Speaking on the most recent edition of ‘Cardinal Territory,‘ former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Kyle Gibson made an interesting comment toward some Cardinals fans, saying that “I think a little bit of the fans kind of got what they asked for with this reset/rebuild, and I think it’s going to be a little bit of a shock.”
We see this often in sports. Fans recognize that a team is getting older, slower, less athletic, and less dynamic, so they clamor for the team to get younger and more athletic. Often times, those older teams are expensive, so fans want to see cheaper players play, recognizing that newfound financial freedom can help bring in even more new players.
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However, transitions like that don’t place overnight, and fans are often left with the realization that there are significant growing pains between competitive windows.
While a team like the Houston Astros or Los Angeles Dodgers has generally been able to navigate the challenges of running a baseball team, understand this:
The Astros had a losing season each year from 2009-14 as they built their upward ascent. Other examples?
The Seattle Mariners blew up their roster after the 2018 season and then had losing seasons in both 2019 and 2020. They missed the playoffs each of those years, plus 2021 and 2023 and 2024, and only in 2025 did they finally reach the American League Championship Series.
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Bloom discusses trade of Willson Contreras
Recently-Traded St. Louis Cardinals Veteran Bids Farewell
Get to know the three players acquired for Willson Contreras
The Blue Jays team that got to the World Series this year? They made the ALCS in 2016 and then missed the playoffs each year until 2020. They didn’t win a single playoff game in 2020, 2022 or 2023, and then finished last in 2024 before rebounding this year.
The Boston Red Sox won the World Series in 2018 and then changed their roster dramatically after 2019. They made the playoffs only once until 2025.
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Rebuilds can be done, but they take time, and as the Chicago White Sox are currently evidence of, they can be very painful. The White Sox have had the worst record in the American League each of the last two seasons. They blew up their roster in 2022 and 2023.
Probably not, sadly. After trading Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras, the team is going to move on from Nolan Arenado, and probably Brendan Donovan and JoJo Romero. It will get worse before it gets better, but Chaim Bloom has evidenced the ability to execute a rebuild.
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