We’ve all used YO-YOS’s …they go up & down…hopefully under our control. Sports have their own “YO-YOS” effects…sometimes seemingly out of control as they go up & down, 😊  

….the Blues are a classic YO-YO season, they opened the season going 3-2 (it’s good to be over .500); then the YO-YOS took them down to a 7 game losing streak; just as quickly they moved back upwards  in another 3-2 streak, only to follow that good high YO-YOS road with a severe YO-YOS dip– losing 6 of the next 7 matches;  the YO-YOS continued it’s up/down trend as the Blues went a 4-2 in the next 6 games. At this moment, the Blues hold a 13-15-7 overall record. Sooo… At some point, they’ll either have to put together a really, really good winning streak, or shorten their losing streak if their playoff hopes can survive.

…btw…YO-YOS are NOT an American invention! Yo-yos are ancient toys, potentially from either China or Greece. They were popularized in the U.S.  in the 1920’s when Filipino immigrant, Pedro Flores, started the Flores Yo-Yo Company. It’s flourished ever since. I think most everyone has tried mastering the YO-YOS at some point of their youth.

…The skills of MLB athletes are like a YO-YO that goes way down & comes back up at an extreme speed. I realize that the Cardinals Yo-YOS have generally been on the downward movement for a few years. I think that 2026 will be our weakest year yet and that we’ll see an even steeper decline in their W-L record.

….. It appears to me that the Cards are sending their YO-YOS far downward as they are sending off proven players who hold substantial salaries. Some fans seem happy that the expense is cut while others realize that the departing players were key elements of the Cardinals success in recent years.

… Now….it’s really hard for the “common fan” to identify with the salaries of these professional athletes anyway. The minimum MLB salary in 2026 will be $780,000.  …Again…I said that was the MINIMUM, not the mean or median salary. According to Social Security Department, the 2023 average salary for an American worker was around $66,622 per year. While median wages are often lower, in this case-it’s  $36,000-$40,000 annually. So…we common folks are earning about 5% of these highly talented performers. But…most fans admire..and sometimes are in awe…of the skills of these terrific athletes who we admire for hitting that 100mph pitch or throwing that 100mph pitch! At times, when players play poorly, don’t win, etc,etc…their YO-YOS go down in our mind.

…Before going any deeper in the comparison, remember these are phenomenal athletes. I think one of the most overlooked attributes is their unbelievable eye-hand coordination of these athletes. I mean, as a batter, you have to be able to hit a moving object traveling 90+mph that isn’t going straight, but moves up/down or curves! Or…as a pitcher, you have to be able to throw that 90+,mph pitch that has movement. Some would agree, I think, that these athletes (entertainers) have earned their salary as their YO-YOS goes up. Just look @ the supply & demand method. If you didn’t appreciate, admire or be in awe of their skills, you wouldn’t “identify” with the team, or maybe identify with a certain player or 2 (even adults do it…don’t kid yourself).

….The interest in MLB baseball seems to have stayed rather constant over the past few decades. Fans have clearly sent the signal that they prefer action….i.e. runners on the bases, stolen bases, HOME RUNS, and runs scored. 1-0 games might be theoretically a great game….but for the fans in the seats at the stadium…not as much to cheer about throughout the game.

…The MLB batting stats seem to be taking a YO-YOS downward trend. Take a look…back in the year 2000, Todd Helton & Nomar Garciaparra each batted .372 for the year. In that year, there were 51 other batters who batted .300 or above. Jumping ahead to this season (2025), there were just 7 batters who hit .300, or higher, in the entire MLB!!!

….Taking an even wider look, now in 2000 there were only 37 players who struck out more than 25% of their at-bats. Comparing it to 2025, there were 75 players who struck out 25% or higher. Since the average number of MLB at-bats per game per player is now 4.17 AB’s, it shows us that batters are striking out just about 1 strikeout/game!! That means the Strikeout YO-YOS is going upward. That…DOESN’T lead to action, runners advancing, excitement etc, etc.

….Another YO-YOS that is swinging upward is interest in college football. There are many factors.  College football’s current popularity stems from its blend of deep community root feelings, long-time established, intense rivalries, some rich collegiate traditions ( i.e. bands, tailgates, fight songs, road trips). It offers a more, personal relationship between the fans & the teams, and often very surprising action with upsets that are much more common than in the NFL. Further, there is the more engaged appeal to the fans. Factors vary—Some fans are alums—so it’s an allegiance thing, some are fans due to their proximity to the school—so it’s a convenience thing, or it’s the actual excitement of the game itself that draws sports fans. For the school, it serves as a cultural anchor, it connects alumni from all around the country who all have a shared identity, creating an exciting experience often with the unique drama of a closely played game. Sometimes, the “David vs. Goliath” underdog stories pop up that lead to thrilling games or even upsets.

….One writer compared the Pro vs NCAA interest in this way… the NFL is like that really hot girl but she doesn’t care about you , pretends that she’s interested, but really, she is faking the moment until that “someone” that she DOES care about, enters the scene. Meanwhile, NCAA football has the passion, ups & downs of relationships, with you throughout the entire year. As collegiate football fans often slide right into becoming “basketball fans” in December.

…The increased coverage of college baseball is now beginning to open the door to the spring “interest” of collegiate fans. The early baseball schedule is an easy thing for southern colleges.  Northern schools seem to be “fighting” mother nature as much as possible to get in a 50-60 game schedule. Usually, most northern teams take an early season trip to Florida to get in several games over their spring break. To be honest, NCAA baseball does have a long way to go to catch the attention of Joe-sports fan. But, the NCAA is trying to keep the YO-YOS going up all year with the downside YO-YOS being limited to between seasons.

…One YO-YOS that has gone down and has stayed down is the Cardinals salary base.  The Cardinals payroll is set for historic lows in 2026. At the end of the 2025 season, the Cardinals let Miles Mikolas’ $17.6 million salary roll off the books as they traded him away.  Other financial obligations have been  moved along, or not renewed.  Ryan Helsley, Steven Matz, Phil Maton, and Erick Fedde have all been “moved along” in 1 way or the other. Between losing those salaries and $20 million of the money they owed along with the now traded Sonny Gray, the Cardinals’ projected 2026 payroll now sits at $108 million, another massive step back in their year-over-year payroll commitment. Look at their salary change year-year—Payroll—2026- $108m, 2025-$144m, 2024-$183m, 2023-$178m. So, from 2023 to 2026, there has been a 39% decrease in spending.  It’s very clear to see how the club’s payroll could be dipping below $100 million in the near future, and with the potential trades of arbitration eligible players like Brendan Donovan ($5.4m), Lars Nootbaar ($5.7m), JoJo Romero ($4.4m), and Nolan Gorman ($2.9m), that team salary figure would sag even further, maybe even less than $100m.  It’s clear that Bloom’s task is to lower the team costs (which is primarily –salary)…then say that we’re “resetting” for the future!! Does anyone REALLY expect the 2026-2027-2028 product to be anywhere close to where it was in 2023? Looks like more of the GHOST STADIUM days ahead for the Cardinals.

…The Cardinals are still trying to “move” 2 more guaranteed contracts in Nolan Arenado & Willson Contrares before opening day to keep their payroll YO-YOS going downward. The Cardinals would certainly need to eat money on an Arenado trade and they may also choose, or be forced to, while making a Contreras trade, if one does develop. That duo represents a combined $40 million in 2026 payroll commitments, 37% of their current financial commitments. Although, the current payroll is $108m, I think it will sag even lower for StL. Like the “limbo dance”…the question for the Cards Management/Ownership is ”how low can you go”. 😊

…How has that impacted Cardinals attendance…take a look—Year-year-year-                                                                 Total Attendance             Average Attendance/Game        MLB Rank

2022     3,320,551                           40,994                                                 2nd of 15 NL teams

2023     3,241,091                           40,013                                                 3rd of 15 NL teams

2024     2,878,115                           35,532                                                 6th of 15 NL teams

2025     2,250,007                          27,778                                                 11th of 15 NL teams

…We are seeing with our own eyes the destruction of a great baseball franchise!! I don’t point the finger @ Chaim Bloom but to the owners—the DeWitt family. Bloom is just carrying out the wishes of the DeWitts.

…Maybe…just maybe..looking down the MLB road….expansion may be on the horizon! Why add another team. They won’t add another team…it’d be 2 TEAMS!!! Why? The YO-YOS would be going up as the 2 team addition would have each league push up 1 more team to 16 team leagues.  16 is a wonderful number for the MLB. That way, you could have 4 divisions in each league with 4 teams in a division that would set up nicely for more post-season baseball (where the MLB really makes some money). That would lead us to 3 rounds of post season. In the 1^st round, there were be 2 series in each league. The 2^nd round would be the League championship series. Then the 3^rd round would be the World Series. No Bye’s for anyone—no BYE days at all for anyone throughout the long-drawn out playoff setting and yet more post-season games. Why? More post-season money for the MLB & the players(isn’t that their goal?). How do you think ANY starting rotation can hold up in this new post-season schedule??

…The YO-YOS went way down when reviewing the 2025 MU Tigers men’s basketball non-league schedule. According to NCAA’s NET rankings, Mizzou played the 2^nd weakest schedule in the country. Not just the SEC teams, not just the HIGH Major schools but were ranked # 364 of all 365 Div I teams. Only Miami (Ohio) was ranked softer. Little sarcasm here…I hope that they don’t pick up Miami (Ohio) on next years schedule 😊

….This comes after Mizzou dropped a game to Notre Dame(89^th ranked team) 76-71. However, glancing through the ND men’s schedule, ND has lost to some top tier teams in very tight games. ND lost to #1 Ohio St by 1 point @ Ohio St; beat Rutgers by 5 on a neutral court game; lost to #21 Kansas & #8 Houston, each by 10 points in neutral court games.  Voters can easily see the caliber of competition that each team is facing here in December prior to conference games opening up in January.

…That wraps up our REWIND articles for 2025. I’ll see you again on Saturday, Jan 3.

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR to all !   Bob