Stirring The Pot: Miles Mikolas Calls His Cardinals ‘Midwestern Farmers’ Compared To Dodgers

The St. Louis Cardinals routinely have one of baseball's highest payrolls, thanks to a large, loyal fan base and attendance that ranks near the top of the sport.

The Cardinals have expensive players like Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado and invest heavily in their farm system and international markets. Despite playing in a relatively small market, the Cardinals have the 10th highest payroll in Major League Baseball this season.

But don't tell them that having one of the league's highest payrolls doesn't make them underdogs, because that's apparently what they want to believe. 

The Cardinals open the season against the Los Angeles Dodgers, who went on a spending spree in the offseason, adding Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Teoscar Hernandez. Despite the big additions, the Dodgers rank just one spot ahead of the Cardinals in  payroll rankings, thanks to relative cheap homegrown players like Gavin Lux, Walker Buehler, Will Smith and James Outman. They've also avoided large investments in the bullpen, instead relying on cheap talent like Evan Phillips, Brusdar Graterol, Alex Vesia and others.

Though when asked about the season opener in LA, Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas went after LA for ranking one spot above his own team in 2024 payroll. "We're not exactly a low payroll team, but you got the Dodgers playing checkbook baseball. We're going to be the hardest working group of Midwestern farmers we can be…It would be great to stick it to the Dodgers."

Sure dude.

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas. (Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports)

Miles Mikolas Now A Midwestern Farmer

Mikolas’ comments are ridiculous for any number of reasons, starting with the fact that the Dodgers are barely outspending the Cardinals this season. And are being outspent by teams like the Mets, Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Texas Rangers and Philadelphia Phillies. 

Does Mikolas accuse any of them of playing "checkbook baseball?" Did he get mad that the Rangers won the World Series in 2023 after spending $325 million on Corey Seager, $175 million on Marcus Semien, $185 million on Jacob deGrom, trading for Max Scherzer and his massive salary, as well as signing Nate Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney, and Jon Gray to deals paying them each well over $10 million per year?

Of course not. 

But baseball illiteracy aside, Mikolas' remarks about "Midwestern farmers" might be the most absurd thing he said. 

Mikolas is from Jupiter, Florida. Jupiter is most certainly not the Midwest, and with an average home price near $1 million, is about as far from farming as you can get. Places where Tiger Woods, Rickie Fowler and many other professional golfers usually don't have a big farming industry.

Not to mention that winning the first series of the season would not "stick it to the Dodgers" because it's a few games out of a 162 game season. Who cares? 

Mikolas is, like so many others, trying to create an inaccurate narrative to make himself, and Cardinals fans, feel better. The Cardinals are a big-spending team with plenty of resources. Mikolas, from one of the wealthiest parts of the country and with a $18.6 million salary, has absolutely nothing in common with Midwestern farmers. 

But if playacting like something you're not makes you feel better, go off king.