Benjamin Hochman | Post-Dispatch
Sports columnist
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It really is a stunning image. I noticed it yet again Monday, as I walked toward Busch Stadium. It’s underneath one of the ballpark’s looming stanchions with the toothbrush lights. It’s plastered horizontally along the outside of the ballpark, parallel to overpass of Interstate 64 (though, come on, we call it Highway 40). It is a streaming red sign that reads WORLD CHAMPIONS. And next to the two words are the famous 11 years — the ultimate billboard for Cardinals history. And, yes, the last year listed was 2011.
That’s Mo’s year.
It’ll be up there forever.
Cardinals executive John Mozeliak built the club that won the 2011 World Series.
Yet both literally and figuratively, 2011 seems long ago. Heck, so do 2012, 2013 and 2014, three more seasons of greatness and playoff wins.
But since 2014, the Cardinals only reached the NLCS once. And they didn’t even win a game — swept by the Nationals in 2019.
And after a few wild-card round failures, St. Louis had three really rough years in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
And so, here we are. Mozeliak said goodbye on Monday. At a press conference attended by many familiar front office faces — from Michael Girsch to Chaim Bloom — Mo spoke publicly for the last time as the Cardinals president of baseball operations. He leaves an interesting legacy. He said there were more highs than lows, which is undeniably true. I mean, they had 15 straight winning seasons from 2008-2022. But the past three seasons have created such a unified fury among Cardinals fans — and the anger has been directed (and tweeted) toward Mo. Let’s just say his approval rating is down.
“I love this job, but I also knew it was time for a change,” Mozeliak said Monday at Busch, where a Tuesday press conference will be Bloom’s first as the new boss. “Trying to reinvent yourself every year can be challenging. The drumbeat was getting louder — candidly, real loud — for a new voice. And I heard it. Speaking of change, I do believe it can be a good thing having a fresh voice, a different perspective. New ideas will be healthy with the St Louis Cardinals.
“What does change mean for the St. Louis Cardinals organization? And what does it mean to our fans? The economic landscape baseball has continued to shift over the past decade. How you build rosters looks completely different based on your market size. The ability for a small market team to be successful will require the following traits — innovation, never lose sight of your core principles and remain nimble and flexible in an ever-fluid environment.”
To me, what’s most intriguing of Mo’s legacy is that he was once at the forefront of team-building, use of analytics and draft-and-develop — and lately, misfires in those same areas of focus led to the past three frustrating seasons.
He mentioned the Brewers by name. After all, they’re the new Cardinals.
Asked about the evolution of baseball during his tenure with the team, Mozeliak said: “Payrolls (used to be) much different. I think free agents were paid on what they did, not what they might do. Collectively, the draft had unlimited rounds, so you could take a lot of shots, if you will. And what’s changed is just the economic landscape of the game. And I think what’s happening right now in baseball is you’re starting to see a wider, wider spread of haves and have nots.
“And so, if you’re not from the haves, then you’ve got to be really, really smart on how you start strategically thinking about roster building. Under (chairman) Bill DeWitt … he always had us thinking about drafting and development. I think over 30 years, I think we did a pretty good job at that. And now it’s — what more can you squeeze out of that orange as you try to get more on the margins? And I think you look at teams right now that are successful that are not large-market teams, i.e. Milwaukee, they’re doing a really good job. And that’s what we need to replicate.”
That will be Bloom’s task — to take what Mozeliak has left him and turn it into a vintage Mozeliak team. And force the franchise to extend the sign on the side of the ballpark.
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Benjamin Hochman | Post-Dispatch
Sports columnist
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