Pittsburgh fans can't help but laugh at Pirates-like offseason struggles for Cardinals

Pirates fans did not need a press release to recognize what the Cardinals were doing this winter. They have seen this movie too many times in Pittsburgh. But watching St. Louis drift into this offseason limbo instead felt like one of the stranger role reversals the division has produced in a while.

The Cardinals spent much of the winter looking for a right-handed outfield bat, but their pitch to free agents was a tricky one because Lars Nootbaar was expected back from heel surgery, making the opening feel temporary. Austin Hays instead signed with the White Sox on a one-year, $6 million deal, and another option in Miguel Andujar landed with the Padres on a one-year pact worth $4 million guaranteed.

It’s not like the Cardinals missed out on Juan Soto or anything. But they definitely continued to whiff on the middle shelf. 

Cardinals are learning a brutal Pirates lesson the hard way this spring

From a Pirates lens, the funniest part is not even the roster fallout. It’s the identity crisis underneath it. Pirates fans are used to hearing why certain veterans pass on Pittsburgh. Too little certainty, not enough urgency, and don’t even get started on the ambiguity about where the club could be headed.

Now the Cardinals are wearing some of that same stink. This is a team that used to weaponize credibility. Even when St. Louis was not elite, there was still a sense that veterans would trust the infrastructure. This winter, that sales pitch clearly did not land the same way. 

And because the Cardinals didn’t solve the problem cleanly, they are now leaning on exactly the sort of internal-hope cocktail Pirates fans know too well. Nelson Velázquez is tearing up spring and looks headed for an Opening Day spot, helped by the fact that he is out of options. Nathan Church is pushing his way into the mix as a fourth outfielder or possible platoon piece. Nolan Gorman is back in the annual rebound-candidate conversation after working on mechanical changes with a private hitting instructor. There is talent in there, sure, but there is also a lot of hope that it clicks.

The Cardinals are not the Pirates. They don’t carry the same payroll reputation, or the same ownership baggage. But for one offseason, they absolutely wandered into Pirates territory. They struggled to sell opportunity, settled for uncertainty, and are now asking spring performances to patch over a winter that did not go the way they wanted.

Pittsburgh has every right to smirk at that, because it’s always a little satisfying when the team that usually acts above the division suddenly has to wrestle with the same small-market awkwardness.