Coming off a disappointing stretch of two seasons — including a 91-loss campaign in 2023 – the St. Louis Cardinals are poised to make significant changes to the front office and roster. However, those changes will not reach the top of the organization, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that president of baseball operations John Mozeliak will return for the final year of his contract in 2025. Goold also reports that manager Oliver Marmol will return for next season.
Goold writes in part:
“The Post-Dispatch asked Mozeliak, who has one year remaining on his contract, what his role will be, and he confirmed he’ll remain president of baseball operations. He has previously said 2025 will be his final year in that role.
“When asked, he acknowledged there will be a restructuring within the front office.”
That restructuring likely involves Chaim Bloom. The former lead exec with the Red Sox joined the Cardinals this past offseason in an advisory capacity, and he was tasked with performing a full audit of the organization, particularly with regard to the farm system and player-development infrastructure. That player-development program, once the industry standard, has faltered badly in recent years and failed to keep pace with other organizations. As Katie Woo in The Athletic recently detailed, the Cardinals badly lag other organizations when it comes to the number of instructors, coaches, and coordinators overseeing development at the minor-league level.
On this front, longtime director of player development Gary LaRocque recently announced his retirement and, according to The Athletic, it’s Bloom, now a full-time member of the front office, who will choose LaRocque’s replacement. In related matters, speculation continues to have it that Bloom is the likeliest replacement for Mozeliak once he presumably steps aside at the end of the 2025 season.
Elsewhere, the Cardinals will reportedly not make an effort to re-sign first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, and this winter they may look to shop veterans on long-term contracts like Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras, and Nolan Arenado – provided their respective no-trade clauses can be worked around. As well, lockdown closer Ryan Helsley is a trade candidate heading into his final year of arbitration.
Team owner Bill DeWitt is set to address the media on Monday afternoon, and the expectation is that he’ll provide further details about the front-office changes to come. Those changes, however, apparently won’t involve Mozeliak, who’s been the club’s lead decision-maker since late 2007. What will perhaps be more telling is to what extent Mozeliak remains truly in charge of the critical decisions the club will make this coming winter or if he’s being shunted into a graceful exit and more benign role while Bloom’s influence continues to grow within the organization.
