John Mozeliak will return to the Cardinals, but maybe without power.
When St. Louis Cardinals head of baseball operations John Mozeliak assisted in signing the team’s manager, Oli Marmol, to a surprise contract extension prior to the 2024 season, he stated that he did not want the team to be led by someone with lame-duck status. He had no idea, however, that he was maybe forecasting his own fate in the Cardinals front office.
All indications indicate that the Cardinals will re-sign Mozeliak for the 2025 season, which is the final year of his deal. That decision is much to the consternation of St. Louis supporters, considering the perceived (and possibly justified) inadequacies of the front office under his leadership. However, there could be a significant caveat to it.
Some people forget that the Cards hired Chaim Bloom, the former Chief Baseball Officer of the Boston Red Sox, after he was sacked in Beantown. And, while he has been ostensibly an assistant to Mozeliak in his first year with the new company, that role may be expanding, forcing Mozeliak to the sidelines and making him the lame-duck in the final year of his contract.
Chaim Bloom could usurp John Mozeliak as Cardinals top decision-maker
According to USA Today MLB insider Bob Nightengale, the plan for Mozeliak to “step down” after the 2025 season in St. Louis remains intact, but his influence in the front office may be reduced as Bloom takes on a larger role, or even simply taking over as the top dog in the front office.
“While John Mozeliak, president of baseball operations for the St. Louis Cardinals, plans to step down after the 2025 season, special assistant Chaim Bloom is expected to have much greater authority next season, perhaps even become the top baseball decision-maker.”
Bloom taking over as the chief decision-maker may be something Red Sox fans, who were generally dissatisfied with him for the majority of his time, would warn Cardinals fans about. At the same time, many St. Louis fans may argue that things can’t get much worse than they have in the last two years under Mozeliak’s leadership.
Having said that, the overall possible shift of power in the front office could be a long-term benefit for the Cardinals. It is a sign that ownership understands its own faults and, as a result, the need for change. Whether Bloom is the proper alteration to make remains to be seen. However, it could be the beginning of what is required to get this team back into the playoff picture on a regular basis.
