The Bernie Miklasz Show

With Wilson Contreras staying, and with Sonny Gray highly likely to stay, the 2025 Cardinals might not be as bad as expected. I've been hearing that a lot from fans and my fellow media friends. And I think it's an interesting question that warrants a closer look. In this video I cite some of the reasons why the Cardinals could surprise us - within reason -- next season. And that scenario depends on the bounce-back potential of young hitters Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman ... plus other factors.

But I also believe we should make sure to have a reality check. Because there is one area of this team that must turn in an outstanding performance in 2025, or this talk of improvement will quickly fade. In this video I explain the why there are clouds over the positive forecast. And in the latter part of the video, I drop some easy to understand stats on you that will open some eyes. Thanks for watching!

On a wild Saturday night in CoMo, the Missouri Tigers overcame a dull start, a plodding offense and a halftime deficit during a crazy, cuckoo 2nd half to outlast visiting Oklahoma 30-23. The star of the show was Missouri backup quarterback Drew Pyne, who shook off an ineffective first half to repeatedly come through with big plays with the game on the line. On the drives that led to his trio of touchdown passes, Pyne completed 8 of 13 throws for 120 yards and the three scores. With everything at stake, Pyne was outstanding when Mizzou couldn't afford him to be anything less than brilliant. This should be a significant confidence boost for Pyne.

After the game, MU coach Eli Drinkwitz stirred up some in the national media by insisting that his Tigers were still in the hunt for a spot in the 12-team playoff tournament. Drink's claims were intentional ... he wanted to attract attention ... and sure enough he got people buzzing about him and his team, which is now 7-2 with a chance to go 10-2 for the regular season. In this video I take a look at where Mizzou stands in the national picture with three games to go on the regular-season schedule. But what shouldn't be overlooked is MU's 18-4 record since the start of last season. And that's worth talking about.

It's somewhat overlooked, but the St. Louis Cardinals went through a lull from 2007 through 2010, making the playoffs only one time in four seasons. What happened? A lot of core-nucleus talent and effective role players had inevitably moved on after the team's phenomenal stretch from 2004 through 2006.

Jeff Luhnow's dramatically revamped draft, development, farm system and analytics operation required an investment of patience to pay off, but prospects were beginning to graduate in waves and by 2011 the Cardinals were all set to go off on another run -- leading MLB in regular-season wins and postseason wins from 2011 through 2015.

That rich set of history included a 2011 World Series title, two National League pennants, and four appearances in the NLCS over five seasons. And a lot of that kicked in, even though the Cardinals lost Albert Pujols to free agency and Tony La Russa and Dave Duncan to retirement after the 2011 campaign.

Cards chairman Bill DeWitt has learned something from his own history: it's essential to have a strong, impactful and sustainable farm system and player-development program that can rejuvenate your franchise. DeWitt was at fault for letting the system deteriorate, and other mistakes were made. But with the hiring of Chaim Bloom, DeWitt is attempting to recreate the farm-and-player-development revival that bloomed after Luhnow was recruited to change the way the Cardinals drafted and developed players.

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.