A St. Louis Dynasty: The Cardinal Way

Dynasty is not a word that is handed out in the sports world. To go down in history as a true dynasty a team must be exceptional for a substantial period of time. This has become incredibly challenging in today’s ultra-competitive and for the most part even playing field where it seems that regardless of the sport, any team can beat any other team on any given day of the week, except maybe the Jacksonville Jaguars, but that is a story for another day.

The St. Louis Cardinals have to be considered a dynasty in my opinion. Looking back on their résumé since 2000, the Cardinals have been to the playoffs 10 times, the N.L.C.S. 8 times, the World Series 4 times, including this year, and won the 2006 and 2011 titles. To say that those numbers are impressive is an understatement. The baseball team based out of a city that seemingly gets more coverage for its ribs and barbeque has simply made a habit of winning since the turn of the century and there is no sign of them letting up.


Perhaps even more intriguing than the championships and accolades that the Cards have been racking up over the past 14 years, are the ways in which they have achieved them. The ‘Cardinal Way’ is a saying that is tossed around a lot when discussing the franchise. This ideology or whatever you want to call it permeates throughout the entire organization and it ultimately starts and ends with drafting talented, versatile players who are solid both offensively and defensively and stocking up on quality pitching. The players then become a product of the farm system where their raw talents are molded in such a way to make them successful at the major league level. They also come to learn and experience first-hand the ‘Cardinal Way’ which was summed up by their ace Adam Wainwright as, “an expectation of winning, an expectation of professionalism that comes with that winning, and doing things the right way.”

Every team in baseball wants to be able to rely on drafted players and not have to go out signing and re-signing free agents but few can field a team based largely on prospects. The Cardinals however, can. Why is it that they have been able to accomplish this goal so much better than everyone else for such a sustained period of time? It all started with Jeff Luhnow who worked with Cardinals scouting department from 2003 through 2011.

When he came into his position the Cardinals farm system looked nothing like it does now, but he completely reinvigorated it by drafting franchise players. They were often successful in the later rounds of the MLB draft, but have found more of their pitching gems in the early rounds such as snagging Michael Wacha, Joe Kelly, Lance Lynn (supplemental draft), and Shelby Miller all within the first three rounds. 18 of the 26 players on the red birds World Series roster are homegrown, and 17 of those 18 from the draft. The Cardinals have clearly proven that their system is the most successful in all of baseball right now.

The draft is a crucial part to building any organization, but the Cardinals franchise has taken their draft preparations as well as post-draft signings to a whole new level. Their draft strategy has been unrivaled and their success reflects this. A big part of it is their financial strategy for adhering to new Draft bonus restrictions put in place in the most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Scouting director Dan Kantrovitz said. "We went in with a strategy and executed the strategy and we're getting guys out and playing quickly. That was one of our goals. We wanted to have a Draft that was a combination of some advanced proven performers with some younger, higher-upside, higher-risk guys with a healthy mix of players that play premium positions." The Cards are able to maintain extremely high signing percentages by having a strategy for how to spend the money they have allotted for draft picks and often sign their picks under slot value.

The names that stick out the most when discussing the Cardinals talent that has arisen from there farm system are Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina. More recently, players like Michael Wacha, Matt Carpenter, Allen Craig, Pete Kozma and Carlos Martinez are examples of homegrown talent that has been incredibly successful at the major league level for the Cards. It is truly impressive what the Cardinals have done, especially in the last two seasons after losing Albert Pujols.

It just further speaks to the ‘Cardinal Way’ and the ‘next man up’ mantra that this storied franchise seems to live by. There is always a new ballplayer ready to come up and fill a hole left by free agency, trades, or injuries, and almost all of them have become studs in St. Louis. The Cardinals have gone about building their franchise in all the right ways and do an unbelievable job in assessing, acquiring, and coaching skilled players. Through this, they have established themselves as a dynasty ever since the turn of the century.

The Cardinals fell short of another title this year, but with a core nucleus of talented young ballplayers, the Cards will continue to be in title contention for years to come.