Maybe I look at it with the eyes of an old man...

[CCard]

Some on here are proponents of intentionally making the team worse in the short term to try to catch lightning in a bottle long term. They say 3 to 5 years and we'll have a super team. On par to the Dodgers and Yankees of MLB. I might be biased in that I'm an old man in ill health and I might not have 3 to 5 years to wait for this vaunted super team. I've been a Cardinals fan since I was a young teenager and it was the one thing that me and my grandfather could relate to together. It helped us grow close. He's been gone a long time now. He got to enjoy Whiteyball in the 80's but he was gone by the time Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright made their marks. He would have loved it. That's why I'm a proponent of getting into the playoffs. At least you give people hope that it can happen. Intentionally losing has a stench about it that just doesn't sit well with me. I may have a few years and I'd hate to see it taken away by some pie in the sky rebuilding plan. Those of us near the end want to challenge and win now, not in 5 years. If anything is for sure it's that not all of us will get that chance. So you see, might vision for the Cards is not the same as some who "have a plan" that would take years. Aside from all the other number crunching, Baseball is about heart, feeling. To me that's what its always been about and I'd hate to deprive the fans of that excitement. Especially those near the end.

IMO you are looking at it correctly. I would prefer to try to win and lose, versus never having a shot at winning. People that play to lose, guess what they call them? You already know the answer CC.

Indeed I do. I feel that if you don't go into the season with the expectation of winning it all, then why even field a team? Just forfeit for 3 to 5 years and then do it all over again. Sounds asinine doesn't it.

[CCard]

Some on here are proponents of intentionally making the team worse in the short term to try to catch lightning in a bottle long term. They say 3 to 5 years and we'll have a super team. On par to the Dodgers and Yankees of MLB. I might be biased in that I'm an old man in ill health and I might not have 3 to 5 years to wait for this vaunted super team. I've been a Cardinals fan since I was a young teenager and it was the one thing that me and my grandfather could relate to together. It helped us grow close. He's been gone a long time now. He got to enjoy Whiteyball in the 80's but he was gone by the time Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright made their marks. He would have loved it. That's why I'm a proponent of getting into the playoffs. At least you give people hope that it can happen. Intentionally losing has a stench about it that just doesn't sit well with me. I may have a few years and I'd hate to see it taken away by some pie in the sky rebuilding plan. Those of us near the end want to challenge and win now, not in 5 years. If anything is for sure it's that not all of us will get that chance. So you see, might vision for the Cards is not the same as some who "have a plan" that would take years. Aside from all the other number crunching, Baseball is about heart, feeling. To me that's what its always been about and I'd hate to deprive the fans of that excitement. Especially those near the end.

You make a very interesting point.
There are no guarantees in life.
Nor in baseball.
There is zero guarantee that a 3 year or 5 year plan would put the team in any better condition than it is now.
Just ask the Pirates.
Or the Rockies.
Ot the Angels.
So, if you want to accomplish something, do whatever is necessary to do so now.
A person can plan and save for retirement - and also take the vacation of a lifetime.
They are not mutually exclusive.
Same with the Cardinals - they can compete next year with a couple of wise moves and still rebuild the foundation long term.
Both are achievable.
In life, as in baseball, only two things are needed.
The will and the skill.

Exactly. They are not mutually exclusive. The idea is to better the team while competing for a championship. Not slogging through year after year of horrible baseball hoping to build some mythical juggernaut. Then not long after you'd be faced with doing it all over again. I think that hurts baseball. The perennial losers have trouble drawing fans. Gee, I wonder why. The Cards were one of the most successful franchises for nearly two decades and now their saying that way doesn't work? Give me a break.

[ICCFIM2]

If you get two great years, two good years, and two bad years, isn’t that success. And isn’t that better than the path we have been in n for 12 years.

I’d submit, just about all long term deals, young or old vets, have down years. I think it’s the nature of the beast.

If the great years are great enough and the good years are good enough, overall the contract can work out and the team can get a reasonable value (like ~1 fWAR per $8 million spent) if you average over the entire contract.

But if you want to translate that into team success, into winning NL pennants and World Series, the timing of those great and good years is critical. You mostly need the great years to coincide with when the rest of roster is at its peak as well.

I agree with the sentiment, that the great years need to coincide when the roster is at its peak as well. The GM also needs to fill out the team when that is likely to happen. That is where the Cards severely lacked foresight. Lets look at 2022 when the Cards were last in a decent position to win. They had Goldy and Arenado who were still good. Nobody knew they would finish 1 and 3 in the MVP. Tyler O'Neil was top 10 MVP the year before. We had peak Tommy Edman and Harrison Bader. The end of the Molina era. If there was a year to go for it, it was 2022. The big signing, Steven Matz, who had an injury history and promtly got hurt. Kevin Gausman was available that offseason and ultimately signed a reasonable deal the following year with the Blue Jays. Quintana was available we eventually traded Oviedo for him. A much better strategy would have been to sign Gausman to his 5/$110M deal, sign Quintana to the 1 year deal and the Cards would likely have avoided the wild card round altogether. You need an ace and they refused to sign one. I can't remember the last team to win a WS without a true ace.

[Cusecards]

Some on here are proponents of intentionally making the team worse in the short term to try to catch lightning in a bottle long term. They say 3 to 5 years and we'll have a super team. On par to the Dodgers and Yankees of MLB. I might be biased in that I'm an old man in ill health and I might not have 3 to 5 years to wait for this vaunted super team. I've been a Cardinals fan since I was a young teenager and it was the one thing that me and my grandfather could relate to together. It helped us grow close. He's been gone a long time now. He got to enjoy Whiteyball in the 80's but he was gone by the time Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright made their marks. He would have loved it. That's why I'm a proponent of getting into the playoffs. At least you give people hope that it can happen. Intentionally losing has a stench about it that just doesn't sit well with me. I may have a few years and I'd hate to see it taken away by some pie in the sky rebuilding plan. Those of us near the end want to challenge and win now, not in 5 years. If anything is for sure it's that not all of us will get that chance. So you see, might vision for the Cards is not the same as some who "have a plan" that would take years. Aside from all the other number crunching, Baseball is about heart, feeling. To me that's what its always been about and I'd hate to deprive the fans of that excitement. Especially those near the end.

You make a very interesting point.
There are no guarantees in life.
Nor in baseball.
There is zero guarantee that a 3 year or 5 year plan would put the team in any better condition than it is now.
Just ask the Pirates.
Or the Rockies.
Ot the Angels.
So, if you want to accomplish something, do whatever is necessary to do so now.
A person can plan and save for retirement - and also take the vacation of a lifetime.
They are not mutually exclusive.
Same with the Cardinals - they can compete next year with a couple of wise moves and still rebuild the foundation long term.
Both are achievable.
In life, as in baseball, only two things are needed.
The will and the skill.

To both posts

The foundation of sports is to compete.
To be your best for competition.

The goal should be perpetual improvement while always keeping an eye on the future. IMO that can be done without jeopardizing the future.

The last couple seasons had very flawed rosters. To list and rehash again here is tiresome. I'll just say that it should not be difficult to put a better balance OD roster on the field. A little more speed, a little more power.
thus better positioned to compete.

Set back and watch what the people that actually have control do, not what us hot stove participants are guessing at happening. This does not need to be a tank job and I fully expect it not to be.

Well put!
Maybe it’s just me...but I don’t get all the angst over the upcoming season?
Mikolas....gone
Arenado....more than likely gone?
Gray.....could be gone? 50/50?
Contreras....most likely still here?
Let’s say Arenado is moved which is probably likely than him staying. Even if Gray stays....he will almost certainly be gone after 2026.
That leaves Contreras as the only remaining vet with a $$ tag.
2026 to me is a “look see” season:
Is this the end of the line for Walker & Gorman if they don’t step up?
Same for Noot? Do they cash in on Donovan and/or Burleson or stand pat?
Can guys like Scott, Libby, McGreevy, Saggese, Svanson, etc break out?
I am excited with the potential of some of the pending youngsters starting with JJ.
Mathews, Doyle, Baez, the young catchers?
Patience and give Bloom a chance.

[juan good eye]

Some on here are proponents of intentionally making the team worse in the short term to try to catch lightning in a bottle long term. They say 3 to 5 years and we'll have a super team. On par to the Dodgers and Yankees of MLB. I might be biased in that I'm an old man in ill health and I might not have 3 to 5 years to wait for this vaunted super team. I've been a Cardinals fan since I was a young teenager and it was the one thing that me and my grandfather could relate to together. It helped us grow close. He's been gone a long time now. He got to enjoy Whiteyball in the 80's but he was gone by the time Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright made their marks. He would have loved it. That's why I'm a proponent of getting into the playoffs. At least you give people hope that it can happen. Intentionally losing has a stench about it that just doesn't sit well with me. I may have a few years and I'd hate to see it taken away by some pie in the sky rebuilding plan. Those of us near the end want to challenge and win now, not in 5 years. If anything is for sure it's that not all of us will get that chance. So you see, might vision for the Cards is not the same as some who "have a plan" that would take years. Aside from all the other number crunching, Baseball is about heart, feeling. To me that's what its always been about and I'd hate to deprive the fans of that excitement. Especially those near the end.

Sorry. If they would’ve done this sooner we wouldn’t be talking about 3-5 years out but sadly to many of you are very hard headed about the reality of baseball, just like Mo.

If this helps your perspective at least you got to see some championship teams. Don’t be selfish and force the younger generations to grow up with more mediocrity by begging for the status quo to continue.

Here's the thing you don't seem to get through your hard head. Deconstructing a team only guarantees losses. It doesn't in any way guarantee future success. If it did, Pitts, Cincy, Miami, etc would all be sitting on championships. The Cards just went nearly two decades competing every year and you think that was wrong. 3 million fans year in and year out would argue the point with you.

Nothing is guaranteed. Don’t be so weak minded.

I’ll ignore your lame straw man and leave you with something to gum chew on: smart organizations don’t base their strategies solely on the outcomes of their dumbest peers.

[CorneliusWolfe]

I try and look at the team as realistically as possibly. The cardinals aren’t going to go on a spending spree and sign a 1 and 2 starter and a 3 and 4 hitter to make the team relevant again it’s not going to happen. A 1% chance of that. The cardinals aren’t going to go trading a bunch of top
Rated prospects for tatis jr. it won’t happen people that think they can trade Donovan and burleson and crooks for tatis are delusional it would start with JJ and Doyle and then more it won’t happen. The only hope is bloom fixes the minor league development system that produces impact players they can build around. Will bloom succeed I think so I could be wrong I was a staunch mo supporter once upon a time until I realized his success was due to Larussa telling him what the team needed and the further it got away from the Larussa/jocketty era and became the mo the era the worse the team got so hey could be wrong but hope I’m not

That isn’t at all what this thread is about.

The BDW money-savers club can’t make the distinction. All topics lead to tanking and dry powder.

[CCard]

Some on here are proponents of intentionally making the team worse in the short term to try to catch lightning in a bottle long term. They say 3 to 5 years and we'll have a super team. On par to the Dodgers and Yankees of MLB. I might be biased in that I'm an old man in ill health and I might not have 3 to 5 years to wait for this vaunted super team. I've been a Cardinals fan since I was a young teenager and it was the one thing that me and my grandfather could relate to together. It helped us grow close. He's been gone a long time now. He got to enjoy Whiteyball in the 80's but he was gone by the time Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright made their marks. He would have loved it. That's why I'm a proponent of getting into the playoffs. At least you give people hope that it can happen. Intentionally losing has a stench about it that just doesn't sit well with me. I may have a few years and I'd hate to see it taken away by some pie in the sky rebuilding plan. Those of us near the end want to challenge and win now, not in 5 years. If anything is for sure it's that not all of us will get that chance. So you see, might vision for the Cards is not the same as some who "have a plan" that would take years. Aside from all the other number crunching, Baseball is about heart, feeling. To me that's what its always been about and I'd hate to deprive the fans of that excitement. Especially those near the end.

Sorry. If they would’ve done this sooner we wouldn’t be talking about 3-5 years out but sadly to many of you are very hard headed about the reality of baseball, just like Mo.

If this helps your perspective at least you got to see some championship teams. Don’t be selfish and force the younger generations to grow up with more mediocrity by begging for the status quo to continue.

Here's the thing you don't seem to get through your hard head. Deconstructing a team only guarantees losses. It doesn't in any way guarantee future success. If it did, Pitts, Cincy, Miami, etc would all be sitting on championships. The Cards just went nearly two decades competing every year and you think that was wrong. 3 million fans year in and year out would argue the point with you.

Nothing is guaranteed. Don’t be so weak minded.

I’ll ignore your lame straw man and leave you with something to gum chew on: smart organizations don’t base their strategies solely on the outcomes of their dumbest peers.

Show me a time when gutting payroll didn't result in losing. There's something for you to chew on.

[juan good eye]

Some on here are proponents of intentionally making the team worse in the short term to try to catch lightning in a bottle long term. They say 3 to 5 years and we'll have a super team. On par to the Dodgers and Yankees of MLB. I might be biased in that I'm an old man in ill health and I might not have 3 to 5 years to wait for this vaunted super team. I've been a Cardinals fan since I was a young teenager and it was the one thing that me and my grandfather could relate to together. It helped us grow close. He's been gone a long time now. He got to enjoy Whiteyball in the 80's but he was gone by the time Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright made their marks. He would have loved it. That's why I'm a proponent of getting into the playoffs. At least you give people hope that it can happen. Intentionally losing has a stench about it that just doesn't sit well with me. I may have a few years and I'd hate to see it taken away by some pie in the sky rebuilding plan. Those of us near the end want to challenge and win now, not in 5 years. If anything is for sure it's that not all of us will get that chance. So you see, might vision for the Cards is not the same as some who "have a plan" that would take years. Aside from all the other number crunching, Baseball is about heart, feeling. To me that's what its always been about and I'd hate to deprive the fans of that excitement. Especially those near the end.

Sorry. If they would’ve done this sooner we wouldn’t be talking about 3-5 years out but sadly to many of you are very hard headed about the reality of baseball, just like Mo.

If this helps your perspective at least you got to see some championship teams. Don’t be selfish and force the younger generations to grow up with more mediocrity by begging for the status quo to continue.

Here's the thing you don't seem to get through your hard head. Deconstructing a team only guarantees losses. It doesn't in any way guarantee future success. If it did, Pitts, Cincy, Miami, etc would all be sitting on championships. The Cards just went nearly two decades competing every year and you think that was wrong. 3 million fans year in and year out would argue the point with you.

Nothing is guaranteed. Don’t be so weak minded.

I’ll ignore your lame straw man and leave you with something to gum chew on: smart organizations don’t base their strategies solely on the outcomes of their dumbest peers.

Show me a time when gutting payroll didn't result in losing. There's something for you to chew on.

Sometimes you gotta lose the battle to win the war.

[CCard]

Some on here are proponents of intentionally making the team worse in the short term to try to catch lightning in a bottle long term. They say 3 to 5 years and we'll have a super team. On par to the Dodgers and Yankees of MLB. I might be biased in that I'm an old man in ill health and I might not have 3 to 5 years to wait for this vaunted super team. I've been a Cardinals fan since I was a young teenager and it was the one thing that me and my grandfather could relate to together. It helped us grow close. He's been gone a long time now. He got to enjoy Whiteyball in the 80's but he was gone by the time Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright made their marks. He would have loved it. That's why I'm a proponent of getting into the playoffs. At least you give people hope that it can happen. Intentionally losing has a stench about it that just doesn't sit well with me. I may have a few years and I'd hate to see it taken away by some pie in the sky rebuilding plan. Those of us near the end want to challenge and win now, not in 5 years. If anything is for sure it's that not all of us will get that chance. So you see, might vision for the Cards is not the same as some who "have a plan" that would take years. Aside from all the other number crunching, Baseball is about heart, feeling. To me that's what its always been about and I'd hate to deprive the fans of that excitement. Especially those near the end.

Sorry. If they would’ve done this sooner we wouldn’t be talking about 3-5 years out but sadly to many of you are very hard headed about the reality of baseball, just like Mo.

If this helps your perspective at least you got to see some championship teams. Don’t be selfish and force the younger generations to grow up with more mediocrity by begging for the status quo to continue.

Here's the thing you don't seem to get through your hard head. Deconstructing a team only guarantees losses. It doesn't in any way guarantee future success. If it did, Pitts, Cincy, Miami, etc would all be sitting on championships. The Cards just went nearly two decades competing every year and you think that was wrong. 3 million fans year in and year out would argue the point with you.

Nothing is guaranteed. Don’t be so weak minded.

I’ll ignore your lame straw man and leave you with something to gum chew on: smart organizations don’t base their strategies solely on the outcomes of their dumbest peers.

Show me a time when gutting payroll didn't result in losing. There's something for you to chew on.

Sometimes you gotta lose the battle to win the war.

Adages are not always reality either.

[Melville]

Some on here are proponents of intentionally making the team worse in the short term to try to catch lightning in a bottle long term. They say 3 to 5 years and we'll have a super team. On par to the Dodgers and Yankees of MLB. I might be biased in that I'm an old man in ill health and I might not have 3 to 5 years to wait for this vaunted super team. I've been a Cardinals fan since I was a young teenager and it was the one thing that me and my grandfather could relate to together. It helped us grow close. He's been gone a long time now. He got to enjoy Whiteyball in the 80's but he was gone by the time Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright made their marks. He would have loved it. That's why I'm a proponent of getting into the playoffs. At least you give people hope that it can happen. Intentionally losing has a stench about it that just doesn't sit well with me. I may have a few years and I'd hate to see it taken away by some pie in the sky rebuilding plan. Those of us near the end want to challenge and win now, not in 5 years. If anything is for sure it's that not all of us will get that chance. So you see, might vision for the Cards is not the same as some who "have a plan" that would take years. Aside from all the other number crunching, Baseball is about heart, feeling. To me that's what its always been about and I'd hate to deprive the fans of that excitement. Especially those near the end.

Sorry. If they would’ve done this sooner we wouldn’t be talking about 3-5 years out but sadly to many of you are very hard headed about the reality of baseball, just like Mo.

If this helps your perspective at least you got to see some championship teams. Don’t be selfish and force the younger generations to grow up with more mediocrity by begging for the status quo to continue.

Here's the thing you don't seem to get through your hard head. Deconstructing a team only guarantees losses. It doesn't in any way guarantee future success. If it did, Pitts, Cincy, Miami, etc would all be sitting on championships. The Cards just went nearly two decades competing every year and you think that was wrong. 3 million fans year in and year out would argue the point with you.

Nothing is guaranteed. Don’t be so weak minded.

I’ll ignore your lame straw man and leave you with something to gum chew on: smart organizations don’t base their strategies solely on the outcomes of their dumbest peers.

Show me a time when gutting payroll didn't result in losing. There's something for you to chew on.

Sometimes you gotta lose the battle to win the war.

More often, both are lost.

[ScotchMIrish]

Some on here are proponents of intentionally making the team worse in the short term to try to catch lightning in a bottle long term. They say 3 to 5 years and we'll have a super team. On par to the Dodgers and Yankees of MLB. I might be biased in that I'm an old man in ill health and I might not have 3 to 5 years to wait for this vaunted super team. I've been a Cardinals fan since I was a young teenager and it was the one thing that me and my grandfather could relate to together. It helped us grow close. He's been gone a long time now. He got to enjoy Whiteyball in the 80's but he was gone by the time Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright made their marks. He would have loved it. That's why I'm a proponent of getting into the playoffs. At least you give people hope that it can happen. Intentionally losing has a stench about it that just doesn't sit well with me. I may have a few years and I'd hate to see it taken away by some pie in the sky rebuilding plan. Those of us near the end want to challenge and win now, not in 5 years. If anything is for sure it's that not all of us will get that chance. So you see, might vision for the Cards is not the same as some who "have a plan" that would take years. Aside from all the other number crunching, Baseball is about heart, feeling. To me that's what its always been about and I'd hate to deprive the fans of that excitement. Especially those near the end.

I think it's the new reality of the tv deal reducing interest in the team and revenue. We are "hoping" to catch lightening in a bottle.

[rockondlouie]

Some on here are proponents of intentionally making the team worse in the short term to try to catch lightning in a bottle long term. They say 3 to 5 years and we'll have a super team. On par to the Dodgers and Yankees of MLB. I might be biased in that I'm an old man in ill health and I might not have 3 to 5 years to wait for this vaunted super team. I've been a Cardinals fan since I was a young teenager and it was the one thing that me and my grandfather could relate to together. It helped us grow close. He's been gone a long time now. He got to enjoy Whiteyball in the 80's but he was gone by the time Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright made their marks. He would have loved it. That's why I'm a proponent of getting into the playoffs. At least you give people hope that it can happen. Intentionally losing has a stench about it that just doesn't sit well with me. I may have a few years and I'd hate to see it taken away by some pie in the sky rebuilding plan. Those of us near the end want to challenge and win now, not in 5 years. If anything is for sure it's that not all of us will get that chance. So you see, might vision for the Cards is not the same as some who "have a plan" that would take years. Aside from all the other number crunching, Baseball is about heart, feeling. To me that's what its always been about and I'd hate to deprive the fans of that excitement. Especially those near the end.

The good news CC is C. Bloom is on record saying even though he won't take his eye off the LT goal of re-building a pipeline of talent thru the system he also won't concede any single season w/o a fight, including 2026.

I expect he'll improve the 2025 roster thru trades & smart (low cost) free agent signings and the 2026 team will be much better than the 2025 edition.

From your mouth to God's ears brother. I just want to win.

Ditto

While I'm 100% on board w/C. Bloom rebuilding/restocking the farm system I've been saying for over a year now, "unlike Mo Bloom is perfectly capable of walking (rebuilding the minor league system) & chewing gum (fielding a roster that can compete for a playoff spot).

Of course the latter depends heavily on BDWJr and what payroll he sets for Bloom.

(JMO but I think they're waiting to see how season ticket sales and multiple game packages go---bad would be my guess---before they set payroll for 2026)

[sikeston bulldog2]

Some on here are proponents of intentionally making the team worse in the short term to try to catch lightning in a bottle long term. They say 3 to 5 years and we'll have a super team. On par to the Dodgers and Yankees of MLB. I might be biased in that I'm an old man in ill health and I might not have 3 to 5 years to wait for this vaunted super team. I've been a Cardinals fan since I was a young teenager and it was the one thing that me and my grandfather could relate to together. It helped us grow close. He's been gone a long time now. He got to enjoy Whiteyball in the 80's but he was gone by the time Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright made their marks. He would have loved it. That's why I'm a proponent of getting into the playoffs. At least you give people hope that it can happen. Intentionally losing has a stench about it that just doesn't sit well with me. I may have a few years and I'd hate to see it taken away by some pie in the sky rebuilding plan. Those of us near the end want to challenge and win now, not in 5 years. If anything is for sure it's that not all of us will get that chance. So you see, might vision for the Cards is not the same as some who "have a plan" that would take years. Aside from all the other number crunching, Baseball is about heart, feeling. To me that's what its always been about and I'd hate to deprive the fans of that excitement. Especially those near the end.

Here’s one- old man. Look at my life. I’m a lot like you.

[Bob Kunush]

As an old man I have seen world champions in 1964, 1967, 1982, 2006, and 2011 and several other workd series. I have seen a team since 2000 that was competitive and enjoyable for for all but three years. I enjoyed the Whitey success of the 1980s. I have been well rewarded for my years of Fandom.

We all want to see them win but this most recent model needs updated. There will be some leaner years. I may never see the results but I hope younger fans get to see even a portion of the success I have seen.

I also have the eyes of an old man but I dont feel entitled to one more championship or anything else ir that matter just because I am old. I understand changes have to be made to the team and a new model for sustained success found. I had many Cub friends who died before they ever saw a champion. I have been lucky to choose the Cardinals as my team. I think they will find their way again and I will enjoy them as they try to find a new combination of players.

[desertrat23]

As an old man I have seen world champions in 1964, 1967, 1982, 2006, and 2011 and several other workd series. I have seen a team since 2000 that was competitive and enjoyable for for all but three years. I enjoyed the Whitey success of the 1980s. I have been well rewarded for my years of Fandom.

We all want to see them win but this most recent model needs updated. There will be some leaner years. I may never see the results but I hope younger fans get to see even a portion of the success I have seen.

I also have the eyes of an old man but I dont feel entitled to one more championship or anything else ir that matter just because I am old. I understand changes have to be made to the team and a new model for sustained success found. I had many Cub friends who died before they ever saw a champion. I have been lucky to choose the Cardinals as my team. I think they will find their way again and I will enjoy them as they try to find a new combination of players.

We’ve all seen a lot of titles. We’re not entitled to one. We are however, entitled to their effort.

[Bob Kunush]

As an old man I have seen world champions in 1964, 1967, 1982, 2006, and 2011 and several other workd series. I have seen a team since 2000 that was competitive and enjoyable for for all but three years. I enjoyed the Whitey success of the 1980s. I have been well rewarded for my years of Fandom.

We all want to see them win but this most recent model needs updated. There will be some leaner years. I may never see the results but I hope younger fans get to see even a portion of the success I have seen.

I also have the eyes of an old man but I dont feel entitled to one more championship or anything else ir that matter just because I am old. I understand changes have to be made to the team and a new model for sustained success found. I had many Cub friends who died before they ever saw a champion. I have been lucky to choose the Cardinals as my team. I think they will find their way again and I will enjoy them as they try to find a new combination of players.

We’ve all seen a lot of titles. We’re not entitled to one. We are however, entitled to their effort.

Your opinion of an acceptable effort is your opinion. It is not everyone's opinion. I think attempting to rebuild a roster by revamping the entire system to employ a sustainable roster that competes in the future is an effort. Some thinking throwing lots of money at it is the only acceptable effort. I think that method is foolish and not sustainable. Even the Dodgers are not spending all their money today. They are pushing tons of it down the line for somebody else to pay.