“Themes like payroll is going down, we hope we win a few games – that wasn’t the narrative downstairs”: John Mozeliak enjoys final Blogger’s Day interview as ‘youngry’ Cardinals rise
One hour before the Cardinals scratched out a 2-1 series-clinching victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers and their prized free agent ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, St. Louis’ President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak unwrapped a lifelike Bobblehead of himself, gifted by the great Kyle Reis, to wrap up his final Blogger’s Day interview with St. Louis’ amateur media. Energized by the Redbirds surprising turnaround in 2025 and with only a few months remaining as head of baseball operations, Mozeliak was relaxed and in a chatty mood.
He shared his admiration for the 2025 club, spoke optimistically about the Cards’ future, raved about an 18-year-old slugger in Palm Beach, gave a substantive response about baseball economics and a surprising glimpse into his future plans. With that, here are the highlights from Mo’s swansong with the Blogosphere.
On the 2025 Cardinals Success
“Themes like payroll is going down, we’re going to give young players a chance, we hope we win a few games, that type of thing – that wasn’t the narrative (in the clubhouse). As you can imagine, if you’re a player and you’re playing at this level, you want to show people why you’re here, why you deserve to be here, and this group has done that. (During the offseason) We talked a lot about maybe trading our third baseman (Nolan Arenado). At one point, we actually did – and then of course, he rejected the deal, which is fine. We went through another iteration of this, and thought I had a deal done with Boston at the one-inch line, and they signed (Alex) Bregman. During that whole process Nolan and I stayed in touch, talked through some things – obviously it wasn’t what we were hoping to accomplish so it got a little tense at times, but we hugged it out.
Why I share all this with you is because even the best-laid plans sometimes change, and they did. In the end, we were still able to come out of (the offseason) as a group, as a team, we still felt pretty good about ourselves. When I think about this club, a couple things come to mind: I think we’re a really talented group…the other thing, this group just shows you how gritty they are. When you look at this season, think about how many games we’ve been in. There’s been very few baseball games that we’ve just not been in – if you’re a true fan of baseball or a fan of the Cardinals, you shouldn’t be turning off your TV after the third inning because you just never know what they have.”
On the 2025 Trade Deadline
“It’s a super fair question, I think the timing, it’s just hard to answer. If we are where we are (in the standings) come the last week of July, I think we’re going to look at ways to improve the club. But if we aren’t where we are, and if we’re not playing the way we hope we’re playing, then thinking about the future might make the most sense.”
On Baseball Economics
“My first thought on where the Cardinals are relative to the market – I think a lot of teams are dealing with TV issues. When you’re looking at the overall scope of where baseball is, you have a third of the clubs that really don’t have financial challenges, a third that are – on any given year – might feel good about where they are, or might not, and then there’s a third that just hate baseball economics – they just feel like they can’t compete. Now, knowing that, the Cardinals are still in that middle group, and we have to look at ways to find new local revenue – clearly the TV issue is something that’s going to be over our heads the next couple years.
When you think about the TV model, 15-20 years ago everybody was just jumping at it and they’re getting these massive deals. Unfortunately, the bubble popped, and now we’re trying to figure out what’s next. Most people in the country are actively streaming, that’s how they’re purchasing something. I do think the future of entertainment rights are going to improve over time, I’m bullish on that.
St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak talks with media at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports
When I think about how you address the CBA (collective bargaining agreement) or baseball’s issue on revenue, I am an advocate for a (salary) floor and a ceiling. I do think it’s frustrating when you see teams that just don’t invest in their Major League club, and then you’re seeing a ton of money invested in the R&D side. If I were the Player’s Association, I’d be somewhat focused on where is the money going? But net-net, I think if you’re able to have a floor and a ceiling, you’d be able to control, if you will, other smaller markets having more of a chance to truly compete.
As time has gone on, St. Louis Cardinals – which is arguably the 25th or 26th size market in baseball – the reason we were able to compete was we had an owner that was willing to deficit spend at times, we had a fanbase that came out and supported us, and at the time we had a robust media contract. Not so robust that they wanted to get rid of us – the teams that had the most unbalanced, or unfair, media contracts, were the ones that were getting cut off right away. As we start to restructure all of this, we do have to figure out a way that’s going to allow these mid-size clubs and small market teams to be more competitive. It’s not quite as easy as it sounds – some of these clubs, potentially where a floor might have to be, might not be able to afford the floor. So, that’s going to have to be a restructure, possibly even at the ownership level.”
On Rainiel Rodriguez, prospect in Palm Beach
“18-year-old that just swings it. Very rarely do you see a young person that, at 18, can do what he’s doing. I think he’s just built to hit. I usually don’t get too excited about young players, but this is a guy that I think has a future to be a real bat. I don’t know how many people are on him, but he’s legit. By the end of the year, if he’s not a Top 100 prospect, I’ll be shocked.”
On What’s Next for Mo
“As far as like, true future, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I can imagine I might stay in some capacity with the Cardinals, but I would definitely want my focus more on the business side than the baseball. I feel like Chaim (Bloom) and his group need a clear path – me hanging around, it gets awkward, that wouldn’t be fair. But short view, I just want to take a couple months off, take a deep breath, and reset myself if you will.”
