Cardinals sign Wainwright to Extension

[HometownHero]

You are jumping to a ton of conclusions here that aren't really based on any fact what so ever. Why would DeWitt, who's shown no indication that he is going to sell the team, sell the team when he stands to make a ton of money off of a new TV deal? It makes no business sense esp. when the Cardinals continue to increase in value year after year. Why would he also sell the team when DeWitt is projected to make a ton of money off of the Ball Park Village they're starting to build and have plans finalized for?

Also, not signing Pujols has nothing to do with some back room, smoke and mirrors underhanded thinking by DeWitt to sell the team in 2016-2017. It has everything to do with paying an aging player 25+ million until age 42-43 and the Cards being outbid by a team that has the financial resources to do so.

He's going to be close to 80 by the time a new TV deal is ready and he stands to make more money selling it than keeping it, he's been money grab after money grab since he's been there and after the TV deal there are no more money grabs left and then its time to dump tens of millions into stadium refurbishments and ultimately a new stadium since he cut so many corners when they built it since he didn't get as much money for local and state government as he wanted.

Also the Cardinals had very little interest in signing Albert and only would do so on terms he would never agree too. If you have all this money coming in on the TV contract carrot you don't let a guy who was going to shatter most all of Musial records go because you may have to eat a couple down years to end his career. You will make all that back in selling merch and tickets leading up to all his milestones and then make money off him once he's retired.

All those HOF players they bring around are old and by the time Albert is done and into the Hall most if not all will have passed on so who do you have ride around the track on opening day? If they were honestly in this for the long haul they don't let the next Stan Musial walk, and especially don't handle things as poorly in the negotiations as they did with Albert as they had years to get the deal done before he even hit the open market.

[MikeThierry]

He's going to be close to 80 by the time a new TV deal is ready and he stands to make more money selling it than keeping it, he's been money grab after money grab since he's been there and after the TV deal there are no more money grabs left and then its time to dump tens of millions into stadium refurbishments and ultimately a new stadium since he cut so many corners when they built it since he didn't get as much money for local and state government as he wanted.

Also the Cardinals had very little interest in signing Albert and only would do so on terms he would never agree too. If you have all this money coming in on the TV contract carrot you don't let a guy who was going to shatter most all of Musial records go because you may have to eat a couple down years to end his career. You will make all that back in selling merch and tickets leading up to all his milestones and then make money off him once he's retired.

All those HOF players they bring around are old and by the time Albert is done and into the Hall most if not all will have passed on so who do you have ride around the track on opening day? If they were honestly in this for the long haul they don't let the next Stan Musial walk, and especially don't handle things as poorly in the negotiations as they did with Albert as they had years to get the deal done before he even hit the open market.

It doesn't make sense to sell the team when they get a new TV deal because he can milk that thing for years of profit. The Cardinals organization, as well as most MLB teams, do not generally devalue over the years so he will make a ton of money regardless if he sells it before the contract or towards the end of that contract. You have to also remember that DeWitt is the head of an investor group, so it's not that simple for him to just sell the team. There is no indication that he's going to sell the team and I don't see why it would be so hard to pass on his shares of the team to DeWitt III. DeWitt III is already the President of the team. Also, I don't know where you get the idea that Busch Stadium was built by cutting corners. I haven't read anything of the sort and it's a false assumption on your part. Besides, the stadium was built in 2006 and doesn't need to refurbished anytime soon let alone a new stadium needs to be built.

I still don't know why you're linking not signing Pujols with DeWitt wanting to sell the team. Lets assume for a moment that you're correct in your analysis of the Pujols situation (which I do not agree with). If there was some dubious, behind the scene plan to sell the team it would make more sense to break the bank to resign Pujols. They would milk all the financial things that you pointed out then sell the team and not worry about the backside of his contract. Not signing Pujols tells me that the DeWitt family is in it for the long haul.

[HometownHero]

It doesn't make sense to sell the team when they get a new TV deal because he can milk that thing for years of profit. The Cardinals organization, as well as most MLB teams, do not generally devalue over the years so he will make a ton of money regardless if he sells it before the contract or towards the end of that contract. You have to also remember that DeWitt is the head of an investor group, so it's not that simple for him to just sell the team. There is no indication that he's going to sell the team and I don't see why it would be so hard to pass on his shares of the team to DeWitt III. DeWitt III is already the President of the team. Also, I don't know where you get the idea that Busch Stadium was built by cutting corners. I haven't read anything of the sort and it's a false assumption on your part. Besides, the stadium was built in 2006 and doesn't need to refurbished anytime soon let alone a new stadium needs to be built.

I still don't know why you're linking not signing Pujols with DeWitt wanting to sell the team. Lets assume for a moment that you're correct in your analysis of the Pujols situation (which I do not agree with). If there was some dubious, behind the scene plan to sell the team it would make more sense to break the bank to resign Pujols. They would milk all the financial things that you pointed out then sell the team and not worry about the backside of his contract. Not signing Pujols tells me that the DeWitt family is in it for the long haul.

You can get it all at once and then some or grind it out over 20+ years and still have the pressure to put a winner on the field, and then ending up stuck with an park at the end of its lifespan and easily looking a billion dollars to build a new one. When that deal comes up they are at their peak value I guarantee you they explore selling it as there is no more money to squeeze out of it.

Surly you have been to the park as its clear as day they cut corners, hell they have already had to put money back into improvements just a few years in to fix where the went cheap. The original plans called for it to cost just under 345M which is cheaper than parks that were built several years earlier cost even after 20M million extra being added.

San Diego 450M and Philly 458M in 2004, two years later in 06 Busch opened at 365M then in 2008 611M for Nationals Park, 2009 saw the two NY teams go for 900M for the Mets yard and 1.5B for the Yankees, 2010 was the Twins at 545M and last year Miami at 634M. The Cardinals came in well below what others were spending including a pair of 450M parks 2 years before so they came in 85M lower not even factoring in two years worth of inflation.

The team loses some value if it has bad contracts on the books when its time to sell. If you were in for the long haul you would protect your brand and letting the next Stan Musial walk when all your current HOF aren't going to be along much longer is a poor choice. If they have this TV money coming they could have afforded Albert if he did have a couple bad years late which isn't even a given and then you would raking in additional money from marking his records and accomplishments as well has having more premium ticket days on the chase.

Over the next 20 years the Cards are likely going have zero living HOF left with Albert having the 10 year personal service contract with the Angels. A major, major part of the Cardinals lore is having all those legends of the different eras always around the park but its about to end due to age and health. You just don't let that happen by pushing out the next Stan Musial for a a couple potential bad years, hell if they approached him over the two years he wanted to talk they could have ended up getting a good contract but they let other teams jack up the contracts on him and then they didn't even make a realistic offer.

[MikeThierry]

Believe what you want but you're basing your opinion on a lot of faulty assumptions. Pointing out other stadiums (which doesn't tell you the costs it takes to obtain the land, taxes involved, retractable roof in the case of Miami, etc) does nothing to prove the Cards cut corners. I've been to the stadium several times and it's beautiful. You're finding arguments for something that simply isn't there.

[HometownHero]

Believe what you want but you're basing your opinion on a lot of faulty assumptions. Pointing out other stadiums (which doesn't tell you the costs it takes to obtain the land, taxes involved, retractable roof in the case of Miami, etc) does nothing to prove the Cards cut corners. I've been to the stadium several times and it's beautiful. You're finding arguments for something that simply isn't there.

Since you're a Cardinals fan I'm sure you think they will own the team forever, but they will not just like you think they didn't cut corners which they obviously did since they had to pay so much out of pocket.

Do you think the price tag would have been the same if the City and State said they would pay for it like other teams? Clearly the answer is no they would have spent every dollar the local government would have allowed them to spend and potentially would have added some of their own money to go even nicer if need be. But they didn't get a free park so they went cheap.