Question: When's the last time we had a team this young?

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rockondlouie
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Re: Question: When's the last time we had a team this young?

Post by rockondlouie »

tgharris wrote: 27 Feb 2026 09:45 am
rockondlouie wrote: 27 Feb 2026 08:39 am
Bully4you wrote: 27 Feb 2026 07:46 am I can't remember.
Wonder what the average age is of our team and compare that to the league.
This is a very young team.
The average age of the 2026 St. Louis Cardinals projected roster is approximately 26.5 years old.

Historically, the 1943 St. Louis Cardinals hold the distinction for the lowest average age for both batters (26.5) and pitchers (27.6).

-A.I.
That surprises me, considering it was during WWII. I would have thought that the available talent would have been older.
22 yr old Stan the Man was the "baby" on that team!
Carp4Cy
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Re: Question: When's the last time we had a team this young?

Post by Carp4Cy »

earp wrote: 27 Feb 2026 08:06 am 1997–1999 Last major youth movement; few stars; transitional years

The 2026 Cardinals are described as:

One of MLB’s weakest projected lineups (ranked 6th worst)

A roster with no All‑Stars, no household names, no Hall‑of‑Fame‑track players

A team defined by youth and player development, not contention

A franchise in identity transition, not a win‑now mode
1999 Cardinals:
Mark McGwire
Ray Lankford
Eric Davis
Willie McGee
Sean Dunstan

This definately wasn't a cut all veterans team - those guys had playing time.

We also did have a healthy mix of youth to learn from those vets, while we also made an agressive trade for true MLB ready young star (not a lotto ticket) in Edgar Renteria, while retaining our top 2 prospects Rick Ankiel and JD Drew.
BrummerStealsHome
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Re: Question: When's the last time we had a team this young?

Post by BrummerStealsHome »

Bully4you wrote: 27 Feb 2026 07:56 am
This rebuild is growing on me.
Yep. Acceptance of where we are. It's pointless to rail about where we should be or could be. I'm over Mo and have moved on.

The rebuild is here and I plan to enjoy the ride back to the World Series.
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