FanPost

Thoughts on the Luis Robert (Non)Signing

As I'm sure many of you have heard by now, it appears the Cardinals will finish runner-ups in the Luis Robert sweepstakes. The age-19 Cuban outfield prospect updated his Instagram page with a profile pic of him donning a Chicago White Sox cap. The imminent then became official a few hours later with a Ken Rosenthal tweet reading, "Sources: #WhiteSox closing in on Luis Robert. Deal expected to be more than $25M." I have been hesitant to lash out regarding the "Cardinals are cheap!" narrative in the past, but that has since shifted over the past few years. The team finished second to the Boston Red Sox in the David Price bidding war two offseasons ago and 11 days later Jason Heyward–the player the Cardinals parted with Shelby Miller for to fill the hole left by Oscar Taveras' tragic death–flipped to the other side of the Cardinals-Cubs rivalry. Excuses can be made, maybe with some validation.

"Even if the Cardinals matched Boston's offer to Price, the Red Sox would have upped their bid even higher."

"The Cardinals offered Heyward more money overall. Heyward didn't care about the AAV, he preferred to play for the Cubs."

As some pointed out on Twitter earlier today, these moves have at least in the short term worked out alright for the Cardinals. But that's not the point. The Cardinals clearly wanted both players as shown by their pursuit down to the end of both free agency processes. What happens after the ink dries is irrelevant to the debate over the Cardinals' spending in recent years.

The Cardinals have admittedly spent a lot of money over the past two winters, but signings like Cecil, Fowler, and Leake merely create a smokescreen for the Cardinals front office to hide behind.

How many Max Scherzers, how many Justin Turners, how many Justin Uptons, how many Prices and Heywards before a trend becomes an accepted truth? If the Cardinals want to remain a premier franchise, competing for championships on a yearly basis, they have to accept that market rates are climbing and pay up. Or, as I noted on Twitter:

The first response this tweet received is also worth looking at:

As somebody who the St. Louis Cardinals have openly profited off, I expect the best possible product that the company in question can produce. From a baseball prospective and only a baseball prospective, there is no reason not to land Luis Robert. Facing penalties in the international amateur waters after a spending spree I was completely fine with last July and holding no draft picks until #94 overall this June due to the Fowler signing and hacking incident, a loophole in the collective bargaining agreement set St. Louis up for one more chance to land a premier talent and asset. Forget your 2020 hypothetical lineup (which may I add often goes up in flames because baseball is anything but predictable?), the Cardinals missed out on a golden opportunity here.

Who knows? Maybe Robert flames out and the Cardinals are lucky not to have him stuck on their payroll. But whether he is bound for Cooperstown or a bust of gargantuan proportions, my point still stands. For a team that is quick to use the word accountability, who is to say us fans shouldn't reflect the same word right back at the Cardinals?