St. Louis Cardinals: Front office replacements, now please

Many have argued for the St. Louis Cardinals to make changes. The common target has been the manager but perhaps front office changes are needed even more.

The St. Louis Cardinals need to make a change. This very likely needs to involve Mike Matheny and John Mabry, the changes shouldn’t stop there. Yes, players should come and go but the real problem facing the St. Louis Cardinals may in fact live in the front office.

Is it fair to hold Matheny responsible when he may not have been the best choice for the job once Tony La Russa departed? Matheny wasn’t the one who made the decision to hire him over say, Terry Francona.

Should Mabry be held responsible for Marcell Ozuna not hitting? Or was there a better batter laying out there that the St. Louis Cardinals GM failed to grab at the time?

Let me be clear: Matheny and Mabry need to go. They need to be held accountable. At the same time, John Mozeliak and Michael Girsch have done little to improve the club during the Matheny years.

These failures may stem from a love affair between Matheny/Mabry and Bill DeWitt (Jr. and III) but it is the role of the GM to fill the club with the best players and coaches available to secure wins. These wins should secure sell-out crowds and these decisions squarely sit on the shoulders of the front office.

Jumping ahead then, I suggest that the St. Louis Cardinals clean house. This housecleaning should simultaneously slam the coaching staff and the front office staff. The time has come for legitimate change and several heads should roll.

Immediately the St. Louis Cardinals should install a new GM and let’s look at plenty of better-than-status-quo alternatives.

Many have argued for the St. Louis Cardinals to make changes. The common target has been the manager but perhaps front office changes are needed even more.

The St. Louis Cardinals may not need to look outside of names already resting in their own system. This name has risen through the ranks from managing minor league teams, to even stepping in at the majors level as a special assistant coach when Matheny’s crew was struggling.

This man is Pop Warner (Ron Warner). Warner has served as a minor league manager having taken the Memphis Redbirds to a championship and now serves as the Assistant Field Coordinator in the St. Louis Cardinals minor league system.

His baseball pedigree would suit him just fine in the role of GM and his connection with the younger guys would also help him in swaying prospects to the St. Louis Cardinals. His rise as a player in the Cardinals system, management experience from rookie-to-AAA would allow him the knowledge necessary to find the right names for the right spots.

One final thing about Pop, he was awarded the George Kissell Award in the Cardinals system. This is one of the most prestigious awards and is well-recognized around baseball. In other words, Pop has the chops to do the job and the time has come to award him in some particular, but impressive way.

Many have argued for the St. Louis Cardinals to make changes. The common target has been the manager but perhaps front office changes are needed even more.

A perfect example of McLeod can be taken from the Chicago Cubs and Epstein, Jared Porter was once with Epstein but departed only a week after the Cubs won their World Series for greener pastures in the Arizona system. In fact, Porter was taken by Arizona and awarded the role of Assistant GM and senior VP.

The time has come for Porter- now with two years of Assistant GM under his belt- to become a full-on General Manager. Enter the St. Louis Cardinals who would have the role of GM AND Vice President vacant with a front office change. Porter would fit this hybrid role nicely.

To his credit, Porter cut his teeth like McLeod in the Red Sox organization with Epstein. This means he has worked with the power names that came through the Red Sox organization including Francona as well. If you’ve read any of my other writings, you know that I would LOVE Francona to come to the Cardinals in place of Matheny.

According to a 2016 piece by MLB, Porter is well-known as a powerhouse evaluator of talent. In the same report, the piece linked Porter to the then-vacant GM role with the Minnesota Twins.

Bottom-line, his time has come and the St. Louis Cardinals with their young talent would be a great starting spot for Porter as a full-time GM.

Many have argued for the St. Louis Cardinals to make changes. The common target has been the manager but perhaps front office changes are needed even more.

The St. Louis Cardinals have one of the top ten promised GMs already in the role in Michael Girsch. Girsch was named in the same MLB article beside McLeod and Porter. In fact, Girsch was ranked higher than Porter.

In the piece, McLeod took the top rank with Girsch ranked number six (middle of the pack), and Porter ranked eighth.

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Here’s the quick jump to the end: Girsch has great promise and his ascent to the GM role was a natural one after his years of understudy with Mozeliak. Additionally, Girsch carries a mathematics degree and a MBA and served the St. Louis Cardinals as their Director of Baseball Development. He knows his stuff and could do a great job if he were only allowed to do it.

At present, it appears that Mozeliak is still the acting GM and Girsch is only a figurehead. Rather than replacing Girsch, perhaps the Cardinals would be better situated if they were to believe in Girsch and let him do his job.

One major knock against Girsch, in my book, is the fact that he did understudy with Mozeliak. I believe that Mo is a master at politic speak but is perhaps a little too reserved when spending someone else’s money. That said, I am certainly on the outside looking in.

Conclusion

The St. Louis Cardinals have plenty of names to choose from and may do well with a change. This can come from outside and/or from the inside. Either way, McLeod, Porter, Pop, or Girsch could do well on paper. The real question is whether this “on paper” would translate to the real outcome.

All things being equal, I don’t see the St. Louis Cardinals making any such change. This is exactly why I included Girsch. If the Cardinals are not likely to make any change, they should at the very least allow Girsch to do his job and not stand in the shadow of John Mozeliak.

Next: All-Star voting is horrible

If you had to choose a new GM, which route would you go? What organization would you call first? Thanks for reading and GO CARDS!