ST. LOUIS – Nearly one month away from spring training and just days before Winter Warm-Up, it seems the St. Louis Cardinals might stand pat for the rest of the offseason.
Coming off their first losing season in 15 years, the Cardinals were aggressive in the early weeks of the offseason. Rotation hopefuls Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn, and Kyle Gibson all joined out of free agency before the Winter Meetings.
In recent weeks, the Cardinals also acquired a few potential bullpen pieces in trades for outfielders Tyler O’Neill and Richie Palacios. Other than that, it’s been a pretty quiet offseason. If you’re hoping that changes, don’t hold your breath.
Last Thursday, during a Billy Joel and Sting concert announcement at Busch Stadium, Cardinals president Bill DeWitt III gave FOX 2 this assessment of the offseason:
“We were pretty clear about what we thought we needed on the pitching front, and [lead executive John Mozeliak] addressed that pretty quickly in the offseason. He did a great job of that. Who knows? Maybe there’s a little more to do. We’d love to get some bullpen support. I think it’s exciting because we got a good everyday club. A lot of young players who are coming into their own with a lot of upside. I’m really excited about the upcoming season.”
Days later, MLB.com reporter John Denton spoke with DeWitt, and he echoed a similar message about his confidence in this year’s team. He also indicated a reason why it might not look much different than it does today, come Opening Day.
“Because of various financial uncertainties, the club isn’t likely to make any more moves this offseason that would significantly increase payroll,” Denton said, based on his talks with DeWitt.
Perhaps the biggest of those uncertainties is the future of Bally Sports Midwest, the regional sports network for St. Louis Cardinals broadcasts. Its parent company, Diamond Sports, filed for bankruptcy last year and could be off the hook for Cardinals broadcasts after the 2024 season.
The Cardinals are nearly halfway through a TV-partner contract with Bally Sports Midwest that, currently standing, pays the team $1 billion through 2032. The contract took effect when the RSN was known as FOX Sports Midwest under different ownership.
To the point raised in Denton’s report, changes to the Cardinals’ ties with Bally Sports Midwest could mean less revenue for the team. In theory, that could make it more difficult for the Cardinals ownership group to justify top-dollar signings. DeWitt and his father Bill Sr. acknowledged various challenges around the ongoing Diamond Sports situation during last year’s Winter Warm Up offseason event.
As for spending, the Cardinals currently sit 11th among MLB teams in projected payroll heading into the 2024 season. Their payroll of $177 million is a relatively modest increase from last season.
What happens with their current TV deal remains to be seen. E-commerce giant Amazon was reportedly in talks with the Diamond Sports Group to stream games currently airing on Diamond’s RSNs through Amazon Prime.
Any closure on that situation will have to wait a little bit longer than expected. MLB reportedly rejected an initial offer this week for Amazon to take over Diamond’s baseball RSNs. And one court hearing scheduled for Wednesday over the Diamond Sports situation has now been postponed to Jan. 19.
