The MLB Cardinals "expect to reduce payroll" for '21, but by how much and to what extent is "as unknown today as the number of games they’ll play and number of fans who will attend them," according to Derrick Goold of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. Cardinals Chair & CEO Bill DeWitt Jr. said, "We don’t know what our payroll will be in the coming year." He added, “I’m not going to go there at this point because I don’t know." The Cardinals are "generating a variety of models to determine their financial outlook" for '21, and that includes everything from a "reduced schedule to a full house at Busch Stadium, something officials think is unlikely." The preference is to "avoid substantial commitments," such as long-term offers to players, at least until they "know more about 2021." A sign of their uncertainty is that the Cardinals "have not yet begun the renewal process with season-ticket buyers," as they "don’t know how many games or how many seats they’ll have to sell, or the local policies that will determine that." Sources said that the Cardinals "were close" to an average loss in revenue of $100M, if not "slightly above." An MLB official said that the Cardinals are "in the Braves’ revenue vicinity, a comparable team." The Braves had a reported $88M "loss in operating revenue," $114M in the "previous 12 months" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 11/16).
