Cardinals' not-so-subtle rebuild declaration is music to Brewers fans' ears

There is a lot of attention being paid to the Milwaukee Brewers' plans this coming offseason right now and rightly so. In all likelihood, they will be losing Willy Adames in free agency and any strategies to both replace him or make other roster upgrades are going to be quite a bit hamstrung by Milwaukee's lack of resources to throw around. However, it appears as though they could get a helping hand in the NL Central this offseason thanks, in part, to some recent revelations about the Cardinals.

St. Louis has been a shadow of their former selves the last couple of years. Thanks to their own missteps both in player development as well as their stubborn adherence in relying on veterans past their prime, the Cardinals were only barely able to salvage a winning record in 2024 after finishing dead last in the NL Central in 2023.

The Cardinals' struggles have been so bad that not only are they about to undergo a massive change in their front office, but it sounds like they could also be entertaining a full-on rebuild over the next couple of years.

Brewers fans have to be loving the dire position the Cardinals put themselves in

Oh how times have changed. For years, the Cardinals and their fans touted how they were able to field a contender every single season and that they were one of the best run franchises in all of baseball. However, it has become abundantly clear that what actually happened is that St. Louis simply hit the baseball lottery with guys like Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina (which they do deserve credit for) and are now paying the price for their organizational shortcomings now that those guys are gone.

In the short term, this likely means that the Brewers have one less problem to deal with in the division for at least 2025. The Cardinals certainly have some very interesting young players like Masyn Winn, JJ Wetherholt, and Tink Hence, but there is little indication that the entirety of that group will be ready to make a push next season especially if Jordan Walker continues to struggle against big league pitching. Given that Milwaukee isn't going to be overly active on the free agent market and could also trade away closer Devin Williams in addition to losing Adames, having a chief division rival in a worse spot cannot hurt their cause.

That said, NL Central isn't going to be a cake walk next season. At some point, all of these high draft picks by the Pirates are going to result in some more quality players on their big league roster and they will also have a full season of Paul Skenes next year. The Cubs should have the ability to make roster improvements this offseason and it would be unwise to sleep on the Reds especially after they went out and hired Terry Francona to manage their talented squad.

Despite the caveats, it is nice to see the Cardinals seemingly commit to taking a step back next season. If St. Louis is successful in giving their young players more opportunities in 2025, it could create problems for Milwaukee long term to be sure. However, it also means Milwaukee has one less team in the division to try and keep pace with this offseason and that could make all the difference.

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