St. Louis Cardinals: No hate no Mo

The St. Louis Cardinals have had an interesting year. No one knows this more than President of Baseball Operations, John Mozeliak.

John Mozeliak, President of Baseball Operations for the St. Louis Cardinals, among others, decided to make a change with a 47-46 record, letting Mike Matheny go and revamping the bullpen. While things are a bit smoother now, not so faint whispers of Mozeliak’s future, lingered.

Since Mozeliak’s promotion to General Manager in 2007, the St. Louis Cardinals have gone to the postseason six times, reached the NLCS four times, reached the World Series twice, and won it all once in 2011. If you’re thinking that’s a lot of success, you would be correct.

Yet, with the last couple of seasons’ results, many think Mozeliak should’ve been replaced as well, not just Mike Matheny. My question is, why?

As far as success goes in Major League Baseball, the St. Louis Cardinals have had a ton of it. Even when the Redbirds aren’t considered “good,” they still have a winning record.

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For example, over the last two seasons (2016, 2017) the St. Louis Cardinals have carried an 86-76 record and an 83-79 record, respectively; during their BAD years. Any team in baseball would be thrilled to have a winning record when they are considered bad by everyone else. Those are the standards the Cardinals and their fans have set, however.

While there is no issue with setting high expectations and expecting them to be met time and time again, there also needs to be some patience and respect for the success that has occurred.

While I agree it was time for a change this season managerial wise with Matheny, there were a lot of issues there — more than just the record. But, Cardinals fans, you have one of the best VP/GMs in all of the front office’s in baseball.

Consider this: there is more than making it to the postseason every year which is an impossible goal.  While that is what you should shoot for, remaining competitive in down seasons and having an impressive farm system is something to measure.

Having down years are inevitable — it’s part of the flow of the game and the process.

Putting together a farm system that continuously provides MLB-ready talent is not easy. The St. Louis Cardinals seem to have a roster full of talent every season who are players they brought up. That doesn’t happen consistently by accident.

Signings like Miles Mikolas and Bud Norris are rarely discussed and fly well under the radar. On the other hand, Mozeliak seems to only get heat for the signings of Dexter Fowler and Greg Holland — he would have received the same scrutiny for being cheap had he not signed them.

St. Louis not only has the most loyal fans in baseball; they have the smartest ones, too. They know what this game is all about and all it involves. I think they also know how spoiled they have been. Let’s give Mo a break.

The St. Louis Cardinals currently sit first in the Wildcard; causing anti-Mozeliak talks to diminish for now. There’s a lot of season left and its a close race. They’ve impressively turned their season around, in large part due to the changes made by the front office — led by Mr. Mozeliak.