gallen, Arozarena, etc.), led to a hollowing out of the vital prospect pipeline that is needed for the Cardinals to be consistently competitive. So I don't think ownership was necessarily willing to embrace rebuilding before now, no matter who was in the FO.

and

(2) Even if the direction from the ownership was faulty, the FO also implemented it poorly by making bad decisions with the extra resources that were being put towards the ML club with bad FA signings and bad early extensions for some Cardinals players.