If the St. Louis Cardinals do not re-sign free agent right fielder Jason Heyward, the tired mantra of “the franchise could not afford him” will be trotted out once again.
The Cardinals can afford to sign Heyward, free-agent pitcher David Price and another star if its owners decided to part with the dollars. Cards’ Chairman Bill DeWitt won’t sign off on that, but he has the bucks squirreled away to field one of the most expensive teams in Major League Baseball.
The Cardinals drew 3.52 million fans in 2015, an average of 43,467 per game. This is second only to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who had 3.76 million fans attend 81 home games. That breaks down to 46,479 fans per game.
While the L.A. Angels play in the same region, the population is almost 10 times that of the St. Louis area. The next six teams in attendance (San Francisco, New York Yankees, Angels, Chicago Cubs, Boston and Detroit) all play in metropolitan areas much larger than St. Louis.
Rounding out the Top 10 are Kansas City and Detroit, which are closer to St. Louis’ size. In other words, the Cardinals play in a region with a lower cost-of-business ratio, while still drawing more fans than all but L.A.
This means more money for Mr. DeWitt and the franchise.
The Cardinals also agreed to a new television contract with FoxSports Midwest this summer to the tune of more than $1 billion. Beginning in 2018 and running through 2032, the pact starts at $50 million annually and will grow to $86 million a year by the last season in the deal. The team also gets 30 percent equity in Fox Sports Midwest, meaning it will most likely make money on the network that is already paying it millions of dollars.
FORBES estimates the current 11-year deal, that runs two more seasons, at $200 million. That’s a five-fold increase on the new contract.
FORBES also ranks the Cardinals at the sixth-most valuable franchise in Major League Baseball at $1.4 billion. The franchise trails only the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, Giants and Cubs in value. At $73.6 million in operating income (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), the Cardinals are first among all MLB teams.
The Cardinals can’t say “we can’t” sign Heyward or other big-ticket free agents. The Redbirds have to say “we choose not to.”
Heyward, who will predictably be asked to weigh how much he enjoyed playing in St. Louis against a more lucrative deal elsewhere, was a stalwart for the team this season.
The 26-year-old right fielder played in 154 games, hit .293 with 13 home runs and 60 RBI. His 23 stolen bases led the team, and he is a virtual lock to win the 2015 Gold Glove for his defensive play.
An aging and often-injured Matt Holliday is manning left field. Promising but unproven Randal Grichuk and Stephen Piscotty just cracked the 25-man roster. Tommy Pham also could turn into a formidable player in the outfield.
The outfield anchor is Heyward – and the Cards should match any offer he receives and bring him back to St. Louis.
If they choose not to, lack of money is not the reason.
Blue Jays have most LCS black players
The San Francisco Giants won the 2014 NLCS and World Series without a black player on the playoff roster.
Barring an injury – or slew of them – that won’t happen in 2015.
The Toronto Blue Jays, ironically, have five black players on the playoff roster, the most of the four Championship Series teams. The black Blue Jays are pitchers LaTroy Hawkins, David Price and Marcus Stroman and outfielders Ben Revere and Canadian-born Dalton Pompey.
I’ll credit the Chicago Cubs with having four black players. Addison Russell would be on the playoff roster had he not hurt his hamstring while legging out a triple against the Cardinals in the NLDS. The other black Cubs are outfielders Quinten Berry and Dexter Fowler and pitcher Dexter Fowler.
Berry was on the 2013 World Champion Boston Red Sox team that beat the Cardinals. He was the lone black player on either team’s 25-man World Series roster.
Our AL neighbors to the West, the Kansas City Royals, have three black players: outfielders Lorenzo Cain, Jarrod Dyson and Terrance Gore.
The New York Mets are fielding one black player in the NLCS, veteran outfielder Curtis Granderson. The Mets chose not to place utility man Eric Young Jr., on the NLCS roster, but he could be on the World Series roster if the Mets advance.
In August, Granderson told the New York Daily News that there is lots of talk, but not enough action on black participation in baseball.
“We’ve talked about it. I’ve heard different initiatives. And every year, on Jackie Robinson Day, we all talk about the decline. But we need to find ways to get baseball accessible to minority kids,” said Granderson.
Granderson is doing more than talking. He has donated $5 million to fund a stadium at the University of Illinois-Chicago and is lobbying MLB to open an official Urban Youth Academy in his hometown of Chicago.
“The big thing is baseball got me to the point where I am today,” he said. “Hopefully, I want to keep that as an option for (black) kids. I want them know that baseball is available for them.”
Alvin A. Reid is a panelist on KETC channel 9’s most-popular show “Donnybrook,” and is also a radio commentator and author.
