The only conclusion that we as fans can take from this consistent approach is that its not a bug, its a feature. The owner wants to make money. Sneak into the playoffs and get lucky. Thats the plan.

I think whats missing in Dewitt's plan is those 2004/2005/2006/2011/2013 teams had way more talent. They under-performed in the playoffs or during the season. Depends on the year. But, if it clicked, get lucky in the playoffs like it seems is Dewitt's plan, they had talent to win when they got on a roll.

The teams I'm seeing since 2014 needs it to go perfect to win in the playoffs.
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Not gonna happen w/ 3 rounds. DEFINITELY won't happen w/ 4 when the playoff expansions become permanent.

Baseball isn't hockey where a goalie can steal you 4 rounds by being unconscious. It's not basketball where you can have one guy just strafe creation for 16-20 games. It's not football where it's 1 and done and a guy like Flacco can just get hot for 3 games.

There's an element of crapshoot to a particular round, but man, it STILL requires a difference-maker somewhere and the Cardinals flat do not have one. The closest they can point to is Flaherty and he's not enough on his own. You have to reach a threshhold level of talent and the Cardinals do not seem inclined to attempt to do so.

You cannot steal a World Series if you're not trying. Even the 2006 Cardinals, arguably the weakest WS winner ever, had 4 guys in the midst of HoF caliber careers who had simply underperformed to that point. Yeah, their record sucked, but they had Carpenter, Molina, Pujols, Rolen and Edmonds on that squad and mostly healthy by the post-season.

This team has 1 guy who can hang with that level of player (Flaherty) another who's showing a rebound to that level (Goldschmidt) and....what? The second most valuable player on this team right now is almost certainly Brad !@#$ing Miller.

And that's to say nothing of the 2011 squad or the 2004/5 squads.

I mean this team isn't even a reasonable facsimile of teams built back when Dewitt gave a shit. And it COULD'VE been.

But our owner doesn't care and our GM is an idiot.
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Lord those 04/05 teams were just, unreal.

Hate that we ran into that destiny shit ass Boston team in 04.
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04' might have been the most fun regular season of baseball I have ever watched.
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04*06 were my favorite years.
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The '04 season was the most fun I've ever had as a baseball fan, even if it didn't end in a series.

That summer was just something to behold. A 90 game stretch of 60-22 baseball where it felt like they were just toying with teams. LaRussa just glowering from the top step and teams literally losing before the first pitch because those teams were smart and mean as fuck.

Nobody wanted to play them. Teams were openly intimidated by that squad. The 2011 post-season may have been the best job by a manager I've seen over a short period, but nothing will ever capture the upshot of having Tony LaRussa as your manager (warts notwithstanding) better than that 90 game stretch where they perfectly reflected his style.

It was a short taste of what rooting for the Empire in Star Wars would've been like....right up to the damn death star exploding at the end. They weren't some plucky little darling underdog. They were on a mission man, they were the terminator. They were a soulless killing machine. And yeah, it blew up in the end but for a bit there it was one hell of a ride.
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I think almost if not all of Cardinal nations believe the same.

That 04 team was a juggernaut. They didn’t just beat teams, they crushed their spirit. No team wanted to play us. It was the best regular season team I’ve ever witnessed. The 05 team is by far the best team I’ve ever seen that didn’t even get to a WS.
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When they got Walker it just felt like we were rubbing it in, you just couldn't imagine it getting any better.

Anything can happen in a short series, but I just didn't see the Sox coming in on fumes, even after an emotional series against their rival being able to sustain that...yet it happened.

The 69 Orioles won 109 games yet lost to the Mets (who did win 100 games). The Mets were hot at the end and had young arms, a couple of studs up front in Seaver and Koosman and McGraw and Ryan in the bullpen. Other than Cleon Jones and Tommie Agee it was pretty much a journeymen lineup who got hot at the end of the year.
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Exactly. Who on this team belongs/replace these guys?

Walker
Pujols
Rolen
Edmonds
Sanders
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One thing about Jockety- he didn't give a fuck about making trades or disrupting the clubhouse morale like Mo does. The trading deadline was always exciting with Walt but always a yawn with Mo. I may hate Mo more than I hated Carl Peterson and the turd that followed.
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Jocketty was never afraid of being wrong.

Mozeliak's terrified of it.

That pretty much sums up the difference in their approaches.
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So we are back to....fire Mo? :-) I'm in
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Back? Who in here hasn't been on that bandwagon for years?
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I was about to reply with the same.
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Kudos to the offense- 16 runs! Now we will average 1-2 runs/game for a while. I hate to sound so negative but this offense is so unpredictable.
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