12-17-2007, 01:46 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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Cards Fan!
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Lincoln, IL
Posts: 10,741
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As an era ends, Cards should be straight with the fans
As an era ends, Cards should be straight with the fans
12/17/2007
Quote:
Basically, the bills came due, and the Cardinals are paying the price for failing to develop enough quality players to be promoted to the big-league club or used in trades. And throwing money at mediocre or ill-fitting free agents is no solution.
After a terrific run of reaching six postseasons (including two World Series) over the last eight years, the Cardinals were nearing the end of an era. And they have some rebuilding to do. They're in transition. It happens. It isn't a crime against humanity.
So why can't the Cardinals just offer some straight talk? They had an intelligent case to be made to their fans. Instead, they played dodgeball.
What's wrong with having a transition year, anyway? It doesn't mean a bottoming-out, a surrender, or a lack of desire to win. Like it or not, this team must retool its roster by getting younger, and part of that is holding off on short-sighted moves that will only worsen the situation. The Cardinals are stuck until the farm system regenerates, some old salaries are dumped, the pitching health of Chris Carpenter and Mark Mulder turns around, and the overall flexibility improves.
Cardinals fans love their team, love baseball and love the social experience of going to ballgames. And I believe most Cardinals fans — if properly enlightened and treated as adults — would be willing to bide their time until management has a chance to rework the roster. It's not as if this franchise is headed to a sequence of 100-loss seasons, and years of futility.
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As an era ends, Cards should be straight with the fans
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