ST. LOUIS – Jim Edmonds, eight-time Gold Glove winner and 2006 World Series champion, will no longer be part of the St. Louis Cardinals broadcast team.
He said FanDuel Sports Network Midwest told him they weren’t bringing him back for this season, but that he wasn’t planning on coming back anyway, a near-mutual decision.
In a 45-minute radio interview Monday with 101 ESPN’s “The Morning After,” including FOX 2 Sports Director Martin Kilcoyne, Edmonds also offered a harsh critique of the current culture surrounding the Cardinals.
“I haven’t gone really down in spring training the last couple years,” said Edmonds. “It’s not fun anymore. They don’t make you feel like you’re wanted to be around the stadium. You know, I love Oli [Marmol], the DeWitts [Cardinals ownership], and have so much respect for Mo [lead executive John Mozeliak]. Everybody’s great. But somehow, indoors, in the inner circle, it’s just not the same. It’s not the same organization. It’s not fun to be around.”
“They make it pretty obvious, even the security guards like, ‘Hey, you know, it might not be a good time.’ I’m like, ‘Fine with me.’ I don’t need to be in there. You know, I don’t, if you don’t want me to tell your pitchers that they’re tipping their pitches or this guy’s pulling off, and I don’t really give two [five-letter expletive] about it.”
Edmonds repeatedly expressed support for Marmol, Mozeliak, and the DeWitts, but never fully revisited his “inner circle” remark and was careful to avoid placing blame on any individual in at least three instances.
“I have the utmost respect for the people, but something different as a whole. And I know the players feel it. The alumni feel it. And you know this is different. It’s just not as much fun.”
When asked directly where he places blame for change, Edmonds pointed to an overall cultural change rather than any one person.
“”I don’t know, the culture, the atmosphere. “You know what’s funny, it’s like the COVID thing, I think is where it kind of, it almost makes me feel like the COVID thing was the perfect excuse to just cut the ties with all the extra crap. You know how they say, ‘cut the fat,’ and basically that’s what Mo said to a couple of us when we were working as his assistant, basically ‘cut the fat,’ and it just continued, and it’s just like ever since then. It’s been, if you see each other in the hallway, it’s like, ‘Hey, how you doing, how’s the family,’ and then, ‘See you next month.’ It’s just weird.”
“There’s no blame. I just think the culture has changed,” Edmonds added later. “I really do. You watch all of these sports, everything has changed. You watch football, ‘Wow, the guy hit him with the shoulder in the chest, and he got thrown out of the game.’ I mean, baseball, the same thing. Everything is just changing.”
LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE (0:50:00-1:35:00 marks)
Edmonds believes the franchise’s culture began shifting around the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Various alumni, including two-time World Series champion Chris Carpenter, were let go from the coaching or instructional staff around that time. Others have not been invited back for spring training or regular season events as regularly.
“Other than really Izzy [Jason Isringhausen] being a coach] and [Ryan] Ludwick there, they just don’t invite us down there anymore,” said Edmonds. “It’s a total different atmosphere, and it kind of makes you feel like you’re not appreciated, not wanted, [and they] don’t need your help.”
Edmonds also pointed to an example in which a “third baseman from Newport Beach, California,” suggesting current Cardinals veteran Nolan Arenado without expressly naming him, once asked someone within the organization if Mark McGwire could visit for instruction. That never materialized.
“I heard that he asked, and [someone unidentified in the organization] kind of just said, ‘We don’t need him. We have everything that we need. Thank you.’ And that was a couple years ago,” said Edmonds.
In recent years, Edmonds’ involvement with the Cardinals has primarily been limited to a color commentator or studio analyst on regional broadcasts. He acknowledged that he received little guidance in the role, often “winging it” on air. He also expressed frustration with outside critics.
“I’m tired of listening to the critics,” said Edmonds. “I’m tired of guessing if I’m doing the right thing. I just had enough. It’s total chaos. People working every day. They don’t know where they’re supposed to be. Mics don’t work. Replays don’t work. The game is so fast right now, you don’t even have time to talk. They don’t need two people in the booth. It’s just commercial after commercial. It’s not the same anymore. It definitely took a toll on the fun part of it.”
Edmonds reflected on his future with the team in the offseason and realized he lacked motivation to return, noting how Matt Holliday also stepped away from a coaching role he agreed to one offseason before the Cardinals even reported to spring training.
Edmonds admitted that he rarely watches Cardinals games now unless he’s at the stadium. He suggested that he’s likely done working for the organization. Edmonds expressed a desire to spend more time with his kids and focus on living a simpler life.
“I’m going to take my talents out here to Tennessee and learn how to be a gardener and a farmer,” said Edmonds.