There’s no reason for John Mozeliak to be employed by the Cardinals in 2025
There’s no reason for John Mozeliak to be employed by the Cardinals in 2025
The Cardinals made a mistake by not firing him immediately.
Imagine being the biggest reason that your team (or company) has taken a steady downtown in the last 10 years, and the national media knows all about it. You’ve taken a once proud franchise that you helped sustain a strong run of play that lasted into 2014 and showed some life in 2019, and made them irrelevant. Instead of dividing the team funds between the big league club and minor league teams, you pushed all the chips into one side of the table and the gamble didn’t even work. Imagine doing all of that, and being allowed to stay in a major role for the following season even after the team announces major restructuring.
Welcome to John Mozeliak’s world. After the St. Louis Cardinals improved on a dismal 2023 season yet still missed the playoffs by a decent amount and The Athletic released an article documenting the last ten years of lapsed player development, it would have been a perfect time to can the architect of the operation. Mozeliak did make some great moves after taking over for Walt Jocketty following the 2007 season and taking the team to two World Series matchups, but that was a long time ago.
Most of the damage from the last decade lays either near Mozeliak’s feet or right on top of them. The general manager turned President of Baseball Operations was the team’s major spokesperson and trigger finger for major moves for the past 17 years-bringing in the likes of Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt, and Sonny Gray. But he also oversaw a farm system that pushed out more okay players or replacement players with less standouts, and gave out questionable to awful contracts. Anyone remember the Brett Cecil deal? Ugh. Remember letting Marcel Ozuna walk and become a bigger force at the plate while the team bled outfielders.
Here’s one. When Arenado was signed, why wasn’t Jordan Walker, aka the top young gun around town, immediately moved to the outfield? That’s the stench left behind by Mozeliak, but he gets to enjoy the final year of his contract. A guy who fired a solid manager in Mike Shildt only to hire a yes man in Oli Marmol remains in his job. Why? What reason does he need to be here and dictate where the team goes? The reason is nonexistent.
Expertise? Save it. He’s out of it at this point. Mozeliak had his time. Instead of shipping off fall guy Michael Girsch to the special projects basement job, they should have sent Mo down there with a stapler and laptop. Create a project that doesn’t get screwed up and laughed at, and then we’ll upgrade you to the kitchen. The MLB executives who voted in that Athletic poll last year gave Mozeliak’s front office zero votes. That’s how bad it was, and yet he is still here.
The easy solution: Let Chaim Bloom, Rob Cerfolio, and Randy Flores run the show. They’ve been introduced, have set up roots in St. Louis, and will be doing the job in 2026. What is Mo bringing to the table other than passwords at this point? Whatever he knew isn’t useful anymore. What he did will be remembered, but only after he leaves. Legacies don’t begin until the guy takes that long horse ride out of town. This isn’t me embracing a full cup of hatorade on an extremely rainy Monday, but simply stating what the heartbeat of Cardinal Nation is thinking and wants to see happen. Those are your paying customers.
Here’s the thing. Bill Dewitt Jr. could have done a good deed by letting Mozeliak go. A bold step, but one that would have pleased those paying customers who care deeply about your baseball team. In a season following a 71-win year, you still put 2.7 million fans in the seats. That’s not a celebration, but a sign that your fans are fed up yet not finished with your product. Firing Mo would have sent a message that they’re not messing around, and have accepted blame.
They didn’t even do that in the press conference, though. DeWitt Jr. and his Cardinals are too invested in turning a profit to hang with the times, even if it costs them potential profit. Showcase Bloom, shelve Mozeliak, and see how the fan base would react. If the sports gambling amendment passes, I’d bet the reaction would be complementary.
It’s not like he’s reached Stan Kroenke status, but Mozeliak isn’t liked around here anymore--and there’s a healthy stack of evidence that explains the reason behind the angst. When DeWitt Jr. told the press that this wasn’t just a team that would settle for a certain amount of wins, but one that wanted more, he gave life to a narrative. St. Louis doesn’t mess around. Somehow, their process got very messy.
Keeping Mozeliak in a role that still holds power doesn’t make any sense. It’s weak. More weakness from a team that used to be something.