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I bet you know more about Bill DeWitt III and the answers to your questions, and just maybe didn't know that he was involved in so many of the things that fans see everyday at the ballpark. Bill DeWitt III has been the president of the team for many years now, and he's been at the helm for Ballpark Village, the Cardinals Hall of Fame, the development around the ballpark, and he has great fondness for the history of the team, the precision of the logo, the look of the jersey and everything from how they celebrate retired numbers to how many championships they claim (remember there's that 12th one out there from before the NL). He is into the details of the team -- the chain stitching on the jerseys? it's there because of him, and the Cardinals are one of the few teams to do it -- and he's been involved at the MLB level. He serves on at least one of the owners committees. He also, if some folks don't remember, is the executive, who went on the record to say that the Cardinals missed on Max Scherzer and that should be a lesson for them in pursuing free agents.

I do not get that sense.

Indeed it could be. The Cardinals have been, historically, more likely to go long-term with in-house pitchers (Wainwright, Garcia, Mikolas, to a certain extent) than outside pitchers (Leake and Matz being the most notable free agent signings). They did pursue Price for a long-term commitment, so they were willing to do it, and just got outbid by Boston.

The Cardinals looking at their internal outfield options is the route they're taking, and really was always the play they had unless they made a deal that took one of their outfielders. The Cardinals had a series of events that could happen that involved a trade for a catcher and then a bid for a bat, like a shortstop Swanson, or a play for some other hitter. But going into the winter, the Cardinals felt they'd go with the outfielders they had, make sure they had an opening for Jordan Walker to hit his way into their mix of outfielders, and be sure to set up a way for Nootbaar to start everyday. That was articulated by manager Oliver Marmol, but it was indicated by the front office from the start of the offseason.

Mozeliak was asked this question at the winter meetings, and I wish I could recall who asked it so that I could give them credit for doing so. He said it is not a factor when setting forth their offseason plans.

The Cardinals, as a team that does not pay the CBT, get a slice of what other teams pay. I'm trying to remember all the permutations, but simplified it's this -- 50% of the total paid by teams that went over is split by teams that did not go over. And, yes, according to the Cardinals, that money is reflected in how the Cardinals set their payroll. So too, Mozeliak said, is the money that the team recently got from the BAMTech sale. That was part of the money they had to grow the payroll, he said. Already factored in, I believe is how he put it.

The beauty of the series of moves this winter is that we're going to get a chance to see how it all works out. Sean Murphy will play for Atlanta and we can see how his performance goes there. He dislodged Younger Contreras, who will now be in the division and a big part of the Brewers' future (they hope), and we can compare his production vs. his older brother right there at Busch Stadium. Will we know in June? No. But it will be interesting to track over the coming year and years.