St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas faces a challenging task as he kicks off the 2024 MLB season. He’s been designated as the starting pitcher for the Cardinals’ first game of the season against the formidable and star-studded Los Angeles Dodgers on March 29th at Dodger Stadium.
Just shy of two weeks before his encounter with Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers, Mikolas delivered a comical jab at Los Angeles, especially regarding the hefty amount of money the team spent in the offseason compared to many other teams, including the Cardinals.
“We’re not exactly operating on a shoestring budget here, but you’ve got the Dodgers playing with their checkbooks,” Mikolas quipped, as reported by John Denton of MLB.com.
“We’re going to embody the hardworking spirit of Midwestern farmers as much as we can. It’d be quite satisfying to outshine the Dodgers,” Mikolas added.
Before facing the Cardinals, the Dodgers will have already played two games in the regular season, as they are set to begin their campaign in South Korea with a two-game series against the San Diego Padres this week.
While the Cardinals’ offseason might not be as flashy as Los Angeles’, few teams have made bigger splashes during the offseason than the Dodgers. The addition of Ohtani alone has positioned the Dodgers as clear winners of the MLB offseason. However, they managed to bolster their lineup even further by signing Japanese pitching sensation Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
In the 2024 MLB season, the Dodgers come in with the ninth-highest payroll in the majors, totaling $214,721,666 according to Spotrac. Meanwhile, the Cardinals rank 10th on the list with a payroll of $164,301,667.
However, the Cardinals haven’t remained silent in the offseason. They made notable moves by signing three experienced pitchers: Sonny Gray, Kyle Gibson, and Lance Lynn.
