Cardinals fans are witnessing a new version of John Mozeliak

John Mozeliak has endured a rough few seasons as the St. Louis Cardinals' president of baseball operations. Chastised even when things were going swimmingly for the Cardinals, Mozeliak has been bombarded with blame from all corners of the organization's fanbase. Much of the criticism stems from his Cardinals moves or lack thereof, but another common refrain is that Mozeliak is rarely frank and honest with fans.

That has changed in the 2024-2025 offseason.

As Mozeliak prepares to enter his final season as the head of the Cardinals, he has begun to open up toward fans and the media in both his candor and his personality.

The question on many fans' minds after the 2024 season was how the Cardinals would handle payroll in 2025 given the expected decline in ticket sales and the questionable television situation. At the Cardinals' end-of-season press conference, Mozeliak was delightfully blunt, stepping in for Bill DeWitt Jr.'s hemming and hawing over the payroll, saying that ownership expected payroll to decrease. It was an assertive move by the normally tight-lipped Mozeliak.

When the future of Nolan Arenado on the Cardinals became the focal point of the offseason, Mozeliak didn't beat around the bush. At the winter meetings, Mozeliak revealed a bit of his hand, saying that Arenado "is not demanding a trade. He's not telling me I have to do it, but I think in the best interest of both sides, I'd like to try to find him someplace to land." This may have been a way to let other teams know that he was open for business with Arenado, but for someone who was always reluctant to provide more than the bare minimum to reporters when discussing potential trades, it displayed a more forthright Mozeliak than fans were used to.

Another frequent complaint lobbed toward Mozeliak is that he is too stuffy and buttoned-up and can't relate to the average Cardinals supporter. But after appearing on two broadcasts on 101 ESPN (which can be found here and here) while the radio crew was at Spring Training, Mozeliak showed an entirely new side of himself, cracking jokes and taking good-natured shots at the hosts.

Mozeliak's refreshingly loose and honest personality is foreign to most fans, and he likely wants to salvage some of his tarnished image over the years. But beyond that could be that Mozeliak isn't as busy as he was in past years. The Cardinals might be allowing Chaim Bloom to make all the front-office decisions while Mozeliak absorbs the brunt of the interviews and takes the fall for the organization. It would be a smart move for the Cardinals, as they have Mozeliak's successor in place and need a new perspective on the team but likely don't want to subject him to media scrutiny right off the bat.

As the curtain gradually descends on Mozeliak's time as the head honcho for the Cardinals, so too does the invisible wall that Mozeliak placed between him and the public when he assumed the post in 2007. It may be easy to dislike him, but it's worth appreciating that he is finally showing a more affable and sincere side.