3 undeserving St. Louis Cardinals who will be back thanks to John Mozeliak
With one season left in his current position, John Mozeliak has the authority to carry on making dubious choices for the St. Louis Cardinals.
As a team, the St. Louis Cardinals find themselves in an odd situation. With pitchers over the age of 33 accounting for nearly all of their innings, they have an experienced core of pitchers. Such a core of pitchers is not sustainable at all, particularly as the organisation looks to the future.
As for the future, rumours have it that John Mozeliak, general manager of the Cardinals, will serve in that capacity through the 2025 season, after which Chaim Bloom will take over in 2026. Mozeliak will be able to carry on pushing the organisation in the direction he feels it should go because he will still be serving as General Manager and President of Baseball Operations.
Mozeliak is in charge of assembling the 2025 roster. It’s likely that he re-signs a few underappreciated players in 2025, such as these three pitchers.
3. RHP Lance Lynn
Lance Lynn is the first person on this list. There are three starting pitchers on our list, and Lynn is the first and most deserving to return in 2025. We’ll discuss why he should and shouldn’t return, but given that Mozeliak has given him a team option for the upcoming season, I believe it’s all but guaranteed that he will return.
Lynn, 37, had a passable campaign in the previous year. His value was marginally positive, at just over 0 WAR. With a 3.84 ERA, 4.31 FIP, and 1.34 WHIP in 117.1 innings pitched over 23 starts, he was rather successful. Despite having an above-average ERA in the league (ERA+ of 109), his
Lynn, who will be 38 years old, is expected to play for much of the 2025 season. Pitchers almost always have a sharp decline in performance as they get closer to 40 years old. Regression is to be expected for Lynn given his age and the fact that his FIP is significantly higher than his ERA. It would be preferable for the Cardinals to make space in the rotation for a young pitching prospect like Tink Hence or a free agent.
2. LHP Steven Matz
The next two guys on this list play for the Cardinals in fairly comparable situations. Despite being under contract for the upcoming season, both of these ageing pitchers haven’t performed well enough to be useful members of a postseason club. Instead of allowing the two pitchers to continue to be a net negative for the major league team, the Cardinals would be better suited trading for someone else or benching them.
Steven Matz, a lefty, is the first player committed to a $12.5 million contract for the next campaign. Matz pitched for the Cardinals last season, recording a 5.08 ERA in 44.1 innings. He was generally not a competitive arm and had a negative WAR.
If a different team believes they can help the 33-year-old southpaw get back on track, the Cardinals may be able to locate a trade partner for him. However, when Chaim Bloom assumes leadership in 2026, Matz most likely won’t be involved. Sonny Grey, Erick Fedde, Kyle Gibson, Andre Pallante, and a few elite prospects that might round out the rotation are available for St. Louis. If St. Louis is serious about winning, Matz won’t be in the rotation, therefore it would be best if they don’t allow him to sign up.
However, Mozeliak is probably not going to want to change his free agency signing from a few seasons prior. This year, he welcomed back Matz and
1. RHP Miles Mikolas
The Cardinals have Fedde, Gibson, Grey, Pallante, and a few outstanding prospects to round out their rotation, as was previously said. Lynn is among them as well, and she is superior to this unworthy player who holds the top rank on the list.
Miles Mikolas, a 36-year-old righty who is owed $18.5 million for the upcoming season, is the last player on this list. With a K/9 rate that was significantly below 9.0, a 5.35 ERA, and a -0.2 WAR, Mikolas was a net negative pitcher. At this stage in his career, he’s essentially a glorified innings eater, and the Cardinals need pitchers who can win games instead of just piling up innings.
Are the Cardinals going to bring him back? No, they ought to attempt to swap him. They need to make place on their staff for a top free agent pitcher or a top prospect like Tink Hence, who is expected to be ready for the major leagues in 2025. They may have to eat some, if not all, of his remaining salary.
Ultimately, it is unlikely that any other team would be prepared to shell out close to $20 million for Mikolas’ output. It will be a mistake for Mozeliak to bring him back to chew up innings as the team’s fifth starter. The general manager of the Cardinals would want to bring Mikolas back and acknowledge that he made a mistake in awarding him this contract.
Cardinals inevitable John Mozeliak succession plan is official and baffling
The St. Louis Cardinals have announced significant organisational changes that won’t take place till 2026 after missing the postseason for the second straight season.
At his press conference at the end of the season on Monday, Bill DeWitt Jr., the owner and CEO of the Cardinals, spoke to the media. He announced during his turn at the podium that Chaim Bloom would succeed John Mozeliak as the team’s future president of baseball operations. But the transfer of power is not expected to occur until beyond 2025.
The Cardinals are holding out for Bloom to get unrestricted access until beyond the end of the 2020–21 season, for whatever reason or reasons. But why? How does that benefit St. Louis?
Cardinals delaying inevitable John Mozeliak succession plan until 2026 is mind-boggling
Mozeliak will dance with the Cards one last time rather than taking a fresh start with Bloom. To be honest, it is nonsensical. This will only make it harder for the former to justify the latter’s wrongdoings to the team after he takes over.
Mozeliak might make decisions with another offseason to sign off on that Bloom would not necessarily want to approve of. If that turns out to be the case, the incoming administration in St. Louis will have to deal with the aftermath.
Since Mozeliak took over as general manager in 2007, the Cardinals have only experienced one losing season. Is this a gesture of respect for all that he has done over the years? Other than that, it’s difficult to identify a
Bloom was given a five-year deal by St. Louis to assume Mozeliak’s responsibilities, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Bloom was appointed by St. Louis as Mozeliak’s advisor in January 2024. The 41-year-old served as the Boston Red Sox’s chief baseball officer from 2020 to 23. He also worked from 2005 until 2019 as an executive for the Tampa Bay Rays.
