The Bernie Miklasz Show

Albert Pujols, one of the all-time greatest Cardinals, began his managing career earlier this week, becoming the skipper for Leones del Escogido in Santo Domingo. As a child growing up in the Dominican Republic, Escogido was Pujols' favorite team, and the Leones have stayed in his heart.

Pujols won his first game. Congratulations! Taking this job was his first step in preparing to manage an MLB team one day. When that will happen, I do not know. But Pujols and St. Louis fans have an extraordinary relationship, and it would be silly to dismiss the idea of bringing him back here as manager to work with Chaim Bloom and lead the revival of Cardinals baseball. Pujols is the smartest baseball player I've ever known. He's one of the most distinguished players in MLB history. When he walks into a stadium, or a clubhouse, everyone is in awe. He has a towering presence, loves to work with players young and old, and his knowledge of the game is immense. Pujols as Cardinals manager? It's something to think about. That's why I'm wearing a Leones del Escogido vintage cap in this video.

Fans of the St. Louis Cardinals have nothing to apologize for. Despite another season of missing the playoffs, the Cards franchise continues to sell home-game tickets at a level that many MLB teams can only dream. St. Louis ranked 7th in the majors in tickets sold per home game in 2024 -- and averaged more tickets sold per home game than seven teams that competed in the postseason: Astros, Brewers, Mets, Orioles, Guardians, Tigers, and Royals.

The highly visible number of no-shows at Busch Stadium this season represented a form of protest by a strong fan base that's frustrated by a downturn that has led to the Cardinals making the postseason only three times over the last eight seasons.

The fan base continues to pour money into the franchise ... but just because they've remained loyal through their financial support and the flow of revenue, it doesn't mean they are obligated to actually attend games. And the frustration with the recent trends -- and the anger over the men that are running the franchise and allowed the on-field success to fade -- prompted more and more fans to avoid Busch Stadium this past season ... even after paying for tickets.

Here's what Cardinals ownership-management needs to understand and fully grasp: once you give a loyal fan base a reason to turn their backs on you, it doesn't mean it will be easy to get them back. This has been proven time and time again in other markets. In this video, I give examples of MLB franchises that are winning again and providing highly entertaining baseball -- only to rank well below average in home-game ticket sales. The Cardinals must confront this reality and work extremely hard to rebuild the team -- but also rebuild the fan-base trust and loyalty that's been damaged.

Bad Baseball.

Many Questions.

What will Bill DeWitt Jr. do?

Other than Bill DeWitt Jr., Bill DeWitt III, John Mozeliak -- and perhaps others in the Cardinals' leadership circle -- know one knows if the Cardinals are planning to offer, or have offered, their top baseball job to Chaim Bloom. And hypothetically speaking, what happens if Bloom politely declines the offer? What if he joined the Cardinals as a special assistant just to study the player-development system and the state of the minor-league operation -- with no commitments about staying on and moving to the top baseball post?

What if Bloom makes recommendations that DeWitt doesn't agree with? I assume that Bloom would expect the owner to buy into the plan to renovate the Cardinals ... but what happens if DeWitt doesn't commit to total support of what Bloom wants to do? In that scenario, I don't know why Bloom would take the job -- especially after his bad experience with Boston's ownership group.

Bloom is only 41. He will have other opportunities because he's highly respected in the industry. He doesn't specifically need the St. Louis job. In addition, Bloom practices Judaism and is seriously devout. He and his wife have two young sons, live in Boston, and Bloom may not want to uproot his family ... or live away from his family.

I've been thinking about these matters. If Bloom rejects the Cardinals, this would be a bad look for DeWitt. We can only wait and see how this all turns out as the Cardinals prepare to go into a critically important offseason.

I'll answer the question: No, Cardinals fans are NOT spoiled. They have many reasons to be frustrated, angry, and demanding more from ownership and baseball management. That's why ESPN.com put Cardinals fans on The Top 10 list of the most aggrieved fan bases in the majors.

But in this video, I wanted to make a few points:

1) The overwhelming percentage of complaints about the Cardinals' decline are valid, justified and warranted.

2) The current downturn -- out of the postseason for two straight years and minimal postseason success since 2019 -- could have been prevented, but even some of the finest baseball organizations have gone through a stretch of difficult,, unsatisfying and unsuccessful seasons. And now it's the Cardinals' turn.

3) Fans who compare the Cardinals to the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago White Sox -- two futile franchises -- demonstrate a complete lack of perspective and lose all credibility.

I've been outspoken in my many criticisms of the way the Cardinals have been driven off the road and into the ditch ... but I do believe at times like this, it's important to keep this in perspective. No team wins forever. Not even the Yankees, who haven't won a World Series since 2009.

It's up to Bill DeWitt Jr. to get this team back on track, and I think we can all agree with that. Thanks for watching.