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Dear St. Louis Cardinals: An open letter asking for direction

What's the plan? Sell or buy. Figure it out. Fans pay good money to see a contender, not a remnant of the past. If you are rebuilding with youth, just say it. If you are stocking young arms, but going for the big sluggers as well, show us your money.
Jeff Curry-USA TODAY SPORTS

*Disclaimer: There will be no takeaways this morning. Only a letter to the St. Louis Cardinals from a writer. I will turn off my analytical-box score-scouring-optimist writer mode and just dig deep into what a fan would want to say. What needs to be said to a team. Here we go. Voice of the fan. Take it as you will. I'm tired and here's what I think.

Dear Cardinals,

I am requesting clarity from the South City bleachers. Just a little idea of what is going on. Major Tom to ground control, so to speak.

Let's back up a bit before I throw a dagger. I've watched you since 1989, or basically when I had the patience to sit through a three hour game of baseball and when Pedro Guerrero drove in 117 runs. Several teams have come and gone since that launch, and many finished in the playoffs or on top of the mountain of teams vying for supremacy.

There were good times and bad times, like a love song with never-ending lyrics and plenty of rhythm. In the early 1990's, as one phase of leadership quickly deviated into another and plans were shifted, there was a downturn in performance-but it was expected due to the juggling of front office, managing, and coaching. Then Tony La Russa arrived and things changed. PLAYOFFS! For real, it wasn't a joke.

The World Series in 2004 and 2006, with a title in the latter coming out of nowhere. 2011 featured ring #11, and with that came expectations, even if La Russa and superstar Albert Pujols left town. A change in philosophy was orchestrated, and former catcher Mike Matheny was brought in with zero managerial experience. It was weird, but I trusted John Mozeliak and Bill DeWitt Jr. They were doing great things, putting winning products on the field, so I didn't blink twice when I saw them doubling down at the blackjack table for extra chips.

2013 featured another World Series run, and 2015 gave St. Louis 100 wins-but things took a turn for the worse. The more the team had to rely on Matheny for managerial expertise, the further the car rolled down the hill. Nevertheless, Mo and company swapped out the tires and fixed the vehicle, whether it be firing coaches (Chris Maloney, Derek Lilloquist) or bringing back worn-out veteran minds like Jose Oquendo (who may have intentionally took a hammer to his knee to get away from the team and its swan dive.)

Two years went by and there were no playoff games. October baseball in St. Louis was absent, like a closed down theater that couldn't sell enough tickets to the big show--which is too bad, because playoff baseball in St. Louis is like a celebration day for the city. The long red sleeves come out, the stadium shakes, and the Arch shines just a little brighter across the Mississippi River. That has been missing, and I want to know when it's coming back.

This leads me back to my first line of the letter. What is going on? Is there a plan? What is it and how long will it take?

Let's get right to it. This current team isn't even good enough to win a wildcard spot. If the playoff started today, the Cardinals would finish fourth, tied with the Philadelphia Phillies for fourth place behind Milwaukee, Atlanta, Arizona, Chicago, Washington, and Los Angeles. That's not terrible, but for a team with a triple-digit payroll, it's not good enough.

You're suffering from blind ambition. Last summer, when you promoted Michael Girsch to be the team puppet and wear the General Manager title, you told the media that the National League Central was in your sights. You proceeded to do little to nothing at the deadline. Sure, some things fell through and there were talks. Nice. I also make big plans and watch them to waste. You finished third in the division and watched the playoffs for the second straight year.

Then, you made a huge push for Giancarlo Stanton, something that would change your team. The best offer that would have been accepted if the guy didn't have a no-trade clause. He chose New York over St. Louis, vanquishing the reputation that St. Louis was the kettle corn of stops for a baseball player. You then traded for Marcell Ozuna, who would do everything Stanton could do, only for eight less seasons on the ledger. Cool deal. Luke Gregerson was brought in to be a closer, which was Mozeliak's standup comedy bit.

There was an out of nowhere signing of Tokyo stud Miles Mikolas and the hiring of his former pitching coach, Mike Maddux. Those have seemed to work out well so far, but Mikolas can only pitch every fifth day and he can't swing the bat every other day. Maddux was hired to coach pitching, but seems to default to Matheny in late game pitching selections, which isn't appetizing.

Here's the problem: after a 20-12 start, you are 16-20 since. There are no reinforcements on the way from Memphis and Paul DeJong is still at least 2-3 weeks away from returning, when the team could be a decent distance worse than .500. It's not enough to ride on with the low amount of hope left. The team is sinking, the fundamentals are awful, and the schedule doesn't get any lighter. Other teams are smelling blood and going for broke. The Padres and Cubs have pounced on first pitches this week and made out okay. They are discovering how to attack the pitching and the rest of the league is watching.

The Marlins took two of three games and the Cincinnati Reds almost won two games against you before the Padres and Cubs won their respective series. If that is supposed to inspire hope, please pass around whatever you are drinking, because we all want some. We need it, because your play only inspires the need to schedule vacations for October instead of reserve playoff seats.

It would be a third year in a row without playoff action, which is what logical minds call a trend in the wrong direction. Before you know it, July will be here, and that will be accompanied by the trade deadline just a month later. So, once again, what is your plan? How are you going to pull out of this?

I like Jack Flaherty, but he isn't going to turn the season around. Austin Gomber is talented, but he's currently in long relief. Dexter Fowler isn't going to turn it around enough to produce the 2.5 WAR he did last year. Kolten Wong may be able to save a lot of runs on defense, but he can't hit. Matt Carpenter has recovered enough of his 2017 self to be respectable, but we will never see the 2013 guy again.

Tommy Pham may reach a 3.5-4.0 WAR, but he will want to get paid, and he turns 31 next year. I think his vision is okay, but sometimes it looks like he's looking for three baseballs instead of one. Ozuna is looking quite nice after a slow start, but we can't clone him so he is able to hit third and fourth in the lineup.

Luke Weaver is nice and all, but he's not a #2 starter. Keeping Mikolas around may be important, but can he keep up this pace for a whole season or two? Adam Wainwright is going to get the Matt Holliday departure treatment in August, but that's it. Dakota Hudson and Ryan Helsey sure are good looking, but they can't hit or play everyday. The team's problem is hitting and doing the basic things correctly. How do those two guys help that?

You need to figure out if you are buying or selling, and do it soon. You try to sneak a fastball by fans packing your stadium 3.4 million strong that the playoffs are realistic, but that joke only lives for so long. Start buying or sell quickly. We all know you aren't trading for Manny Machado, no matter how many times Bob Nightengale writes about it.

Jose Martinez is a great success story, but you can trade high on him right now. Wong's defense would be valuable to a team and Jedd Gyorko's power may play if his bat starts to wake up. Pham may not be a 6.0 WAR player, but he will finish with solid stats. He will want to get paid though. Are you ready to do that? I don't think so. He's 31 years old next March, so figure it out. Trade high on a guy before he sinks completely back to Earth.

You went all in on David Price, but got outbid. You went all in on Stanton, but got the shaft. You have won 86 and 88 games the past two years, which isn't bad, but still not good enough. At this pace, you are barely cracking 82-84 wins, which will get you a ticket to the Enterprise Center for Blues hockey.

What's the plan? Sell or buy. Figure it out. Fans pay good money to see a contender, not a remnant of the past. If you are rebuilding with youth, just say it. If you are stocking young arms, but going for the big sluggers as well, show us your money. Put the cards on the table, because the Cards on the field kind of suck right now. Fans deserve clarity and peace of mind if they are paying 30 dollars to get in and loads of cash to get halfway decent food and beer. Put your money where your mouth is.

Mozeliak is a very good General Manager, but he's the President of Baseball Operations and a guy who hasn't got much to show for his efforts recently. He's staring down the barrel of wasted efforts on Mike Leake, Brett Cecil, Fowler, and Greg Holland.

Matheny has good intentions, but he's not getting through to this team and not improving as an in-game manager. He blamed Michael Wacha's Friday struggles on crowd noise. I mean, come on. Mabry's methods are tired and outdated. If you are willing to fire the coaches to shake things up, why not rock the boat entirely and can the rest? We know how hard it must be to swallow the bullet that hiring a guy with zero experience to take over for a competitive team with a big payroll was a bad idea-but it's almost that time. The salad's ready, so get your fork out.

This letter has ran long, so let me get to the point. The Cardinals are 36-32 on a downward trend. In other words, they have lost six of their last ten games and four in a row with the Phillies, Brewers, Indians, and Braves awaiting. By July 1, clarity will be served. Please, give it to us early.

I won't stop watching or writing. Amateurs do that. Bandwagon fans do that. I can't. Baseball is an addiction and the Cardinals are my drug. I'll be around, but would prefer some direction. Roller coasters aren't fun when they go on for three years instead of three minutes.

Sincerely,

Dan Buffa

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