Concept
The St. Louis Cardinals 2016 season was the 135th for the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise in St. Louis, Missouri, the 125th season in the National League (NL), and the 11th at Busch Stadium III. They entered the season having won a major-league best 100 games, as three-time defending NL Central division champions, and with five consecutive playoff appearances. Forbes magazine estimated the value of the club to be $1.6 billion in 2016, making it the seventh-most valuable franchise in MLB. The Cardinals were eliminated from playoff (Wild Card) contention following the San Francisco Giants' 7–1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday, October 2. This was the first time the Cardinals failed to make the playoffs since 2010. The Cardinals entered the 2016 season having won a major league-best 100 games, their third consecutive National League Central division title, and fifth consecutive playoff appearance. Their 2015 season ended in the National League Division Series (NLDS) when the rival Chicago Cubs defeated them in four games. Former Cardinals David Eckstein, Jim Edmonds and Troy Glaus were announced as first-time candidates on the 2016 ballot for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum on November 9. In mid-December, former Cardinals player and manager Joe Torre led an expedition to Cuba composed of MLB officials and players, including then-current Cardinals catcher Brayan Peña and former Cardinals outfielder Jon Jay. It was MLB's first visit there since 1999, and one anticipated as an important step to help normalize relations with the United States that had begun to ease earlier in the year. Former Cardinals manager Vern Rapp died on December 31, 2015. Chris Correa, the previous director of scouting for the Cardinals, plead guilty on January 8, 2016, to five of 12 counts in a United States district court in Houston related to alleged corporate espionage of the Houston Astros. Reports of the investigation first became public in July 2015.
