11 times the Cardinals allowed fear to drive poor decision-making under John Mozeliak

Fear-based decision #10 - Removing Willson Contreras from his catching duties in 2023

32 games. That's all it took for the Cardinals to give up on Willson Contreras as a catcher after signing him to a five-year deal prior to the 2023 season.

No, the Cardinals could not comprehend how their lack of investment in coaching and game prep for so many years contributed to their pitching imploded when Yadier Molina left after the 2022 season. And no, the Cardinals did not look at the incompetency of their own pitching staff and acknowledge that they needed to be better. Instead, the organization caved to the preferences of some pitchers who apparently complained about Contreras and removed him from his catching duties in early May of 2023.

That didn't last long, and you know why? Because even though almost every other decision I'm looking at on this list had greater impacts long-term, the Cardinals doing this to Contreras was easily the clearest example of how desperate and fearful they had gotten as an organization. To make a move this drastic is not something the Cardinals have ever been about, but it's clear they were completely lost at the time, and they made a terrible decision because of that.

And the fact that the Cardinals undid that decision shortly after also goes to show you how much of a panic move it was. This was not something they had a well-thought-out plan for, but rather they made a reckless decision, saw the consequences, and tried to clean up their mess but it was far too late to do so.

Luckily for St. Louis, Contreras handled it like a total professional and was an incredible teammate and leader through it all. He's been one of the best hitters in baseball since that timeframe, and even as he transitioned to first base this offseason, it did not come out of a place of desperation regarding his defense, but rather an opportunity to keep his bat in the lineup every day and replace Paul Goldschmidt.

Still, this decision was one of the lowest moments of the horrible 2023 season for the Cardinals, and it still reflects poorly on the organization to this day. They caused so much chaos for themselves and Contreras by doing this, and it is still mind-boggling to me that the organization allowed things to spiral this much for them.