I’m sure you’ve heard it said that those who refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. In this instance, I hope that’s correct. If you’d like some hope that the St. Louis Cardinals can complete a fast rebuild, I’d recommend a look back at the 1995 Cardinal team and how it quickly was converted into a championship contender.
I’ll warn you that this will not be an absolute apples to apples comparison. There are many differences between the roster of the 1995 St. Louis Cardinals and the 2025 team as it exists now. For starters, the 1994 baseball season was cut short by a work stoppage and the 1995 season had a late start because of it, too. But, I remember vividly a game I was at in Busch Stadium on July 4, 1994 when the Cardinals were obliterated by the Houston Astros 13-6. It was embarrassing. 1995 wasn’t much better as the Cardinals would eventually finish off the shorter 1995 season with a measly 62-81 record.
What happened that turned the Cardinals around into a team that was one game away from the 1996 World Series? It was Walt Jocketty taking over the general manager duties on October 14, 1994. By the start of the 1996 season, he added Royce Clayton, Luis Alicea, Gary Gaetti and Ron Gant to a roster that already included Ray Lankford, Ozzie Smith, Tom Pagnozzi and Brian Jordan. The pitching staff was fortified by adding Andy Benes, Todd Stottlemyre and Dennis Eckersley to Donovan Osbourne and a very young Alan Benes.
My reason for hope that the St. Louis Cardinals can replicate the lightning fast turnaround of the mid-1990’s is Chaim Bloom’s statement that his priority this offseason would be acquiring pitching. When I look back at the St. Louis Cardinals of the 1994-1995 season, it’s the pitching staff that Walt Jocketty assembled that made the new offensive pieces he acquired even more lethal. The 1996 Cardinals ended the season with a record of 88-74. My memory has selectively omitted the memories of that awful collapse in the National League Championship Series against the Braves when we were up 3 games to 1.
Let’s address the other elephant in the room. The St. Louis Cardinals made another major change in 1996 when Walt Jocketty brought in Tony La Russa as the manager. There’s no way to overstate how he changed the culture of the clubhouse and helped turn that roster into a championship-caliber team. I hold the unpopular opinion that Oli Marmol is not a bad manager, but I understand the desire of many to see him removed from the organization. I thought Chaim Bloom might choose to move on from Oli to send a message to fans that the team was truly making a fresh start, but I think it was mentioned on Jim Hayes Serving It Up podcast by Matt Holliday or Lance Lynn (I can’t remember which said it) that the Cardinals may not want a new manager hired just prior to a potential work stoppage again for the 2027 season. The pending collective bargaining agreement train wreck is a topic for another day, but I think there’s a chance that thought factored in to Chaim choosing to keep Oli around for one more year. I am of the belief that the Cardinals probably do need to find the next Tony La Russa (if that person even exists) before we become a championship-contending team again, but I’m optimistic that the new president of baseball operations already has the right mindset by his stated priorities to make us a winner sooner rather than later.
The current St. Louis Cardinals roster has problems the 1995 team didn’t have. Chaim Bloom must find suitors for several veteran players with big contracts that won’t be easy to move not to mention some perplexing younger players that have yet to establish themselves as reliable starters. That’s why it’s more difficult to imagine the 2025 St. Louis Cardinals having an overnight transformation like the 1996 team had. Perhaps I’m delusional or this is just wishful thinking, but I have a hunch this will not be a painful 4 or 5 year rebuild. Let’s hope we can all look back at this in a couple years and laugh as we are spraying champagne in the locker room and hoisting trophies like the good ole days. We’ll find out soon enough.
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