I guess it all pretty much depends on if junior has more baseball qualifications than being daddy DeWitt’s son. They were in a rebuilding phase before this and it looks like that still had some way to go.

I do not see a good future for the Cardinals. I am a life long Cardinals fan and I see a franchise that is making a lot of money but not putting the money back into the franchise. Mr. DeWitt says one thing but when it comes to spending the money the last two years to put a quality product on the field, he is not doing it. Other teams have improved their pitching…Why not the Cards even though they supposedly have money to spend according to Mr. DeWitt. This reminds me too much of what Mr. DeWitt was a part of in Texas as a previous owner of the Rangers. After they built a new stadium for the Rangers the franchise was milked for a few years with bad talent then sold for a huge profit. Hmmm, is it happening again???

Great job Mark, and as a bonus you’re leaving just in time.

*Bill DeWitt told us that a new ballpark was needed so revenues would rise and money could be invested back into players salaries so the club could remain competitive. LIE. Salaries have only marginally increased, and most of that was because of esclation clauses in existing contracts.

* Bill DeWitt told us that Ballpark Village would be the centerpiece of the new ballpark plan and that it would be partially completed beforte the All Star Game in 2009. LIE. The hole/lake is still there and today’s PD tells us that the Centene deal is close to dead. They didn’t get the public financing they wanted so now they’re dragging their feet on the proposed jewel of downtown.

*Bill DeWitt told us the new Busch would be a state-of-the-art, customer friendly stadium, as good as anything else in MLB. LIE. He went cheap in every respect. No bathrooms between (1 men’s) home plate and center field on the field level 3rd base side. Not enough escalators to the upper decks. Decreased leg room in the seats. Poorly designed rest rooms and concessions. Excessive ticket prices. Lousy concessions. Long lines. And now a team that on paper looks like it will lose 95 games this year.

Tomorrow at the press conference when Bill introduces his son as the new President, is there any reason we should believe a word Mr. DeWallet says?

This is not the beginning, but the continuation of a shredding of a once proud, customer focused franchise. I am quite sure he’s already got the “For Sale” signs printed.

I hope thery admit Goats. We need an excuse for our failurs. The Cubs have one. We don’t.

I was excited to see Lamping was leaving. For some reason he always rubbed me the wrong way. However, the fact that Dewitts son is taking the position makes me uncomfortable. He has served the team in an execcutive fashion before, so its not like he is unfamiliar. However, does he have the ability beyond his name? The team treads on shaky ground. At least we’re not talking about a position that affects the team on the field. His job is purely as a visible talking head.

Now, I’d like to defend the team a little bit. Since the team built the new stadium, there is a segment of fans that continuously sound off on how the Cardinals spend. People seem to forget that current ownership took over in the mid 90’s and they did increase spending in a bud to win. Shortly after they took over we missed the World Series by a game. Then we managed to aquire on of the biggest names in the game and keep him (steroid scandal not withstanding). Then from 2000 until last year we were one of the most successful regular season teams of the decade. In all we made the NLCS 6 times under Dewitt. We went to 2 Series and won one. We’ve made a committment to keep one of the most dynamic playersin the game long term. Compare that record to the early 90s. We spend about 100 million a year.

The team has failed to develop a strong minor league system. They dealt from their reserves year after year to help the big club. Last year our core group of players that should have lead the team on offense included two guys that massively under produced (Edmonds and Rolen). And about our current pitching, the team had an inability to get anyone. There existed no magic player to sign from the free agent market, no in his prime Bob Gibson. At the same time we had little of value to trade left on either side of the roster.

Before you start complaining about how much the team spends, look at the situation as a whole and compare it to the early 90s. Also try to understand the player market and our options. Are you not happy with our success? And compare our team to say Colorado and Cleveland, two teams that almost faced off in the Series last year. Those teams both spend about 60 million thanks to a strong minor league system. Had we not strived for a win now mentality the last decade we could be in a stronger position.

I’m over 50 years old,and seen many good years and some rough years with the Cardinals.Even though the next few years are going to be rough, things will get better.The Cardinals are to proud of a team to be down for to long.GO CARDS!!!!!!!!!

“Has been supervising the Ballpark Village project”…. that’s all I needed to see to be very apprehensive toward this guy. And isn’t he the clown that wanted to change the uniforms several years ago?? Be very afraid.

I’m sorry to see Mark Lamping leave. He was a good president for the Cardinals. I can’t think of any reason why Bill Dewitt III won’t be the same. I’m looking forward to the upcoming season and 162 reasons to be alive.

Son of the owner named president? A guy whose baseball resume is not overwhelming including the hole next to the new Stadium. What’s not to worry? What ever happened to anti-nepotism clauses for large organizations?

If you want to look for reason for concern about people getting jobs they may not be the best candidate for due to who their daddy is you have to look no further than the appointed US executive branch leader King George. Gee, that has worked out so well.