Will BDW reinvest any of the savings or just keep it this year?

[Carp4Cy]

My hope has been Dewitt and C. Bloom had an agreement that Bloom could indeed re-invest any payroll savings he achieves via trades and DFA's!

So far he's shaved $20M (Gray) but may have eat a ton to get rid of NADO.

Donny will clear another $5+M if he's dealt, WillyC would really clear payroll ($18M) since I don't think Dewitt would have to eat one penny while Bloom still got a solid return.

Dewitt almost always let Mo re-invest expired, traded or DFA'd contracts, that's been his business plan for decades.

Let's hope it doesn't end and Bloom has some money to play with, I'd love to see what he'd do as opposed to what we saw Mo do.

See my list above - you are forgetting Mikolas as WELL as everyone that came off mid-year last year (Helsley, Maton, Fedde) and at the end of 2024. Thats a LOT more than just the trades Bloom is now making.

[Carp4Cy]

didn't they just hire 10 new people to help with the minors? is that not re-investing?

Coaches don't even cost a tiny fraction of what we are saving on actual talent. 10 is still probably only 6 figures. Certainly less than 2 million.

We are talking over $100M in AAV reduction here in active payroll and it continues to drop.

"A minor league assistant coach's salary varies significantly, but an average is around $69,023 annually, with the typical range falling between $56,502 and $93,870. The pay is often lower at entry-level positions, with some sources indicating an annual range as low as $14,500. Pay depends on factors like the league, team, and individual experience.
Salary breakdown
Average annual salary: ~$69,023
Typical range: ~$56,502 to $93,870
25th percentile: ~$56,502
75th percentile: ~$93,870
Top earners: Can exceed $65,500 annually in some cases "

[Carp4Cy]

Profit is and always will be first and foremost in the minds of this ownership group.

They expect attendance to go down, they expect less television viewership, and they know their revenue will not be as high as 4-5 years ago.

But their profits will remain and could possibly increase.

I don’t expect them to spend much of the payroll savings from their trades.

And just because they save $ 50 million in payroll this year doesn’t mean (to ownership) that they’re going to reinvest that $50 million later.

“Dry powder” was nothing but Mozeliak-speak for “We’re going to pocket that money”.

Its closer to $100M from the $181M high watermark at this point. Maybe more if we drop Willson and Nado.

And no they will never reinvest that $100M later. To me that would mean by 2027 or 2028 BDW takes payroll BACK to $181M +5%+5%+5% for 3 years of inflation Plus adds another $80-$100M balloon talent for a single year for all the cash he saved during much of 2025 and now 2026 from that $181M +5% per year run rate. That would be a nearly $300M payroll at least temporarily, and he could even take it higher with deferred payments like the Dodgers do if they wanted to get aggressive with contacts involving the savings. But we know this isn't going to happen and make excuses like BDW isn't making enough profit.

[BrockFloodMaris]

So far nothing has been reinvested from:
Goldy
Lynn
Mikolas
Edman/Fedde
Gray
Helsley
Maton
Matz
Gibson
Kittredge

So even if Bloom does eventually sign a couple of middling SPs to fill out the rotation,he's just belatedly reinvesting the savings from Lynn and Gibson. There's still a ton more dry powder up there before BDW even begins to need to trade Nado or Willson to "reinvest" their salaries. If traded, That money will not be respent. If they don't end up traded - there's still certainly room to sign some players.

It seems that there are several posters around here that are dead set on holding Bloom accountable for Mo’s negligence, laziness, arrogance and stubbornness. In what other business setting would that level of accountability apply? None that I can think of.

As for the 2026 payroll, Bloom has stated on multiple occasions that it will be similar to that of 2025. It’s only 01dec, so I’m going to wait a while before I run a tally to double check.

[rockondlouie]

My hope has been Dewitt and C. Bloom had an agreement that Bloom could indeed re-invest any payroll savings he achieves via trades and DFA's!

So far he's shaved $20M (Gray) but may have eat a ton to get rid of NADO.

Donny will clear another $5+M if he's dealt, WillyC would really clear payroll ($18M) since I don't think Dewitt would have to eat one penny while Bloom still got a solid return.

Dewitt almost always let Mo re-invest expired, traded or DFA'd contracts, that's been his business plan for decades.

Let's hope it doesn't end and Bloom has some money to play with, I'd love to see what he'd do as opposed to what we saw Mo do.

See my list above - you are forgetting Mikolas as WELL as everyone that came off mid-year last year (Helsley, Maton, Fedde) and at the end of 2024. Thats a LOT more than just the trades Bloom is now making.

For sure

I was just listing the current roster players under C. Bloom's control when he took over (Mikolas etal were off the roster when he assumed the POBO title) who could get moved and those are the contract savings I think Dewitt "may" let him re-invest this season.

Sadly Carp I think Dewitt will simply bank the Mikolas, Helsley, Maton and Fedde money, he's made it pretty clear he's not going to re-invest that money in this "re-build" season.

I'd be surprised if Dewitt ends up, after all the deals are made including picking up a huge chunk of NADO's contract, giving Bloom higher than a $110-120M payroll.

[Clubmaker2]

Profit is and always will be first and foremost in the minds of this ownership group.

They expect attendance to go down, they expect less television viewership, and they know their revenue will not be as high as 4-5 years ago.

But their profits will remain and could possibly increase.

I don’t expect them to spend much of the payroll savings from their trades.

And just because they save $ 50 million in payroll this year doesn’t mean (to ownership) that they’re going to reinvest that $50 million later.

“Dry powder” was nothing but Mozeliak-speak for “We’re going to pocket that money”.

+1

[Carp4Cy]

So far nothing has been reinvested from:
Goldy
Lynn
Mikolas
Edman/Fedde
Gray
Helsley
Maton
Matz
Gibson
Kittredge

So even if Bloom does eventually sign a couple of middling SPs to fill out the rotation,he's just belatedly reinvesting the savings from Lynn and Gibson. There's still a ton more dry powder up there before BDW even begins to need to trade Nado or Willson to "reinvest" their salaries. If traded, That money will not be respent. If they don't end up traded - there's still certainly room to sign some players.

It seems that there are several posters around here that are dead set on holding Bloom accountable for Mo’s negligence, laziness, arrogance and stubbornness. In what other business setting would that level of accountability apply? None that I can think of.

As for the 2026 payroll, Bloom has stated on multiple occasions that it will be similar to that of 2025. It’s only 01dec, so I’m going to wait a while before I run a tally to double check.

Its not about Bloom. My post is about BDW, who for some reason decided to stick with Mo, stick with Mo, stick with Mo, even as we kept churning managers and failing in the playoffs etc, then when BDW finally decided to replace Mo, he STILL kept him another year.

Now suppose that instead of deciding to keep Mo on and cutting his funding, BDW instead pulled the plug maybe 3+ years sooner, and brought in someone smart who could both evaluate talent better, draft better, build the minors back with the relatively low cost of additional coaches in the minors without any of this having to heavily affect MLB payroll, AND Most importantly, spend $181M MUCH more efficiently than Mo did?

Then meanwhile that someone had replaced Oli with a top quality manager, or never hired him to begin with, as well as top quality hitting and pitching coaches who could more effectively develop our top prospects than Oli's staff has done with Walker and Gorman and Noot and Scott etc.

If done properly it should have been possible to course correct at BOTH the major and minor league levels at the same time - keeping our team at the top of the NLC, improving our MLB talent year over year and then boosting it with great drafting and development by 25 and 26 and continuing the develop that talent AFTER it reaches MLB instead of leaving them out there on their own and then throwing prospects at driveline 1 week a winter? We could have been a good team all this time and not lost the fanbase or the ticket revenue. And more than likely have some extra division championships if not more.

So no - this isn't on Bloom. But on BDW for trusting Mo (and Oli) for too long and waiting too long to make any changes to the point he got gunshy with investing his millions. And BDW is still here, and so is Oli.

So my concern is BDW is so jaded he will never truly allow Bloom to be aggressive enough to get us back to where we need to be (10th/11th in mlb). And Oli is still here too, so how can we expect whatever roster we do get to build the level of chemestry that outperforms their expected WAR on paper?

[Youboughtit]

They are re reinvesting in minors, scouting and international, which sadly should never have been cut

A lot of coaches can be hired for $100m per year. No quality organization robs Peter to pay Paul. That is just a bad business decision. MLB payroll has 0 effective on Minor leagues. This is all an excuse used by owner not tot spend. Nothing more

[Youboughtit]

Profit is and always will be first and foremost in the minds of this ownership group.

They expect attendance to go down, they expect less television viewership, and they know their revenue will not be as high as 4-5 years ago.

But their profits will remain and could possibly increase.

I don’t expect them to spend much of the payroll savings from their trades.

And just because they save $ 50 million in payroll this year doesn’t mean (to ownership) that they’re going to reinvest that $50 million later.

“Dry powder” was nothing but Mozeliak-speak for “We’re going to pocket that money”.

+1

That’s exactly why spending should be their #1 priority. It has been proven fans will not attend without elite superstars in their prime. For best had 2022 a 178m payroll and a $48m profit. This season $128m payroll and $2m profit, the more they spend on payroll the more profit they will receive

[Clubmaker2]

Profit is and always will be first and foremost in the minds of this ownership group.

They expect attendance to go down, they expect less television viewership, and they know their revenue will not be as high as 4-5 years ago.

But their profits will remain and could possibly increase.

I don’t expect them to spend much of the payroll savings from their trades.

And just because they save $ 50 million in payroll this year doesn’t mean (to ownership) that they’re going to reinvest that $50 million later.

“Dry powder” was nothing but Mozeliak-speak for “We’re going to pocket that money”.

Its closer to $100M from the $181M high watermark at this point. Maybe more if we drop Willson and Nado.

And no they will never reinvest that $100M later. To me that would mean by 2027 or 2028 BDW takes payroll BACK to $181M +5%+5%+5% for 3 years of inflation Plus adds another $80-$100M balloon talent for a single year for all the cash he saved during much of 2025 and now 2026 from that $181M +5% per year run rate. That would be a nearly $300M payroll at least temporarily, and he could even take it higher with deferred payments like the Dodgers do if they wanted to get aggressive with contacts involving the savings. But we know this isn't going to happen and make excuses like BDW isn't making enough profit.

+1

[Cusecards]

Building through the Farm System as opposed to Free Agency makes by far the most sense.
Bloom supposedly is strong in that area so we’ll see?
The Cards have spent money in the past but more often than not it was not spent wisely.
So spending $$ just to appease the fans doesn’t make sense.
The Cards have a bunch of cost controlled players who are on the clock for 2026 and 2027.
Hopefully more make it than don’t.
Then you look into FA’s to plug the holes.

[scoutyjones2]

So far nothing has been reinvested from:
Goldy
Lynn
Mikolas
Edman/Fedde
Gray
Helsley
Maton
Matz
Gibson
Kittredge

So even if Bloom does eventually sign a couple of middling SPs to fill out the rotation,he's just belatedly reinvesting the savings from Lynn and Gibson. There's still a ton more dry powder up there before BDW even begins to need to trade Nado or Willson to "reinvest" their salaries. If traded, That money will not be respent. If they don't end up traded - there's still certainly room to sign some players.

I bet your husband asks you this every year..

[Hoosier59]

Building through the Farm System as opposed to Free Agency makes by far the most sense.
Bloom supposedly is strong in that area so we’ll see?
The Cards have spent money in the past but more often than not it was not spent wisely.
So spending $$ just to appease the fans doesn’t make sense.
The Cards have a bunch of cost controlled players who are on the clock for 2026 and 2027.
Hopefully more make it than don’t.
Then you look into FA’s to plug the holes.

STOP saying spending money just to appease the fans! That’s insulting to the true Cardinal fans! Hardly anybody I’ve seen on this forum are arguing for DeWitt to go out spend stupid money like the Mets, Dodgers, Yankees, Blue Jays and a few others!
That’s simply not comprehending what people are saying! How many times, in the not too distant past, have the Cardinals added to the roster and filled one of their needs, only then stop and ignore the other couple things that were also needed? Sure, Mo spent money unwisely, but DeWitt never gave him the money to fill every need they’ve had. A decent GM could have filled all those needs, while not spending a lot more than Mo spent trying address one of them. For years the Cardinals have been one or two good players short of making a good run, but those players were never added.
Now, not only are they not filling those needs, but they are creating more of them, and hoping unproven minor leaguers will be able to fill them sometime in the future! All the while putting millions of dollars in their already stuffed pockets!

[AZ_Cardsfan]

The question is why do you care? Any money spent in 2026 should be aimed at building a better team for 2027 and beyond. If that means don't spend I don't care. Although I do think there will be some flyers at the end of free agency that might cost $10 mil or so on one year deals that should be added as flip bait if they have a great first half.

[Carp4Cy]

Building through the Farm System as opposed to Free Agency makes by far the most sense.
Bloom supposedly is strong in that area so we’ll see?
The Cards have spent money in the past but more often than not it was not spent wisely.
So spending $$ just to appease the fans doesn’t make sense.
The Cards have a bunch of cost controlled players who are on the clock for 2026 and 2027.
Hopefully more make it than don’t.
Then you look into FA’s to plug the holes.

STOP saying spending money just to appease the fans! That’s insulting to the true Cardinal fans! Hardly anybody I’ve seen on this forum are arguing for DeWitt to go out spend stupid money like the Mets, Dodgers, Yankees, Blue Jays and a few others!
That’s simply not comprehending what people are saying! How many times, in the not too distant past, have the Cardinals added to the roster and filled one of their needs, only then stop and ignore the other couple things that were also needed? Sure, Mo spent money unwisely, but DeWitt never gave him the money to fill every need they’ve had. A decent GM could have filled all those needs, while not spending a lot more than Mo spent trying address one of them. For years the Cardinals have been one or two good players short of making a good run, but those players were never added.
Now, not only are they not filling those needs, but they are creating more of them, and hoping unproven minor leaguers will be able to fill them sometime in the future! All the while putting millions of dollars in their already stuffed pockets!

Exactly - and also still 1 good manager short of winning in the playoffs.

[Carp4Cy]

The question is why do you care?

1. less 2026 talent on the field means less tickets sold > less revenue available to make the team better for 2027 and beyond
2. BDW seems to want to "reset" the status quo run rate to way below that 10/11th in MLB spending EVEN when we get back to normal "trying to compete with our prospects and minors development system optimized". See the Brewers - it takes more than a bottom half payroll and whole lot of homegrown talent to beat the Dodgers.

I want Bloom to convince us fans that it really WILL get back to the normal spending we were used to in the good years PLUS the benefit of the #1 minors development system and the assumption that he would spend the $ better and wiser than Mo did. That would be something to get behind. But so far I'm not seeing anything but far fetched poster expectations that Bloom actually will be able to spend at close to that $200M level and ANY point in the future.