John Mozeliak's biggest mistake
He leaned too hard into positional talent, forgetting about the method that created his success.
For years, I’ve shouted that the St. Louis Cardinals didn’t finish the painting after acquiring Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt in a pair of big trades. It’s not a puzzling usage of words, but a telling idea about what was done and sadly what wasn’t done afterwards.
Let’s be clear. John Mozeliak has enjoyed the reins of this operation, using Bill DeWitt Jr.’s payroll to build winners. The choices he makes or doesn’t make will reverberate for years. After the most boring and noteless winter where the team made zero notable trades or deals, his choices are spread out across the bed sheet like empty guns. National pundits are collectively panning the Cardinals offseason, so something must be still rotting after the big announcement about a regime change months ago.
The shock and awe of capturing Arenado and Goldschmidt in big transactions was soured by the lack of movement following their arrival. How do you trade for two top players and not add pitching or anything useful to the bowl of goods? They followed up those deals by adding pitchers like Steven Mat, extending the likes of Miles Mikolas, and cutting ties with Jack Flaherty. Anyone remember the Carlos Martinez and Alex Reyes tenures?
Last week, I heard something that instantly was connected to another Cardinal-related ordeal. There was a discussion that the Cards didn’t spring for Max Scherzer back in 2015 because they already had enough pitching. The Walt Jocketty days and early Mozeliak days were fueled by the idea that you can never have enough pitching. Missing out on Max will go down as one of his biggest hiccups. Michael Wacha or John Lackey be damned, add the pitching!
It made me think about the positional pursuit that this team engages in far too often. Instead of hunting down infield corner pieces for an outrageous price, Mozeliak could have sliced and diced that money into 3-4 players. So far, St. Louis has shelled out $99 million for Arenado’s services, and that’s including the moderate amount being paid by Colorado. They’re on the tab for $64 million more Arenado dollars. The Cardinals shelled out $144 million collectively for Goldschmidt’s services.
That’s $245 million for two players who produced zip in the playoffs and peaked in 2022. Mozeliak tried to *sorta* play with the big boy clubs like the Dodgers and Mets, only to lose sight of the methodology of how the Cardinals used to build teams.
They used to simply acquire good players, not positions. That’s like shopping for types when you’re dating, forgetting the fact that a good person should be the goal. That’s the long-term nectar, right there. The Cardinals signed good players 10-15 years ago, worrying about their true impact after they got here.
In trying to align themselves with the big spenders, Mozeliak and company lost sight of the ball so badly that their talent development system turned into a garbage fire. They spent all the money on Arenado and Goldschmidt. Sorry, instructors and other parts of the roster.
Missing out on Max was a big one. Forgetting how to properly build a ballclub and aggregate funds will always be Mozeliak’s downfall here. He got too full of himself and his abilities. 2026 can’t come soon enough. 2025 could be interesting and fun, but it’ll always be less thanks to Mo.
Think about it. The entire story all winter has been the team trying to loudly unload their highest paid player from a contract they tacked another year onto in order for him to waive his opt-out a few years ago. Only in Cardinal Nation, I guess.
2026 can’t come soon enough.