Bernie Show: The '25 Cardinals, fun or dull?

The St. Louis Cardinals are using 2025 as a showcase for their younger, less experienced players. The "play the kids" mantra s somewhat misleading because some of the guys that are part of a so-called youth movement have actually been in the majors for two or three seasons. Moreover, if the Cardinals aren't committed to giving abundant playing-time opportunities to two of their youngest and least experienced position players -- Victor Scott II and Ivan Herrera -- then what's all this noise about?

Speaking with Tom Ackerman on KMOX this past Sunday, Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak described the kind of team he wants the 2025 Cardinals to be. His answer: "What I really hope the identity of this club is, that it's a younger, athletic, entertaining, fun-to-watch team." Mozeliak also said the offense (hopefully) would be a balance between power and "guys that can hit doubles and put the ball in play. ... a team that can score in multiple ways."

That sounds good, but do the Cardinals have the pieces -- as of now -- to play that kind of ball in 2025? Can they be a more athletic team? Last season the Cards ranked 12th in the NL in home runs, 11th in slugging, 11th in doubles, and 10th in triples. With the new rules installed before the 2023 season to make it much easier to steal bases, the Cardinals have lagged to keep up with the new trend; over the past two seasons the Cardinals were 25th among 30 MLB teams in base-stealing effectiveness per the FanGraphs metric. And part of that is a lack of team speed; last season they were one of the slowest teams in the majors. I hope the Cardinals can play a more athletic, speed-oriented, aggressive style of baseball offensively in 2025, but there aren't enough pieces to fit that specific profile. Thanks for watching, and please subscribe!