It would be a stretch to say that the Cardinals are living dangerously. Owner Bill DeWitt Jr., president of baseball operations John Mozeliak and GM Michael Girsch are systematically conservative, disciplined and pragmatic.



This is hardly the wild bunch of MLB front offices — even if the characterization borders on tired cliché. After all, in the post-2016 offseason, only the Dodgers spent more money on free agents than the Cardinals, who invested $113 million in free-agent contracts for outfielder Dexter Fowler and reliever Brett Cecil.



The contracts were affordable and didn’t cause the ground to shake at Busch Stadium. But by the Cardinals’ standards, paying Fowler ($82.5 million, five years) and Cecil ($30.5 million for four years) were aggressive moves by a traditionally cautious operation. And those contracts haven’t paid off. And might never pay off.



That’s the strange thing about the Cardinals. Management is sharp,...