TNT9516 wrote: ↑04 Feb 2026 11:32 am
How do any of the moves the Cardinals made this fall make any sense? I could believe it on the premise that we were trying to rebuild until we traded away one of our rebuilding pieces. The Donovan trade made no sense whatsoever. You've got a guy that's under 2 years of control that is ian all star and you trade him away when you're wanting to be rebuilding? It appears to me that the management is looking to tank on purpose. Why would they want to do that? It has always been said the Cardinals would not be moved as long as they were selling lots of tickets. And they historically have. But when the ticket sales fall the MLB is not going to be hesitant it to move them. And ticket sales are as low as I can remember in my life. This team is infinitely more valuable to be sold if it can be moved. There are a lot of bigger towns that could use baseball teams. Austin Texas is a million people and they're underrepresented. Nashville / Louisville / Chattanooga area is grossly underrepresented. MLB would love to get teams in these much higher population areas. The best way to do it would be to buy a team that's already established and move it in there. It looks to me like the dewits are tanking the Cardinals in an effort to be able to move them. If ticket sales are low enough the MLB will approve it. St Louis has 280,000 people now. Austin has a million Chattanooga Louisville Nashville area has almost 3 million people. Memphis is a much bigger town. Folks get used to the idea of the Cardinals not being here- it's probably coming. The DeWitts have no ties to the St Louis area at all. Other than a baseball team they own is inconveniently located here. They just came out a couple of weeks ago and professed undying love for the Cardinals. That doesn't mean St louis. That just means the Cardinals. Look at the Cubs - that stadium is always full no matter how good or bad they are. Why would you invest in players and player development if you're going to fill the stadium based on the population of your area regardless of winning or losing. Is much cheaper to fill the stadium in a huge metropolitan area than it is a small one.
Your numbers are so inaccurate and bogus that they’re laughable. There’s a wonderful thing called Google where you can actually learn some facts.
Per Wikipedia, here are the data from the current Metropolitan Statistical Area list. The MSA counts the city and its suburbs. You need to understand that folks from the suburbs also attend and buy baseball swag, so your quote that St. Louis only has 280,000 is so misleading, one could almost call it a deliberate lie.
Rank Metro Area. Population
23. St. Louis-St. Charles-IL 2,811,927
24. San Antonio-New Braunfels. 2,763,006
25. Austin-Round Rock. 2,550,637
35. Nashville-Davidson 2,150,553
43. Louisville. 1,394,234
45. Memphis. 1,339,345
99. Chattanooga. 588,050
You cited “Louisville/Nashville/Chattanooga” as a single market. It’s 175 miles from Louisville to Nashville and 134 from Nashville to Chattanooga. You think people will routinely drive that far on a weeknight? Plus, it’s only 98 miles from Chattanooga to the Braves ballpark in the north suburbs of Atlanta.
Louisville is only 99 miles from Cincinnati. The Reds ownership would block a franchise in Louisville.
I live in San Antonio. Baseball would be a hard sell here. It’s not a wealthy metro area in general, and the folks here are mostly invested in Spurs basketball, UTSA football, and NFL football. Plus you’d need a domed or retractable roof stadium here due to the heat for 3+ months of the season.
Austin is not fertile ground either. It’s mostly invested in University of Texas sports and Dallas Cowboys football.
And don’t tell me that if you add Austin and San Antonio together…. It’s 90 miles from downtown to downtown and I-35 is miserable in traffic. That concept has been floated and won’t work.
Honestly, if the Cards were going anywhere, Charlotte would be a more likely choice since its metro has 2,883,370 which is slightly larger than St. Louis metro. Portland Oregon might be in the running, but Seattle’s ownership might nix that move. Plus, Portland has a history of other issues totally unrelated to sports.