Cheap Cardinals owners to ask taxpayers to foot the bill for stadium renovations

The St. Louis Cardinals haven't exactly spent wisely in free agency over the past several years.

While Sonny Gray, Matt Holliday, and Willson Contreras are notable exceptions, the Cardinals have overpaid on players such as Mike Leake, Dexter Fowler, Kyle Gibson, and Steven Matz.

While the front office deserves plenty of blame, the real problems start up top with the ownership group. Chairman and CEO Bill DeWitt Jr. has operated as if the Cardinals are a small-market team with limited funds.

The team is expected to pursue some renovations for Busch Stadium in the next few years. But rather than use their own money to get this done, the Cardinals are requesting public funding from taxpayers.

Cardinals remain cheap, ask for public funding for stadium renovations

This is an unfortunate, yet predictable move by the Cardinals' ownership group.

To be fair, every stadium needs renovations every once in a while, and Busch Stadium is no different. But DeWitt could put some of his own money to use rather than ask for money from taxpayers.

He generates plenty of money from fans who buy tickets and come to games and is one of the richest owners in all of baseball. Also, with that money, DeWitt could be more flexible with the Cardinals' payroll and be willing to sign high-profile free agents that would turn the team into the World Series contender fans want.

Instead, the Cardinals have been willing to settle for mediocre and try and sell to fans that the team is better than it truly is. The tactic of asking for public financial support instead of using their own money won't go over well with the fanbase.

The Cardinals ownership is worth, at you'd imagine, quite a lot. They can afford to make improvements to the stadium on their own, but instead would prefer that money not come out of their pockets.