{"time":1790887165590,"blocks":[{"id":"PfZ8KQUmLi","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"While the St. Louis Cardinals spent most of the season\ncelebrating the fact that they stayed in Wild Card contention for months in a\nrebuilding season with MLB’s second-youngest roster, at least one media outlet wasn’t\nvery impressed with what the franchise did in 2026."}},{"id":"mkK8gLCYUd","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"In ESPN's annual grades for the MLB regular season, MLB writer David Scoenfield awarded the Cardinals with a C letter grade after finishing\n77-85 – one game worse than 2025 when they were 78-84. It is the first time\nsince 1958-59 that the Cardinals had consecutive losing full seasons and it is\nthe fourth straight year that they are on the outside of the playoffs. Of\ncourse, they deserve something of a pass for this season by trading away Nolan\nArenado, Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras and Brendan Donovan for prospects while\ntrying to restock the Minor League system with young and promising talent. "}},{"id":"rmC8JPhUqN","type":"embed","data":{"service":"twitter","source":"https://x.com/MLBNetwork/status/2103144174635626651","embed":"https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?id=2103144174635626651","width":600,"height":300,"caption":"","meta":{"title":"MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) on X","site_name":"X (formerly Twitter)","description":"“It's a lot to look forward to if you're a St. Louis @Cardinals fan…”\n\nMichael McGreevy reflects on the 2026 season and core of young talent in St. Louis moving forward.","image":{"url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HS_bASvb0AAQbRY?format=webp&name=large","type":"image/webp","width":"1280","height":"720"}}}},{"id":"Jfjy70ZpM-","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Despite the losing record and missing the playoffs again in\n2026, the Cardinals were one of 13 MLB squads to outperform their preseason\nwins totals in projections by PowerRankingsGuru.com. Computer models projected\nthat the Cards would win 74.1 games in 2026, and they eclipsed that models by\n2.9 wins."}},{"id":"_-GBim4lyW","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"The Cardinals finished in a three-way tie with the Washington\nNationals and Minnesota Twins for MLB’s 19th-best record. While the\nNats had a plus-six run differential, the Cards (minus-29) and Twins (minus-58)\nwere badly outscored on the season."}},{"id":"86SEKSJO12","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"“I think when you go into a season and the objective is to\nfind out what you do and don’t have, where the strengths are, where some of the\nareas of improvement are needed, I think we now go into the offseason with 100\npercent clarity as to where all that stands,” Cardinals’ manager Oliver Marmol\nsaid. “Then, you take a peek back at what’s in Triple-A and Double-A, there’s a\nhelluva lot to be excited about. You’re excited about what we currently have in\nthat (clubhouse) and what’s coming (from the Minor Leagues). We can get good\npretty darn quick if we continue to make strides, develop players, do what we’re\nsupposed to do as a staff, and they respond the way they are supposed to as\nplayers. I think we’ve put ourselves in a pretty good position.” "}},{"id":"b4xww-ZhPg","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Cardinals Claim Former Top 100 Pitching Prospect Off Waivers from Yankees, Nats"}},{"id":"0AmhK5dOHm","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"The Tampa Bay Rays (18.4), Milwaukee Brewers (17.4), Chicago\nWhite Sox (15.3) and Chicago Cubs (11.2) had the biggest gains over their\nprojected win totals. Among the other teams in the National League Central, the\nPittsburgh Pirates (2.3) finished ahead of their projection, while the Cincinnati\nReds (minus-4.9) saw significant dropoff. The cross-state Kansas City Royals (minus-12.8)\nwere one of the biggest disappointments along with the Giants (minus-16.2) who\nwere guided by St. Louis native and MLB rookie manager Tony Vitello."}},{"id":"eScV5KNWNQ","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Here is Schoenfield’s summation of the Cardinals’ season\nand the C grade they were given in the article posted on ESPN.com:"}},{"id":"3NnZDkhWhU","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"The Cardinals weren't a disaster in 2026, which\nis a good thing, considering this team could have easily gone sideways. Chaim\nBloom, in his first year heading up baseball operations, completely committed\nto youth, running out the second-youngest group of position players in the\nmajors. "}},{"id":"R088UAJ2xc","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Jordan Walker finally broke out and Alec\nBurleson (led) the majors in RBIs, which no Cardinals player has done since Joe\nTorre in 1971. JJ Wetherholt showed he's going to be a valuable player; he and Masyn\nWinn might both win Gold Gloves. There is more young talent on the way, too,\nwith Leo Bernal and Joshua Baez getting a taste of the big leagues this season,\nand Rainiel Rodriguez, Liam Doyle and Tanner Franklin next in line."}},{"id":"F9IbrQpxXr","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"The best thing here is that the Cardinals were\nat least interesting for the first time in a long time. (Even some of their\nrecent playoff teams weren't all that exciting.) The payroll has been trimmed\nto the bare bones, so there's room heading into 2027 to address the rotation\nand bullpen."}},{"id":"aUXrvOqAgQ","type":"embed","data":{"service":"twitter","source":"https://x.com/Rinedog1/status/2104764614957318248","embed":"https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?id=2104764614957318248","width":600,"height":300,"caption":"","meta":{"title":"St. Louis Cardinals Convo (@Rinedog1) on X","site_name":"X (formerly Twitter)","description":"What were your top 5 favorite moments of the season: #stlcards\nMine: \n#1","image":{"url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/amplify_video_thumb/2088748404784406528/img/enY-Jh8CAkzCcxZT?format=webp&name=large","type":"image/webp","width":"1280","height":"720"}}}},{"id":"1fbmLMq0c0","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Among the Cardinals’ National League Central Division\nrivals, the 103-win Brewers were given an A+, while the Cubs were given a B\neven though they failed in their stated goal of winning the division for the\nfirst time in five years. The 82-80 Pirates, who saw major regressions among\npitchers Paul Skenes and Mitch Keller, were awarded a B- grade. The 75-87 Reds,\na playoff team in 2025, was given a D following their last-placed finish in the\ndivision."}},{"id":"3OL8xQ6wVu","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"Six other teams – the Tigers, Rockies, Blue Jays, Royals,\nAthletics and Mets – were tagged with D grades."}},{"id":"4Ah1j9CZL0","type":"paragraph","data":{"text":"The Los Angeles Angels, Seattle Mariners and Giants were\nthe three teams that received Fs for grades."}}],"version":"2.31.6"}

Despite Being Underdogs in 2006, Cardinals Got Healthy, Carried Grudge to World Series Win

Tony La Russa Considers '06 Cardinals World Series Team A Favorite Because of Grit