Blues Views

Happy Opening Day to all that celebrate…

This might sound a bit crazy, but I’m looking forward to this season more than any Cardinals season since 2022. Yeah, it’s likely to be ugly. Yeah, they’re almost certainly a bottom-5 team in baseball. But there’s a beauty in having zero expectations. For the first time in a decade, the Cardinals aren’t pretending to be something they’re not. The goal isn’t 85 wins and sneaking into a playoff spot. They’re not selling us on Kyle Gibson as the missing piece, and they’re not running out a $35 million Nolan Arenado to weakly pop out with the bases loaded. The Cardinals are telling us they’re going to struggle, and honestly, there’s a peacefulness in that. St. Louis is actually rebuilding for the first time in my lifetime, and I’m excited to watch it begin.

I understand the frustration with the organization. After an incredible run from 2004 to 2015, when St. Louis set the standard in baseball, the Cardinals have just one playoff series win in the last eleven years. It felt like management made the wrong move time after time, and even while “competing,” they were never truly a World Series threat.

But this is a new era. The Chaim Bloom era. It’s going to come with growing pains, no doubt, but there’s finally a clear long-term vision for greatness. That starts with the teardown we saw this offseason. Instead of settling for “good enough,” the organization is trying to build something real again. It might take three, four, five years (or more), but this is the process that needed to happen. There’s a new voice leading the way, and as a fanbase, we need to buy into it. St. Louis has a top-5 prospect pool in baseball, and this season will show which young roster players (Walker, Gorman, etc.) are part of the future, and who isn’t.

We call St. Louis “baseball heaven.” Let’s show that it still is. Respect the process. Understand the process. It might be ugly, but now isn’t the time to check out. It’s the time to lean in. When they’re contenders again in 2031, it’ll all be worth it. Go Birds.

Justin Faulk is officially headed to the Detroit Red Wings. The early reported return is a 1st, 3rd, and Justin Holl.

More updates to come on this trade too. But after a week of waiting, the Blues get it done in the final hour. Two veterans out for 1st round picks+. Way to go, Doug. You appear to have redeemed yourself. Let’s Go Blues.