Cardinals Officially Headed For 'Reset' After Years Of Shortsighted Leadership

St. Louis is entering a new era

Jun 13, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak before the game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images / Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images

The St. Louis Cardinals have dug themselves into a hole that will be challenging to climb out of after years of unwise decisions and negligence from the front office.

The 11-time World Series champions have slowly regressed over the last decade. The lack of emphasis on player development finally came to light after the Cardinals finished with a 71-91 record in 2023 and missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.

St. Louis must reevaluate its approach, which hasn't worked. The Cardinals could face more challenging times as they look to rediscover their identity.

"'Yes, this is a reset,' (John) Mozeliak said after the televised news conference," as transcribed by St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold on Wednesday. “'Yes, this is going to be where we’re not focusing on necessarily building the best possible roster we can. We’re also excited about the roster. We do have a bunch of young players. We also have some emerging stars at the minor-league level. How we could augment that over the next few months, time will tell.'”

Mozeliak, the Cardinals president of baseball operations, is entering his final year as St. Louis' baseball boss and former Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom will supersede after his contract expires.

Bloom was hired to rejuvenate the Cardinals' player development system over the next year before he supplants Mozeliak as head honcho. Resources are expected to be reallocated to aid St. Louis' rebuilding efforts in the farm system.

This new era could see several notable names traded, such as five-time Silver Slugger Nolan Arenado and ace Sonny Gray.

What's about to come will significantly change the franchise's direction and it's fair to say that the Cardinals are about to start over. It could be a while before the big-league roster is competitive again.

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