Buzz continues to grow that John Mozeliak will poach Cardinals GM to help rebuild Angels

When John Mozeliak shocked the baseball world by being named the Los Angeles Angels interim general manager earlier this summer, questions and theories immediately began to spread around whether or not Mozeliak would swipe some members of the Cardinals' front office, either to replace him long-term or become his new general manager if he stayed.

It sounds like Randy Flores is a strong candidate to join Mozeliak in Anaheim.

Katie Woo of The Athletic dropped a piece today on an interview she did with Mozeliak, where he is now laying the groundwork to stick with the Angels long-term rather than just during this transitional period for them. Whatever his long-term job title ends up being, he does plan to hire a general manager, and I can corroborate the tidbit that others in the St. Louis media landscape are sharing that Flores is expected to be a strong candidate for that role.

Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat shared that he has heard that from sources as well. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has mentioned that possibility before as well. Sources I have spoken to did not say that any conversations have officially happened, but that Flores is widely expected to be in line for that gig, and if that is the case, that could mean others in the organization could potentially follow if promotions are available.

There are reporters connected to the Angels who have also pinned Flores as a potential target for Mozeliak, especially given the fact that Flores is from the Southern California area and went to USC for college.

Losing Randy Flores would be a real blow to the Cardinals front office

Chaim Bloom has done a tremendous job since being named the successor to Mozeliak back in September 2024 of bringing in fresh voices to help turn the organization around, but he's also elevated many members of the front office who were in St. Louis prior to his arrival, like Flores.

This past offseason, Flores was tasked with more expansive scouting responsibilities, overseeing all scouting departments, while elevating Zach Mortimer to become the new director of amateur scouting. Flores is still highly involved with that whole process, as demonstrated by a 20-minute video the Cardinals just posted yesterday showcasing the scouting and draft process. This video did a tremendous job highlighting how much of a group effort that is, but also showed how gifted an organizational leader Flores is.

The Cardinals are in great hands with that team, and Mortimer seems to have knocked it out of the park in the first draft that he's overseen, but Flores has been an incredible asset to the Cardinals' front office for years now, and losing him would be a blow for sure.

This is all still rumors and hypotheticals for now, but one silver lining of this is that, if Flores really is seen as a great candidate to lead another front office, that goes to show how strong the Cardinals front office group is right now. Fellow assistant general manager Rob Cerfolio is another name that many around baseball see leading operations somewhere one day, and that means Bloom has done a phenomenal job of surrounding himself with gifted leaders to help maximize the organization's future.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow