ST. LOUIS -- On an emotional day filled with so much hoopla surrounding the ending of pitcher Adam Wainwright’s 18-year career with the Cardinals, eyes inside and outside the team’s clubhouse were already being cast toward a beginning of a different sort as soon as their 4-3 defeat of the Reds was complete on Sunday.

It's the beginning of what the club hopes will be the restoration of a franchise that slumped to 91 losses and a last-place finish in the National League Central -- lows not seen around St. Louis in 33 seasons.

It’s the beginning of what the club hopes will be the replenishing of a pitching staff that started slowly, slumped after a brief resurgence in May and compiled baseball’s 24th-ranked ERA (4.79) -- with starters (5.07, 26th) and relievers (4.47 ERA, 36 of 64 in save opportunities) sharing equally in the blame.

It's also the beginning of what the Cardinals hope will be a short rebuild that gets them back to the levels they were accustomed to before a dismal 2023 in which they remained in last place in the NL Central in 146 of 180 days. A franchise that saw its NL-record-tying 15-year streak of winning seasons ended by mid-September is hopeful all the stink from a 71-91 season can be washed away in one offseason.

“If we’re not competing for a championship next year … that’s a mistake,” said Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol. “This isn’t a ‘take two to three years and see where we’re at.’ Like, it’s next year.”

Willson Contreras, the first-year Cards catcher lured away from the Cubs with an $87.5 million free-agent contract to replace the retired Yadier Molina, spoke candidly after Sunday’s season finale of the disappointment he felt in joining a franchise he expected to continue its winning ways. Contreras was self-critical in handing out blame for the sour season, pointing to his own slow start as he worked to learn the famed “Cardinal Way.” He also said the disappointment of this season would drive him -- and hopefully others -- throughout the winter.

“Everybody should be leaving here sad, to be honest, because there was nothing to be happy about,” said Contreras, who finished the season on the injured list with wrist tendinitis. “It was a sad season, it was a bad season and I have this big mix of emotions right now. This feeling of going home with another losing season is not it.

“It was a losing season from Day 1 and there’s a lot to be fixed. Hopefully, the front office will do something to make it better for next year.”

Much of that responsibility will fall onto team president of baseball operations John Mozeliak, who got a reminder of the fan frustration when he was booed during Wainwright’s retirement ceremony. Mozeliak has said repeatedly that the Cardinals will be in the market for three starting pitchers after trading away Jack Flaherty and Jordan Montgomery and three bullpen arms at the MLB Trade Deadline and seeing the 42-year-old Wainwright stroll into retirement. Doing so figures to be costly -- both in terms of free-agent dollars and young players who might be lumped into any potential trades -- but Mozeliak said the Cardinals are committed to correcting their course.

Marmol knows that both he and Mozeliak will be scrutinized during an offseason in which the Cardinals will be expected to make the kind of bold moves that will make them championship contenders again. Wainwright was their last link to a Cardinals team that won a game in the 2014 NLCS, and now he’s taking that big game experience with him into retirement.

Before he left for retirement, Wainwright -- who whiffed in his final pinch-hit plate appearance and was still cheered -- admitted that the celebration given to him over the past weekend will always remain special to him.

“I’ll remember these last three days for the rest of my life,” said Wainwright, whose retirement celebration included the attendance of Albert Pujols, Molina and several Cardinals Hall of Famers.

Marmol said as he was driving into Busch Stadium on Sunday morning, and he saw fans already lined up to get in to see one of the franchise’s worst teams in decades, that expectations are still very much a good thing. Demands for success beats apathy any day, he stressed.

“I don’t mind fans being mad; they should be extremely frustrated and pissed,” Marmol said. “You should call for my head. You’re a fan and you’re fanatical about your team and you should live and die with the wins and losses. When we don’t win, you should be mad. So there’s a responsibility, but that’s the reason you wake up every morning.”