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Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry
Question is can the Cardinals fan base handle a rebuild? They kind of have the Hunt Family/Carl Peterson vibe of be competitive, granted they have had more success obliviously. It's still a franchise that is driven by ticket sales, be interesting to see if a rebuild/down years would affect that.
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Bill Dewitt has more money than god and one of the most long-term fanbases from one of America's greatest baseball cities.
DeWitt can bankroll 5 years of massive, sustained losses if he wanted to and it wouldn't make a dent. Moreover, he wouldn't have to because a great deal of this fan base isn't stupid. Oh, and by re-building, he could significantly reduce his payroll obligations and still turn a profit.
If The Cardinals fanbase can't handle a rebuild then no such fanbase exists. But a rebuild
would cut into his margins a bit for a few years. And for DeWitt, it appears that THAT'S what he's truly unwilling to deal with.
This has nothing to do with the Cardinal fanbase, regardless of how Mozeliak wants to spin it. This is his boss telling him that he'd rather have a .500 team that gets 3 million in the door and makes $25 million/season than a sub .500 team that's building towards a better future and only makes $5 million/season.
Dewitt got his ballpark and now ballpark village has had its final stages approved. Now he's just looking to milk this for all its worth. He's gotta be loving the cable money he's going to get in '18 because lord knows that's not going back into the ballclub.