The Cardinals’ 83-79 record is a big improvement on their dismal 71-91 mark from 2023, yet the team still ended up well short of the playoffs, let alone in any serious contention. Multiple reports over the last few days have indicated that the team will respond to the situation with a planned overhaul of both the player development department and minor league system, which could include some paring of the big league payroll so the Cards can reinvest in the lower levels of the organizational ladder.
While president of baseball operations John Mozeliak didn’t discuss payroll during an interview with Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Mozeliak did confirm several of these earlier reports, and an overall “shift in philosophy” for the team. “Instead of looking for short-term answers, we’re going to try to take more of a long view,” Mozeliak said.
To this end, the Cardinals are “shifting to a heavy emphasis that puts it back on scouting and player development. I would say that over the past 10 years or so we’ve run a lean operation, and part of that was to allow us to maximize success at the major-league level. But over time you learn that machine can wear down. It’s just not producing at the level it once did. That’s not to say our minor leagues are in disarray. But an emphasis on infrastructure is something we have been taking a very serious look at.”
Chaim Bloom will indeed be taking on “a more impactful role” within the St. Louis front office after spending the last year as an adviser with the team. Bloom will continue to work with the MLB roster but seems to largely be focused on the player development side, and Mozeliak didn’t specify what (if any) exact title Bloom might have in this expanded role. In general, however, Mozeliak said Bloom’s “voice on the decision tree is going up. He’s no longer observing. It’s about helping implement a plan.”
Mozeliak will still be the lead voice in the baseball ops department, as he told Goold that he’ll return in his current role for the 2025 season. Mozeliak has been running the Cardinals’ front office since the 2007-08 offseason, and at the time of his last contract extension, he stated that he would gradually be looking to scale back some duties to others in advance of the end of that extension, which is up after the 2025 campaign. The Cards’ recent struggles led to some speculation that Mozeliak might step down a year early or at least move into another role in the organization, in order to let Bloom, GM Mike Girsch, or someone else take over as the team’s new president of baseball ops.
Oliver Marmol will also be returning as manager in 2025, Mozeliak confirmed. Marmol signed an extension last spring that runs through the 2026 season, so between that deal and the Cardinals’ improvement from 2023, it isn’t exactly a surprise that Marmol will return to the dugout. Of course, Marmol also drew a lot of criticism given the lack of playoff baseball in St. Louis over the last two seasons, leading to whispers that the team could potentially replace him with another prominent Cardinal name (i.e. Yadier Molina, or the newly-available Skip Schumaker).
“As we shift, I think Oli is going to be someone who has a tremendous coaching and development background,” Mozeliak said. “So I think some of his strengths will really shine as we make that shift directionally on what we’re going to look like for the next couple of years.”
While Mozeliak and Marmol will return, some level of changes are expected within the front office, and perhaps to Marmol’s coaching staff. It is perhaps notable that Mozeliak seemingly didn’t address Girsch’s status in the interview with Goold, though there isn’t any indication that Girsch’s job could be in jeopardy. Girsch signed an extension of an undisclosed length following the 2022 season, and he has been with St. Louis in variety of roles since 2006, including the general manager’s position since the 2017 season.
More details on the Cardinals’ plans will be revealed by Mozeliak and team chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. in a press conference on Monday. Some more light could be shed on what exactly the Cards’ renewed focus on player development might mean for the 26-man roster and the team’s offseason spending. Mozeliak made no mention of a rebuild, or reshuffle, or any other buzzword used to describe a step back from contending, and it is hard to imagine the St. Louis fanbase would take kindly to such a change in direction from an organization so used to consistent success.
The Cardinals haven’t had consecutive losing records (in non-shortened seasons) since 1958-59, a streak that continued with this year’s 83-win campaign. Still, just getting back over .500 wasn’t enough for many St. Louis fans, as attendance dropped under the three-million mark this season.
“I understand from a fan perspective expectations are high,” Mozeliak said. “I’d be lying to you if I said I didn’t notice it. We certainly want to get back to creating a game-day experience that our fans appreciate and want to experience and enjoy. Part of that obviously is winning baseball. Part of that is enhancing that experience.”
Bart Harley Jarvis
Talk about the kiss of death. Within a week, Mozeliak sleeps with the fishes.
thebirds
I dunno. At this point I’m convinced Mo and Oli witnessed a murder.
moneedstogo
@ Thebirds – I agree with you. How Marmol has kept is job is a bold statement that the Cardinals office is not committed to winning but only payroll. He is God awful with players and especially younger players.
AirGuitar721
I’m throwing my hands up at this point. This is not Cardinals baseball. Keeping either or both of Mo and Oli is just bonkers. Can’t believe we’re going to have another season of Mo’s excuses and Oli p*ssing everyone off.
sad tormented neglected mariners fan
When will the Dewitt’s have enough? This leash feels infinite
Kyle Pepperpants
Cards are shifting their philosophy by keeping everything the same…
moneedstogo
At this point we should just stop watching until Marmol and Mo are gone. I might if I can break my 40 year habit of watching nearly every game.
HopefulTwinsFan
“Shift in philosophy” sounds like an excuse to retain every executive in their same position without changing much, if anything. Sorry, Cards fans.
jbigz12
It’s they don’t want to pay Mo and a new POBO right now so they’ll let his deal run out .
CardsFan57
Marmol has shown no ability to inspire and develop young players. Most of them including some highly rated young players have failed to develop. I think he needs to go for that reason.
Winn is the lone success but he’s such a positive confident player that he will succeed anywhere. Not all players have that trait.
sgord03
I wonder what Oli and Mo have on DeWitt.
gbs42
Guaranteed contracts.
anri_baseball
Local media is doing a good job of mitigating the damage, but it’s pretty clear Mozeliak and co. intend to sell off veteran assets and start a full-scale rebuild. Cards should plan to be out of the NL Central race for 2-3 years.
letsholdemandgohome
I think this is DeWitt’s revenge or punishment for the fans not filling the seats at all the home games this year.
Who wants to watch a mediocre or losing team? Money is tight for a lot of families.
Ol’ Uncle Charlie
Families not named DeWitt.
TheFuzzofKing
Yeah, what a whole lot of puff and blubbering and ego guarding. Never seen anyone try so hard to not say they’re rebuilding, which they certainly are.
cards1994
Not surprised to see Oli back but also not happy about it. Hopefully there will be changes to some of the coaching staff. The fact that Mo will be over the rebuild of what he messed up doesn’t make sense.
17dizzy
I totally agree!!!
Mozeliak’s very poor decisions making. Waisting Owners money on an abundance of Bad Contracts.
There wouldn’t have been a need for a Cardinals rebuild if Mozeliak would have been capable of assessing the Cardinals personnel needs at the end of each season and upgrading with quality players instead of low hanging fruit.
CardsFan57
My take away here is that the Cardinals abandoned minor league development the moment Luhnow left the organization. That explains the slow steady decline from the organization that created the minor league system for MLB. This will be MO’s legacy.
kitkat40
You hit the nail right on the head . And look at the sustainability that the Astros have had , crazy right just saying .
Ol’ Uncle Charlie
What’s so odd is that so many players have success at our minor league level and that the success isn’t transitioning to the major league level. Part of it seems to be how much we’re pushing players to the majors to beat Father Time. Lack of success with that model seems to be hitting the Cards extra hard.
17dizzy
CardsFan57 —- you’re right.
Also — look a little further back.
From 2000 through 2011. It was Walt Jockerty’s along with Luhnow’s players that were obtained and developed which won Championships and World Series.
The Star players were obtained and trained by Jockerty and Luhnow.
Mozeliak may have gotten the credit for the personnel on the 2011 World Championship team….. but in reality the quality players were already there before he became General Manager.
All down hill after his predecessor Jockerty and front office partner … Luhnow left.
RodBecksBurnerAccount
Really? You’re a Cards fan so you probably know better than I, but Lunhow left the Cards 13 years ago. The Cards have still produced talent in that time. The problem to me it appears they can not develop that talent or manage it: i.e. Jordan Walker, Nolan Gorman, Tyler O’Neil, Dylan Carlson, Lars Nootbar, Matthew Liberatore, etc.
CardsFan57
No one said they didn’t draft well. We’re saying they slashed the development budget in the minor leagues.
RodBecksBurnerAccount
That looks to be true, but many of those guys weren’t really given time to develop in the minors regardless. Most of them debuted very young. They tried to develop them in the majors. That’s probably what they mean by “philosophy” change as nothing else on the surface appears to be changing.
Samuel
Today begins Groundhog Day for both Cardinals and Twins fans.
The Convoluted Universe
Bloom is going to slash and burn that ML payroll. Stl should be focused on developing talent anyway. They were great at it for so long and free agency and backloaded deals isn’t anyway to build a team unless you’re the Mets, Dodgers, Yanks.
If Mo had just kept Zac Gallen, Randy Arrozarena and Sandy Alcantara, this might be a whole other conversation though
dhaab1937
If “ifs and buts”…
The Convoluted Universe
it still shows that the infrastructure isn’t bare. I’m not a cards fan but I’ve always admired their scouting/development.
CardsFan57
I agree on scouting and drafting. The development has been lagging for a long time.
kitkat40
You gave to give up something to get something but boy did he give up some really good pcs.
Joemo
Bloom will certainly help build out the position player aspect of the farm, at the expense of the major league product.
lwingo44
Did we really think that Mo was going to fire Ollie and himself?
LFGMets (Metsin7) #BannedForBeingABaseballExpert
Marmol was an awful hire. Schildt has proven once again that analytics do not triumph over a good manager. I don’t understand why Schildt was fired in the first place. You can’t replace that kind of veteran experience. I’d fire Marmol and hire Schumaker right away
CardsFan57
I’m coming to the conclusion Schildt was fired for pushing for more player development. Abandoning that may explain the mass exodus of excellent coaches before the 2023 season. I’ve always wondered why that happened knowing it wasn’t good.
Informed Sportsball Discussion
Shildt made history as the first MLB manager to win 90+ games in his first three full seasons as manager, while doing so for two separate organizations.
Usually when you manage a team to 90+ wins in your first two seasons, you do not get fired.
(2018, when Shildt took over mid-season, and 2020 do not factor into this equation.)
BaseballisLife
The Padres are an organization that seems highly focused on analytics. Their hiring of Niebla and Martinez and a multi-million investment in a bio-mechanics lab are pretty good indications.
Ol’ Uncle Charlie
Schildt pushed Mo to win…Mo doesn’t want to win; he just wants to save and make money.
Macknoche
So Schildt was right
sad tormented neglected mariners fan
Fired for being right
Macknoche
So
BaseballGuy1
First, the improvement of 2024 over 2023 is meaningless. Being over .500 is no great achievement. 18 teams are over .500 and it only matters if you are advancing to the post-season which STL is not nor was at all close to doing in 2024. Keeping Mozeliak and Marmol means nothing significant will occur in the off-season and 2025 will simply be another mediocre season.
CardsFan57
I question the improvement which came largely because they had horrible luck in one run games in 2023 and terrific luck in one run games in 2024. Average the seasons to see where they’ve been the last two years.
sad tormented neglected mariners fan
Bruh it’s an excuse for the owners to not spend money but at least the cards (might) rebuild
weaselpuppy
They’ve been letting other organizations hatch their eggs…Gallen, Sandy, Randy, Thomas, O Neil. We will see if they keep doing that with Walker etc.
3 finger split
I would just like to thank the Cardinals organization for firing Mike Shildt because he is exactly what the Padres needed…a manager that actually places a premium on fundamentals and the ability to have that translate to the game. The players love his approach, and they play for him instead of
in spite of him. I never understood why he was shown the door in St. Louis
Just as a side note…I still think that the Cardinals home white uniforms are the most classy is all of MLB…they are just so CLEAN.
Informed Sportsball Discussion
I’m sure Mike Shildt with the 93-win playoff bound Padres sends his regards.
dasit
“creating a game-day experience that fans appreciate and want to enjoy.” meaningless corporate jargon is what makes baseball great. hopefully next year marmol will remember to put cover sheets on the TPS reports
tominco
BaseballisLife
So sorry to hear that Cardinals fans. A storied organization destined for another subpar season with no chance at a postseason appearance.
sn33
I love how we have gotten to see the true colors of the self proclaimed “best fans in Baseball” when they have a couple down years.
Blackpink in the area
Why do you love it?
I always said Cubs fans must be hardcore. Because to cheer for your team after losing season upon losing season must mean you really like baseball.
sn33
Because Cardinals fans have long patted themselves on the back as the best or smartest or most loyal fans in the world. I live near STL and it’s been a running joke for years amongst non Cardinals fans in the area how delusional and self righteous so many of them are. So for the whole song and dance to be shown as the BS it’s always been like we have always said is pretty satisfying I won’t lie.
Blackpink in the area
Who is we?
Welcome to mute. Peace.
3 finger split
I’ve been to St. Louis and Chicago to watch games and the fans at both were awesome and very knowledgeable and entertaining to sit with and I’m wearing a Padres jersey. They both love to talk smack and I gave it right back…Padres fans are just as passionate about their team as the Cubs and Cards fans are and that’s why baseball is such a great game.
With that being said there is no way I’m going back to Dodger Stadium…that place is just too dangerous once you get into the parking lot…before or after
sn33
Myself and a bunch of people I know. I thought that was pretty clear but I guess reading is hard for you. Congratulations on the mute button as if anyone cares. Good luck on your reading comprehension looks like you need it.
CardsFan77
This is the FO retaliation to the fans. Stop coming to games, cool, we will reduce payroll and be non competitive because now we have to allocate funds to the minor league system……
Acoss1331
The reward is more of Marmol leading the clubhouse. It’s a real shame because Skip is available and would 100% take the manager job if the Cardinals offered it to him. As a Cubs fan dealing with Hoyer, I can understand your plight with Mo.
sn33
“The FO retaliation” so if they retaliated that means the “biggest fakes in Baseball” must have been acting like babies in the first place right? How else could one retaliate?
McNasty1
Marmol should have been the first to go. Typical Cardinals.
wvsteve
They have drafted and developed better than anyone else forever. How is that a shift in philosophy. Their problem is they have overpaid for a 2nd tier free agents. How many losing seasons in the past 40 seasons? Not many. This is a good way of saying we dumping salary. Plain and simple
Samuel
wvsteve;
No they haven’t.
When Jeff Luhnow, Mike Elias, Sig Mejdal left and went to Houston, the Cardinals drafting fell apart.
You want to name 8 guys that the Cardinals drafted in the last 10 years that went on to do well….fine. You can also do research and find that the worst drafting teams in MLB the past 10 years selected 8 guys guys that did well.
brewcat
RIP “The Cardinals Way”
Mdsavage
Well I guess we will now know how Pirate fans feel. A team at the bottom for decades
wvsteve
As a pirates fan you will never truly know trust me
Ol’ Uncle Charlie
Fire Mo, fire Oli, get a 3-hole hitter, ,don’t reduce payroll, don’t renew Goldie…win baseball games, win the fans back.
RodBecksBurnerAccount
“Going to change philosophy” yet they’re keeping Marmol–the worst manager in the league.
Acoss1331
Marmol is a good yes man, Mo doesn’t want to be questioned like Schildt did.
17dizzy
The Owners are the bad guys now!!!
How can the Owners just sit and watch this Amazing Franchise deteriorate to the point it has gotten to now??
FRUSTRATING!!!
WHY CANT THE OWNERS SEE THAT THEIR PROBLEM IS JOHN MOZELIAK???
(Everybody else see’s it)
Why would a group of owners have faith that the current President of Baseball Operations could Rebuild the Storybook Franchise —-
One of which Fan’s say that Mozeliak is the one responsible for it falling apart in the first place.
Einstein’s “Definition of Insanity” is what??
The Cardinals Owners might want to look that up.
letitbelowenstein
I said months ago that Marmol isn’t going anywhere.
pjmcnu
So basically, they’re going to shed salary like crazy & start a long rebuild. In light of that, why fire guys who should be fired if they’re getting paid beyond 2024, and pay a 2nd guy for the same jobs? Ownership doesn’t plan to care if they suck for a few years, so why not just let Marmol and Mozeliak muck about, with Bloom drawing on his Rays experience to ensure the least amount of money possible is spent doing it?