Central STL News

John Mozeliak has stepped down as the president of baseball operations for the St. Louis Cardinals after 30 seasons with the organization, including 18 years leading baseball operations. During his tenure, Mozeliak was part of two World Series championships in 2006 and 2011, four National League titles, and a stretch of 15 consecutive winning seasons from 2008 to 2022. However, recent years have seen a decline in performance, with the team missing the playoffs for three straight seasons and not advancing past a playoff series since 2019.

“In terms of regrets, I don’t have any,” Mozeliak said Monday after concluding his final season with the club.

Mozeliak acknowledged growing calls for change within the organization following a disappointing season where the Cardinals finished with a record of 78-84 and missed out on an NL Wild Card spot by five games. “The drumbeat was getting louder – candidly, real loud – for a new voice, and I heard it,” he stated. “I do believe [change] can be a good thing. Having a fresh voice, a different perspective and new ideas will be healthy for the St. Louis Cardinals.”

Chaim Bloom is set to take over as president of baseball operations and will be formally introduced on Tuesday. Bloom has spent the last two seasons working in an advisory capacity with the Cardinals, focusing on building relationships with players and restructuring the Minor League system. With revenues declining and attendance reaching its lowest point in three decades in 2025, Bloom is expected to steer the team toward a full rebuild.

One of Bloom’s first tasks may involve trading veterans Nolan Arenado and Sonny Gray, both of whom have expressed interest in joining championship-contending teams next season.

Reflecting on his time at the helm, Mozeliak discussed how changes in player evaluation methods and market disparities have increased challenges for smaller-market teams like St. Louis. “How you build rosters looks completely different based on your market size,” he said. “The ability for a small-market team to be successful will require the following traits: innovation, never losing sight of your core principals, and remaining nimble and flexible in the ever-fluid environment.”

Mozeliak pointed to teams such as Milwaukee as examples of effective rebuilding strategies that could have benefited St. Louis had they been more open to significant changes after their difficult 2023 season.

“I don’t regret anything that we did this year in the sense of, we knew that it was going to be difficult ... trying to thread this needle,” Mozeliak said about balancing retooling efforts while aiming for playoff contention. “We wanted to give our fan base some level of hope; we wanted to try to see if a couple of our guys could click and get hot. Unfortunately, we did come up short."

He concluded: “The unique thing about the role that I had with the Cardinals is that we never tried to rebuild. The words you might hear [on Tuesday from Bloom] might be different, but that’s for them to speak. But in terms of regrets, I don’t have any.”