During the late days of summer, the St. Louis Cardinals acquired Matt Holliday, Mark DeRosa, and Julio Lugo. The front office did everything possible to put a successful team in front of the redbird nation. The acquisitions brought energy to the city and people felt that the organization wanted the best for their faithful fans. But many forgot that money can’t buy success. The sweep of the Cardinals proved the point that money only gets you so far, the players have to be blamed for the meltdown.
It’s a sad reality for fans who felt that the Cardinals could be a contender granting that their lineup consisted of the MVP frontrunner and 2 Cy Young candidates. Albert Pujols, complained during years past that he didn’t have the cast to help carry his team to a championship, but after gaining three big bats in the lineup, he failed to lead his team. Not only did the Birds choke in the clutch, but disappointed many fans, who have been supporting them through the ups and downs.
Maybe we’re being too harsh, the Cardinals provided fun and excitement during the season, but couldn’t put it together in the end. It’s hard to feel bad for a group of professional athletes getting paid millions of dollars. In the end, the blame for the three playoff games falls on the players’ shoulders. Inability to produce cannot be placed on the management or the manager, Tony LaRussa.
Teams make a push in the playoffs because of the chemistry between their players, and the teams riding hot streaks have the ability to make a run. The Cardinals finished 2-8 in their final 10 games. Buying success has proven irrelevant to many teams like the Cubs and the Mets both have 135 million dollar payrolls, tied for second in the majors, but failed to make the playoffs. If it was all about money, the New York Yankees, who constantly post a tab of around 200 million dollars, would win the World Series, but they haven’t since 2000 and failed to make the playoffs last year.
In many leagues with a salary cap, some teams will try to maximize the cap. The Oakland Raiders rank second in money spent in the NFL, but have failed to win a game so far this season. The undefeated Colts are dead last in the league and almost always are in contention. Last season the Super Bowl featured the Pittsburgh Steelers (12th) winning over the Arizona Cardinals (17th).
Many view the St. Louis Cardinals as an uptight organization, who spend very little money to make position upgrades. But there were no excuses this year, the team was equipped. The bottom line is: the players are the ones who need to keep the fans happy; they’re the ones getting paid.