The 2016 Cardinals had clubhouse trouble, and the team is trying to correct that this spring by forcing players out of cliques:

A bus was ordered, and Matheny incorporated two trips to Legends of Xscape into Thursday’s workout.

With that trip, the Cardinals broke down important barriers by forming groups between men who probably wouldn’t associate away from the field because of their ages, positions, language skills or veteran status.

Working in small groups that linked veterans with younger players and minor-league prospects, the players worked together to uncover clues that would free them from their rooms.

“I think it brings the team together more,” Grichuk said. “I think it just translates to everything on the field. Just guys being able to communicate with each other more and just being friends more and interact more is going to help.”

This reminds me of the opening scene of Four Weddings and a Funeral, where guests at a wedding are forced to sit with people they don’t know to stimulate conversation.

I have seen enough teams with dysfunctional clubhouses win to not put a lot of stock in this kind of team building. Winning tends to solve clubhouse problems. That said, I think this is a good idea, because it may prevent losing from causing rifts in the clubhouse to expand into something worse.