Cardinals Legend's Recent Comments Highlight John Mozeliak's Short-Sightedness

St. Louis is known for making poor decisions recently

Sep 30, 2022; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; (L-R) St. Louis Cardinals designated hitter Albert Pujols (5) waves to fans as president of baseball operations John Mozeliak and manager Oliver Marmol (37) look on during a ceremony to celebrate Albert Pujols 700th career home run before a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images / Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak has helped the organization tremendously throughout the years but he has also made many mistakes.

Before discussing his shortcomings as baseball boss, it's worth noting that he played a major role in the front office during the Cardinals' successful reign from 2009-22, during which St. Louis won a World Series and reached a franchise record of five straight playoff appearances from 2011-15.

Unfortunately, Mozeliak has struggled since becoming head honcho for the Cardinals in June 2017. His latest mistake was trading a homegrown star, who recently received high praise from one of St. Louis' most-beloved former players.

"'When we made the trade, I got a call from Albert Pujols, and he said you’re going to love this guy because he’s a baseball player,' (Dino) Ebel said, referring to the former (Los Angeles) Angels and (Los Angeles) Dodgers slugger who played with (Tommy) Edman in St. Louis in 2022," according to Ebel, the Dodgers third base coach, as transcribed by LA Times' Mike DiGiovanna on Oct. 1.

Edman, who was dealt from the Cardinals to the Dodgers at this summer's trade deadline in exchange for aging veteran Tommy Pham and right-handed pitcher Erick Fedde, who has only one good season under his belt, was recently crowned National League Championship Series MVP for Los Angeles and will have the chance to win his first-ever World Series ring this October.

"'He can hit from both sides of the plate, he’s shown some power, he can play short, second and center field,'" Pujols continued to tell Ebel per Giovanna's transcription. "He’s fundamentally sound, he makes the routine play, he knows how to run the bases, he can bunt, he can hit-and-run, and he’s got the talent to be on a championship-caliber team and to win a World Series.”

Trading Edman to the Dodgers in exchange for Fedde and Pham while St. Louis wasn't an obvious postseason contender is a head-scratching decision that has already dropped another stain on Mozeliak's legacy as Cardinals POBO.

Hopefully, Chaim Bloom will end the never-ending trend of former St. Louis players thriving elsewhere after departing from the Cardinals.

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