Media demagoguery: “Best fans in baseball” turn on team owner, GM
To read the Post-Dispatch, both its writers and its commenters, one would think that the Cardinals, led by that dastardly 21st-century Charlie Comiskey, Bill DeWitt, are suddenly the 1998 Florida Marlins. With the Post running yellow headlines like "St. Louis Cardinals’ cash flow not as fluid as many thought" (who is the "many," anyway?) and "Cardinals watch Fuentes sign with Angels and Miles with Cubs" and its writers trying to stoke the fires of discontent, it’s perhaps no wonder that fans are following suit. It’s a sad case of the tail wagging the dog in Cardinal Nation.
For a fan base with a reputation as one of, if not the best in baseball, Cardinal fans would do well to read some facts in context, rather than the emotional class warmongering at the local paper. Such as the reality that having the 11th-highest payroll is actually very aggressive, given that St. Louis ranks 18th in size of metro area among MLB teams. It’s easy for writers to take pot shots at DeWitt — such as Bernie Miklasz’s baseless insinuation that DeWitt plans to "rake in the revenue." Is it too much to ask for even a guesstimate of what that might be? To top it off, Miklasz, who is talented and popular enough to not have to resort to such muckraking, suggests that the team might have been more ambitious and signed Brad Penny, who started only 17 games last year because of shoulder tendinitis. This coming from a guy who only a couple of months ago admitted that "the Cardinals got burned on pitching deals with Carpenter and Mark Mulder." You can’t have it both ways.
(Speaking of Miklasz’s article, which blogs "in the blogosphere, where the rage bubbles into a rapid boil," was he referring to? No one among the United Cardinal Bloggers radio show Wednesday could recall anyone sharing the viewpoint. Care to cite any, Bernie?)
The reality is that very few teams have spent any money this offseason. That the Cardinals have resisted making bad signings should be a badge of wisdom rather than ignominy. But facts tend to get in the way of demagoguery. For instance, the Cardinals had the fourth-highest total value of team play (J.C. Bradbury’s index of overall quality put on the field) from 2003-2005, the most recent work we’ve seen on the subject:
| Rk | Team | Total Value |
| 1 | Red Sox | $ 468.16 |
| 2 | Yankees | $ 455.72 |
| 3 | Braves | $ 436.39 |
| 4 | Cardinals | $ 432.74 |
| 5 | Giants | $ 427.95 |
Yet the Cardinals were 19th in terms of spending efficiency:
| Rk | Team | Net Value |
| 1 | Indians | $ 92.50 |
| 2 | Marlins | $ 90.81 |
| 3 | Devil Rays | $ 90.11 |
| 4 | Brewers | $ 88.54 |
| 5 | Pirates | $ 83.99 |
| … | ||
| 19 | Cardinals | $ 57.87 |
| … | ||
| 26 | Red Sox | $ 39.14 |
| 27 | Mariners | $ 35.97 |
| 28 | Dodgers | $ 31.43 |
| 29 | Mets | $ 16.29 |
| 30 | Yankees | $ (29.84) |
That is, the Cardinals — read: that evil DeWitt guy — provided a quality product but paid a lot for it, meaning that, if anything, the team might’ve spent unwisely but certainly not too little. In the ensuing years, ownership has invested in international scouting and privately financed a little building at the corner of 8th and Clark downtown. So if anything, it’s fair to say that ownership has not been clamming up the wallet on those loyal fans.
Cardinal fans have an embarrassingly short memory these days. How many fans realize that the Cardinals in effect made the fourth-highest free-agent starting-pitcher signing in Kyle Lohse (4 years/$41 million)? Or that, in trading for Khalil Greene, who will make $6.5 million in 2009, the Cardinals made the third-priciest shortstop acquisition of the winter (behind those small-market LA Dodgers and San Francisco Giants).
Perhaps it is no matter and is merely willful ignorance on the part of some Cardinal fans who have become indistinguishable from the rest of class-envying contemporary culture. The reality is that this offseason can’t be fairly judged until Oct. 4, when the season’s record will be in. Only then will fans be able to lament that the profiteering ownership group scammed fans out of a year of competitive baseball. Until then, wise up, Cardinal Nation and give your team the benefit of the doubt and maybe a little patience. And fans (and media), try backing up your shrill whining with some facts in context. Otherwise, be prepared to be known as the former best fans in baseball.
January 8th, 2009 at 8:47 am
It is nice to finally read something from someone with a realistic and objective point of view. Your site is becoming one of my favorite sites. I have never looked at it from the point of view that it is the media that is creating all the negativity I keep reading on blog sites claiming fans are upset. Baseball is entertainment and a business. The Cardinals have always put an entertaining team on the field, and I strongly believe that a business has a right to make a profit. The Yankees prove that spending money does not automatically produce a World Series title. I think that what we are seeing this off-season is the Cardinals are being very prudent and trying to not make any dumb mistakes that would jeopardize their future while they give their farm system a chance to produce future World Champions. A far as the ownership being cheep! Look at the money they have put into building for the future with the investments they have made in (1) the stadium, (2) owning their own minor league teams, (3) smart quality draft choices the past few years and (4) International players. I think they are not being cheep, just smart building something that will produce quality baseball that the fans can enjoy for a long time. I just wish that Cardinal fans would appreciate what they have and stop looking at the glass as half empty.
January 8th, 2009 at 9:10 am
Well done, Pip. You have echoed my thoughts exactly.
January 8th, 2009 at 9:52 am
See, here I was going to try to blog on this general topic and you go and do it much better than I ever could. (But I’m going to do it anyway–need a entry today!) Very, very good work.
January 8th, 2009 at 9:54 am
Well, I found one blog that’s losing its mind:
http://bellevillenewsdemocrat.typepad.com/viewfromthecheapseats/2009/01/fox-sports-trouble-in-st-louis.html
January 8th, 2009 at 10:23 am
Glad to know that there are still some loyal (read: reasonable) fans out there, guys.
As for writing more on the subject, Daniel, go for it. As Kramer once said, “There’s enough juice here to keep us all fat and giggly.” And thanks for the compliments; I’m sure that you’ll give it a compelling and unique treatment as always. After all, one of the benefits of the blogosphere is that consumers aren’t beholden to one voice as they are with the old media. As the UCB is showing, the more, the merrier.
Nick: As for The View from the Cheap Seats, he’s a newspaper blog, so I’ll give him half a blogosphere point.
January 8th, 2009 at 10:26 am
As I said, a compelling and unique treatment of the topic from C70.
January 8th, 2009 at 10:36 am
Yeah Pip I know – but it’s like a train wreck, I can’t help but go over there and read which sky is falling today!
January 8th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
When I was trying to think of negative blogs today, Cheap Seats was the only one I could think of, because I’d read that entry.
And thanks for your kind words as well, Pip! It is great that there are so many outlets for different viewpoints.
January 8th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
YES! YES, YES, YES!
I love the way this was written and agree 100%. Thank you for stating it so clearly Pip. Well done.
January 8th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Thanks for the impressive arse kicking, Pip. Hope you had pleasant holidays and look forward to seeing you at Busch soon. One minor defense point: Mulder and Carpenter were multi-year deals; taking a flyer on someone like Penny represents a relatively minor risk, because it is a 1-year deal.
Best Regards,
Bernie
January 8th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
LOL! Thanks for checking in and for the gracious greetings, Bernie. And point well-taken on the Mulder/Carpenter deals.
I’m looking forward to seeing you at the park soon, too, so that you can give me a real-life arse kicking.
January 8th, 2009 at 11:17 pm
Preach it, brother.
January 8th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
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