While most experts agree that the rebuilding Redbirds are likely to be cellar dwellers this year, it wouldn’t take much success for the squad to write a script for a storybook season
By Ryan K Boman | March 22, 2026 | I-70 Sports Media
These days, when people think about the St. Louis Cardinals, they no longer picture the perennial powerhouse and hardball heavyweights like they used to. After a century as the National League’s most decorated franchise, the Redbirds are retooling in 2026 following two seasons of brutally bad and boring baseball. Not only have they been losing, but they have appeared both stale on the field and almost melancholy as an organization.
It’s a far fall from just four years ago, when the 2022 Cardinals featured a playoff team and the celebrated swan song of Albert Pujols, complete with the perfect St. Louis Send-off. Those good times have come crashing down in the three seasons since, with Pujols, Adam Wainwright, and Yadier Molina all retiring.
The club has averaged just 77 wins per campaign and finished in fifth, second, and fourth in the NL Central Division, respectively. And even in their best year, they still finished 10 games out of first place.
In the offseason, they sent veterans like Brendan Donovan, Nolan Arenado, and Sonny Gray, along with several others, packing. They were replaced by a group of promising prospects and fresh faces.
They will enter Opening Day with one of the youngest rosters in the franchise’s history, and GM Chaim Bloom looks to start over from scratch. The goal being, in the end, the ‘Birds will rise from the ashes and be even more talented (and with more depth of talent) than before.
Thanks to the new executive’s shrewd moves, the Cards currently have the best farm system in all of baseball, and there’s plenty of hope for the future. The question is: How much short-term pain will the fan base have to endure before things finally get back to… Read More HERE
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