Get ready for the cheap St. Louis Cardinals to say they’re too poor to improve the team

It seems like the St. Louis Cardinals are on a collision course with the will of their plans, dropping hints that they’ll slash the budget in the wake of a virtual season made up of games played in front of empty seats when two franchise icons are on the verge of free agency.

The implication, of course, is that the Cardinals might not be able to afford to sign Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina, whether or not it wants to.

I have no doubt the team didn’t make as much money in 2020 than they otherwise would have. But it’s pretty obvious that Wainwright and Molina were the two brightest Cardinals during the recently-completed season. It doesn’t make strategic sense to let them go. It isn’t good marketing to let them go. It would simply been penny pinching on the park of billionaire owners at the expense of loyal fans.

I hear all the time that “it must be nice to tell other people how to spend their money.” It’s a silly concept because their money is our money. If we didn’t buy tickets, concession and subscriptions to watch the games electronically, they’d have no business. If they don’t offer a product that people are willing to pay to see, they lose. It’s one of the oldest principles of business: You have to spend money to make money.

This year, I feel even less sorry about their budget than I usually do. Why? Because season ticket holders make up about 80 percent of the annual ticket sales at Busch Stadium and, while Cardinals fans who bought individual game tickets may have asked for and got their money back, the team is still sitting on my 2020 season ticket money. I imagine a great deal of individual and corporate season ticket buyers also rolled over their investment to 2021 for a variety of reasons. So, while they slashed payroll to reflect the number of games played, they collected at least half their gate revenue for all 81 contests. It’s not in 2020 that they’ll lose that money. It’s in 2021 when they have to give me tickets for “free.” Hence the budget crunch.

I guess they feel like if they already have our money, who cares what they put on the field. Other teams across the major sports leagues have offered incentives to their fans to show their appreciation. Some clubs have given as much as a 15 percent discount on 2021 season tickets — essentially giving fans 11 games for free — in exchange for rolling over their investment in the team. Others have paid fans interest of up to 5 percent on their investment. The Cardinals have done nothing.

Cardinals must keep Wainwright and Molina

Despite Bill DeWitt Jr.’s take that being a major sports team owner isn’t really that lucrative, I’d argue that the Cardinals are worth 10 times what they were when his group bought the team in 1995. That’s not including the fact that the $150-million sale included ownership of Busch Stadium II and the two parking garages that flanked it. And the owners promptly sold the parking garages to pay themselves back for the purchase.

So don’t tell me you’re going to let Yadi and Waino go play for the Atlanta Braves or New York Yankees because you’re too poor. Take COVID out of the picture, and it’s not our fault that you gave $70 million a year to Matt Carpenter, Dexter Fowler, Andrew Miller, Brett Cecil and Miles Mikolas. Still, Cecil’s contract is up and Carpenter, Miller and Fowler ought to be off the books in 2022.

Here’s an idea: the Cardinals need to bite the bullet and give Molina a backloaded two-year deal for $20 million. Pay him $5 million in 2021 and $15 million in 2022 when some of the payroll drain is gone. Don’t tell me that Molina will be over the hill and over-paid in 2022. It’s just creative financing of what is really a two-year contract for half of what Yadi made the past four seasons. If that doesn’t work, sweeten the pot with a personal services contract that pays him to be an ambassador of the team and a coach after his playing days are over. I don’t even want to hear any excuses about Wainwright who has played for the Cardinals at a tremendous discount the past two years. He’s an absolute bargain and it makes no sense not to re-up him for another year.

Once you get past the beloved players of the past decade and a half, the Cardinals still need help in the form of an outfielder who can hit. As I have said before, the team could save $12.5 million to sign a slugger by trading away Kolten Wong after picking up his 2021 option. Or, they could just decline the option, either letting him walk and plugging Tommy Edman in at second base. Or they could offer him a long-term extension that is backloaded to create some flexibility in 2021 if they decide they want to keep him.

Who else should the Cardinals target?

I’ve talked about the Cardinals adding Nolan Arenado a million times and he remains the best fit. But, if the Colorado Rockies want to play their traditional game of hard to get, St. Louis might look to the Boston Red Sox who are clearly in rebuilding mode. Outfielder and designated hitter J.D. Martinez makes $19.35 million each of the next two years. Martinez, 33, didn’t have much of a 2020 season — but that can be said for a lot of guys. He hit .304 with 36 homers in 2019, just the type of production the Cardinals need behind Paul Goldschmidt. Over the past five years, he’s a .313 hitter who averaged 41 homers a year. So, it’s pretty safe to throw out a screwed up, short season in which he hit .219.

It would be nice to be able to dump Carlos Martinez’s contract, but he probably ruined that chance with an absolutely horrific season. Still, the bottom line is that the Cardinals have needs and they have the means to make them happen. Cardinals fans have been patient for a long time. But, with the economy a question mark at best, fears about attending games because of COVID and other complications, they can’t afford another year of passing on chances to truly make this team better.

Scott Wuerz

Belleville News-Democrat

Scott Wuerz has written “Cheap Seats,” a St. Louis Cardinals fan blog for the Belleville News-Democrat, since 2007. He is a former BND reporter who covered breaking news and education.