The Dodgers are in town, but there is no reason to fear a visiting baseball team, not when the citizens are accustomed to the adventures on the downtown streets and pavements.
Be afraid of the Dodgers? Well, maybe their spending power – and willingness to use it – is unsettling.
I will concede that much. If we include the luxury-tax penalties, the Dodgers’ talent is being funded at a price point of $416.7 million for 2026. That figure courtesy of the Spotrac salary-tracking site.
The Cardinals 26-man roster is a little more economical and efficient. Spotrac lists STL’s “active-cash” 26-man payroll at $46.9 million.
Active cash? That’s what St. Louis is paying the 26 rostered players in total salary. It does not include deferments, or payouts sent to Boston and Arizona to defray the cost of remaining contract obligations with relocated players Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras and Nolan Arenado. They were traded this past offseason.
Major League Baseball owners certainly fear the Dodgers for their payroll size and shameless but admirable audacity to buy up whatever they want.
And yes, it’s true that the Dodgers’ luxury-tax payroll is higher than the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of several small countries including Tuvalu, Nauru, The Marshall Islands, Kiribati and Palau.
I could be wrong about this, but I think Luken Baker was just claimed by The Marshall Islands. Or maybe the big fella just headed there for the tuna fishing.
I don’t worry about the Dodgers winning the series in St. Louis. I worry about the ruthless Dodgers leaving St. Louis with Cards rookie second baseman JJ Wetherholt in their custody – just to get the jump on LA’s inevitable signing of this personable human hitting machine to a $350 billion free-agent contract.
But the baseball competition from Friday night through Sunday afternoon? I worry about other things. I don’t know if old friend Ken Rosenthal is in town as part of Saturday’s Fox broadcast, but if he’s on duty please send in an advance person to give him the names of the St. Louis players and reassure him that the Cardinals still exist.
Just kidding, Ken.
That said, the Cardinals have been abandoned by a couple of major media entities. The Athletic didn’t assign a beatwriter to Cardinals coverage this season. MLB.com replaced the veteran beatwriter assigned to cover the team and is tracking the Cards with a committee of talents.
And in case you are wondering if I’m taking swipes at this new staff of writers – well, that’s 100 percent false. They’re all friends and I have abundant respect for them: Josh Jacobs, Brendan Schaeffer and the national treasure named Will Leitch.
It’s just weird to me. That a couple of powerhouses in the baseball-coverage industry no longer deemed the Cardinals worthy of a full-time beatwriter.
I mean, I know the Cards missed the playoffs in each of the past three seasons, home attendance took a big hit, and the 2026 team was supposed to curl up in a ball, take a beating, and stay out of sight during a rebuild. But the interest in this team remains high. Fans may be withholding ticket dollars as a form of protest over some mediocre baseball, but the TV ratings are healthy and the power of the legendary KMOX-Cardinals affiliation remains strong.
And, c’mon. It’s not like this franchise turned into a giant footwipe. Or became a generic brand that had no history, no prominence, no identity.
A group led by Bill DeWitt Jr. purchased the Cardinals before the 1996 season. From ‘96 through 2022, the Cards were fourth in MLB for most regular-season wins, and only the Yankees won more postseason games than STL’s 75.
Over his first 27 seasons of ownership, DeWitt’s club made the postseason 17 times, played in 150 postseason games, competed in 11 NL Championship Series, won four pennants and added two more World Series trophies to the display case.
OK, so for the first time under DeWitt, the team took a step back from 2023-2025 but was hardly a disaster. Many other teams – including those with an impressive history of success – have gone through more extreme downfalls that lasted for a longer period of time.
Now, for St. Louis. Let’s see. The Cardinals had 27 seasons of mostly relentless success, followed by three seasons that were below their standards. They lapse into a downturn phase.
And that’s it? Done! Stop covering them!
What, they’re irrelevant now? The same media are pouring resources into covering nondescript MLB teams that draw a fraction of the interest the Cardinals command, even after leveling off.
You would think DeWitt’s enterprise had disappeared over a cliff and to a demise that’s caused immense pain and suffering and multiple 100-loss seasons.
Actually, since the start of the 2023 season St. Louis is seven games over .500 and is tied for 15th in winning percentage. Not what you want, no. But relative to the past success and never-ending losing by baseball teams that collapse for a decade or more, the Cardinals’ failure is minor. And their rebuild of the player-development system is off to a fantastic start under president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom.
But no, sorry, no national attention for you! No full-time beatwriter for you! It’s absolutely laughable.
You have to understand something here. And trust me, I know this to be true. When the Cardinals were doing all of that winning-winning-winning and filling two different Busch Stadiums to remarkable levels in yearly attendance, well, after a while many (not all) of our national media friends got tired of the whole scene.
The “Best Fans In Baseball” meme. The “Sea of Red” descriptions. So many star players, and some had an allergic reaction to media. A combative manager like Tony La Russa was in place for 16 seasons, and that wasn’t a warm and fuzzy experience.
The media were fatigued by the celebrations and perceived arrogance from the organization and fan base. Turned off by fans patting themselves on the back with the BFIB bragging. Tired of the baseball people who thought they reinvented baseball. Having to go back to St. Louis every damn October and be subjected to this endless pomposity. Enough already!
Yeah, I like the fact that the ‘26 team got out of the gate pretty well. Oh, there are serious flaws within these Redbirds. (Pitching. Pitching. Pitching.) I’m skeptical of their staying power.
I have fun each week looking at all of the “Power Rankings” platformed by national outlets. Are these exercises supposed to be based on, well, you know, who is winning more games than a lot of other teams? Or is that just a tiny factor in the equation?
As of Friday morning the Cardinals had the eighth-best winning percentage in the majors – but you won’t find them anywhere near No. 8 in the “power” rankings. Look for them at No. 21, or No. 18, or perhaps 17th. You see, when the media predict doom and gloom and a hopeless season filled with agony, a team like the Cardinals should know their place and stay there. Mostly out of site. If the Cardinals exceed expectations, it makes the media experts look bad. Or something.
The devious side of me enjoys knowing that national media were so quick to erase the Cardinals from the big board of teams that matter. And that’s probably annoying to them. The Cardinals wouldn’t go away. Maybe later, but not early. So yeah, keep them at No. 20 (or whatever) even though they have the No 8 overall record going into the weekend. There’s a pretty good chance the Cardinals will crash along the way – and that’s when the Power Rankings should drop them into the bottom 10, bottom five, etc. But not now.
Entering the weekend series, the Cardinals have only two fewer wins this season than the two-time defending World Series champs from Los Angeles. And well, the Dodgers must be a little bored or something.
Dodger Blue comes into The Lou with a 5-7 record in their previous 12 games. That schedule had the Rockies, Giants, Cubs and Marlins. The Cubs are 19-12, but the other three currently have losing records.
So the Cardinals should do what they do. Get after it, don’t stop, take their best shot – and just be their persistent, pesty, and annoying selves. Their four-game sweep at Pittsburgh was an unexpected surprise – but then again the Cardinals are an unexpected surprise.
1ST MONTH ‘AWARDS’
The Cardinals have played 31 games. And today is May 1. That looks like a month to me. So here at The Review, we want to recognize some stuff, based on early-season performances.
1st Month MVP: JJ Wetherholt, the rookie second baseman. He not only leads his team in Wins Above Replacement, but JJ ranks 11th in WAR (1.5) among all MLB position players. And he’s No. 8 in the bigs in the value-measuring metric, Win Probability Added (WPA.) Through Thursday, Wetherholt had a higher WPA than a list of dignitaries that includes Aaron Judge, Yordan Alvarez, Bobby Witt Jr., and some dude named Ohtani. With his ratings in each area of the game, Wetherholt delivers plenty of positive impact on offense, defense and baserunning.
Based on the Statcast value ratings, Wetherholt is better offensively than 86 percent of MLB hitters, better defensively than 98 percent of MLB fielders, and a better baserunner than 94 percent of MLB runners.
1st-Month Cy Young Cardinal: Easy call here. Closer Riley O’Brien. He’s 3rd among MLB relievers in WAR, has the same ERA (1.17) as the heralded Padres closer Mason Miller, and leads all relievers with a 17.0 strikeout-walk ratio. In other words: 17 strikeouts and only one walk.
Best Early-Season Breakout: Jordan Walker. The 2024-25 seasons were the lost years for Walker, but at age 23 he’s becoming the player we thought he could be. Through Thursday Walker had 9 homers, 23 RBIs, a .284 batting average, .354 on-base rate, .552 slugging percentage and a wRC+ that makes him 51% above league average offensively. His defensive metrics aren’t as strong as I imagined, but I think he’s played solidly in right field. Walker has a powerful arm, and according to Statcast his baserunning is better than 90 percent of MLB players. Based on Statcast data, he’s also performed better than 96 percent of the big-league hitters.
Most Disappointing Hitter: Center fielder Victor Scott. No need for me to pile on. It’s just been a rough start to the season, and his diminishing offense is a legitimate concern.
Most Disappointing Pitcher: The No. 1 starter, Matthew Liberatore. Among 93 major-league starters that have worked a minimum 30 innings this season, Libby is 77th in ERA, 91st in strikeout rate (14%) and 93rd (last) with a 6.40 fielding independent ERA.
Biggest All-Purpose Surprise: Outfielder Nathan Church. He’s gaining confidence, and that’s led to five homers, 15 RBIs and a .435 slugging percentage. He’s been credited with a combined four defensive runs saved with his fielding in left field and center. Church has stolen three home runs from opponents with fence-climbing catches. Fast on the bases. Nonstop energy. Still a rookie.
Biggest Surprise, Pitching: Reliever Gordon Graceffo. He’s finally getting an expanded opportunity and he’s stepped up to the challenge with a 1.04 ERA (and two wins) in 13 appearances and 17 and ⅓ innings. Here’s a surprise: Graceffo ranks 9th among all MLB relievers in Win Probability Added. Why? Because he’s been virtually flawless in those high-leverage pressure situations.
Best In-Season Comeback: Starting pitcher Dustin May. After two horrendous starts that caused alarm, May responded with a 1.93 ERA after four consecutive strong starts. The Cardinals won all four of those games, and three were quality starts. May was able to pivot because of his very low walk rate, denying home runs, and getting bushels of ground balls.
Most Underrated Performance, Offense: Starting cacher Pedro Pages. For the life of me, I cannot understand media and fans who seem to be in a state of denial about Pages’ effectiveness as a hitter. Among 21 MLB catchers with at least 70 plate appearances this season, he’s 6th in slugging percentage (.436), 8th in OPS (.741) and tied for 8th in wRC+. He also has a top 10 batting average (.262) at the position. Pages has a higher slugging percentage than fellow catchers Cal Raleigh (!), William Contreras, Francisco Alvarez, Will Smith, Yainer Diaz and Carson Kelly (among others.) But yeah, let’s keep going with the Jimmy Crooks fetish, even though Crooks can’t hit anything but fastballs for Triple A Memphis.
Most Underrated Pitching Performance: Michael McGreevy, as always. Has a poor strikeout rate but compensates for that with a killer changeup; per Statcast he has a Run Value on his offspeed pitches that makes him better than 97 percent of MLB pitchers in the category. And his fastball grouping of pitches has a Run Value that makes him more effective than 82% of all fastball throwers. His sinker is very good at inducing weak contact.
Biggest + Best Team Surprise: The offense! Cardinals entered the weekend as only one of seven teams averaging 5.0 or more runs per game, were 9th in slugging percentage and eighth in OBP. Home runs are flying; the Cards rank sixth overall in average home runs per game (1.33) and are 4th overall in home-run ratio – hitting a HR every 25.4 at-bats as a team. I did not see that coming.
Worst Trait: The Cardinals starters and relievers have combined for the poorest strikeout rate by a team in the majors. And the swing-miss capability is awful. Way too much contact; too many balls in play. Terrible.
What Surprised Me Most: I really thought the starting pitching would be better. Wrong. Silly me.
Biggest Unexpected Bad Surprise: Reliever Matt Svanson. After his exceptional rookie-season performance I did not envision seeing him post a 10.26 ERA, 14.3% walk rate, or allow an average of 2.16 homers per nine innings.
Worst Free Agent Signing: Reliever Ryne Stanek, with his ballooning 8.31 ERA and an unspeakably awful 17.6 percent walk rate.
Best Walkman: Ivan Herrera. Going into the weekend he had a 17.5 percent walk rate. And if that holds up, Herrera’s walk rate would be the fourth-best by a Cardinal in a season during the expansion era, which began in 1961. Herrera’s .420 on-base percentage ranks 10th in the majors.
If I forgot something, I’ll add it later!
Thanks for reading and have a wonderful weekend …
–Bernie
Bernie was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2023. During a St. Louis sports-media career that goes back to 1985, he’s won multiple national awards for column writing and sports-talk hosting – and was the lead sports columnist at the Post-Dispatch from 1989 through 2015. Before that Bernie spent a year at the Dallas Morning News, covering the Dallas Cowboys during Tom Landry’s final season (1988) plus the sale of the team to Jerry Jones and the hiring of Jimmy Johnson as coach. Bernie has covered several Baseball Hall of Fame managers during his media career including Tony La Russa, Whitey Herzog, Earl Weaver, Joe Torre and (as an interim) Red Schoendienst. In his career as a beatwriter and columnist, Bernie covered Pro Football Hall of Fame coaches Joe Gibbs, Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson and Dick Vermeil on a daily basis.
Bernie has covered and written about many great St. Louis sports team athletes including Albert Pujols, Kurt Warner, Brett Hull, Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright, Jim Edmonds, Marshall Faulk, Scott Rolen, Mark McGwire, Orlando Pace, Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, Al MacInnis, Brian Sutter, Bernie Federko, Chris Pronger, Dan Dierdorf, Jackie Smith and Aeneas Williams. Bernie covered every baseball Cardinals’ postseason game from 1996 through 2014 and was there to chronicle teams that won four NL pennants and two World Series. He provided extensive coverage on the “Greatest Show” St. Louis Rams and has written extensively on the St. Louis Blues, Saint Louis U, and Mizzou football and basketball. Bernie was/is a longtime voter for the Baseball Hall of Fame, Pro Football Hall of Fame, Heisman Trophy and the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame.
You can access his columns, videos and the podcast version of the videos here on STL Sports Central, catch him regularly on KMOX (AM or FM) as part of the Gashouse Gang, Sports Rush Hour, Sports Open Line or Sports On a Sunday Morning shows. And you can catch weekly “reunion” segments here at STL Sports Central featuring Bernie and his longtime friend Randy Karraker.