STLtoday.com

Which of these choices best describes where you think the Cardinals' spending on the ML payroll will be in 2030:

1) They'll be spending like the Dodgers (maybe because you think the team will have been sold to another Steve Cohen?)!

2) They'll be spending well over $200 million and have a payroll in the Top 10 in MLB (10th in 2025 was $210 million).

3) They'll be back to spending consistent with their historical highs (~$180 million) wherever that ranks them.

4) Due to revenue issues, they'll be spending a bit less than their historical highs (e.g., ~$140-$150 million).

5) They'll be spending down with the small market teams (like the Guardians or less).

FWIW - I'll take #3.

I’m at 200 M. You didn’t have that as a choice. So I guess I’m at 3 b. In b tween.

2027
$160-$170M

2028
$180 - $190M

And by your 2030
#2

(Based on BDWJr gone by then and Fredo, after inheriting the team, will sell to a DEEP POCKETED OWNER!

mattmitchl44 wrote: ↑27 Dec 2025 09:12 am Which of these choices best describes where you think the Cardinals' spending on the ML payroll will be in 2030:

1) They'll be spending like the Dodgers (maybe because you think the team will have been sold to another Steve Cohen?)!

2) They'll be spending well over $200 million and have a payroll in the Top 10 in MLB (10th in 2025 was $210 million).

3) They'll be back to spending consistent with their historical highs (~$180 million) wherever that ranks them.

4) Due to revenue issues, they'll be spending a bit less than their historical highs (e.g., ~$140-$150 million).

5) They'll be spending down with the small market teams (like the Guardians or less).

FWIW - I'll take #3.

#5. #4 if we are lucky. Should be at #2, and should be there today!

mattmitchl44 wrote: ↑27 Dec 2025 09:12 am Which of these choices best describes where you think the Cardinals' spending on the ML payroll will be in 2030:

1) They'll be spending like the Dodgers (maybe because you think the team will have been sold to another Steve Cohen?)!

2) They'll be spending well over $200 million and have a payroll in the Top 10 in MLB (10th in 2025 was $210 million).

3) They'll be back to spending consistent with their historical highs (~$180 million) wherever that ranks them.

4) Due to revenue issues, they'll be spending a bit less than their historical highs (e.g., ~$140-$150 million).

5) They'll be spending down with the small market teams (like the Guardians or less).

FWIW - I'll take #3.

2030 is a ways off. Who knows how salaries will inflate? Will there be a cap? Revenue sources and increases?

So I’ll answer this way. If theirs a cap they will be at the cap. If not they’ll be middle of the pack as compared to other teams.

mattmitchl44 wrote: ↑27 Dec 2025 09:12 am Which of these choices best describes where you think the Cardinals' spending on the ML payroll will be in 2030:

1) They'll be spending like the Dodgers (maybe because you think the team will have been sold to another Steve Cohen?)!

2) They'll be spending well over $200 million and have a payroll in the Top 10 in MLB (10th in 2025 was $210 million).

3) They'll be back to spending consistent with their historical highs (~$180 million) wherever that ranks them.

4) Due to revenue issues, they'll be spending a bit less than their historical highs (e.g., ~$140-$150 million).

5) They'll be spending down with the small market teams (like the Guardians or less).

FWIW - I'll take #3.

The plan will depend on how well the farm is producing. If they are consistently churning out enough talent to compete, the only spending will be occasional arbitration raises and they won’t extend/keep anyone. So basically option 5.

If the farm is proving more supplemental-level talent but not enough to compete for a wildcard then I think they land somewhere between 3 and 4.

I think the latter scenario is more realistic as the former would require dominating the draft and development aspect, and while I think Bloom will be good, I doubt he will be THAT good.

All things considered, I still think the plan is to build for a wildcard berth/compete for a division title, despite the PR talk. We switched POBOs, not ownership, and BDW likely still believes the playoffs are a crapshoot, unless you spend crazily. And he’s probably right.

3, maybe 2

I'll think they will up to $5-10M under whatever the cap is.

I would say closest to #3, if we could say their historical highs adjusted for inflation. So maybe closer to 200m but not necessarily a top 10 payroll. I could also see a scenario where they're still in the 160 range.

3

Assuming no major changes to cba…

If the Cards are in an obvious championship window and have good reason to spend they should be #2 otherwise it doesn’t matter much

The count so far is about:

1) - 0
2) - 3
3) - 6
4) - 1
5) - 1

mattmitchl44 wrote: ↑27 Dec 2025 12:02 pm The count so far is about:

1) - 0
2) - 3
3) - 6
4) - 1
5) - 1

matt

Do you really think BDWJr, who will be nearing 90 yrs old then, will wait until 2030 to start spending?

He does love the Cardinals, I have to think he'll want to see a winner before hitting his 90th birthday, don't you?

It’s impossible to say until we see what happens with the CBA. With MLB in its current state absent major revenue sharing changes, my vote is 4.

** by 2030, spending $180-200MM could still slot them in that 4 category **

They were 6th in payroll in 2019, right around 162M

Other than that, they've been consistently in the 9-15 range with a handful of years between 15-20.

In 2024, they upped the payroll to 175M, but by then, that was only good for 12th.

In terms of ranking I'd guess they'll work their way back to 12-18 with a few outlier years here and there. And 12-18 might be a 170-190m payroll by then. Like others have said we'll have to see what happens after the cba.

Between 3 and 4 somewhere