John Mozeliak gives a timeline for when he hopes to see the Cardinals spend again

I was kind of surprised at how little traction this got in the St. Louis Cardinals media space during the first week of spring training, but president of baseball operations John Mozeliak gave a really interesting answer for when he "hopes" to see the Cardinals position themselves to spend again on the major league roster.

On one of his appearances with 101 ESPN's "The Morning After" show during camp, Mozeliak reflected on the infusion of youth the Cardinals are hoping to experience over the coming years, and he gave a timeline for when he would hope to see that talent blossom and the club add free agents to the mix to put the roster in a strong position to compete.

"But when you guys think about the last 30 years, '96 we drafted third overall, '98 we drafted fifth overall, really since then we been high-teens, into the 20s and 30s. We've had a hard time really arbitraging the draft to the sense of like getting elite talent up front. And when you think about those draft picks, third overall was Braden Looper, fifth was J.D. Drew.

You know, fast-forward to last year, we were finally picking in the top 10, this year we get fifth overall, and so you do have to take advantage of that, you really do, and I think Flo and his group do an amazing job, and I think as you look at '27, '28, '29, there will be some talent flowing here, and then I hope at that point the Cardinals are in a position to start to augment in the free agent world with that group."

The Cardinals may not be looking to spend big on their roster again until 2027 and beyond

If you just follow the breadcrumbs of what the organization has been trying to accomplish this winter, the idea that they may not become players in free agency again until 2027, 2028, or 2029 shouldn't be shocking. And I also think we need to be careful not to read too much into this statement from Mozeliak. With that being said, I do think he provided a realistic framework for where things may be heading.

I do not believe Mozeliak was trying to say the club will not spend any money on free agents until 2027 at the earliest or that they would wait until 2029 to make such moves. I do think what he was trying to articulate here is that 2025 and 2026 are likely building years for this organization (his last year and Chaim Bloom's first year in charge) and the years following are when the fruit of their labor now should be present in St. Louis and the club can pair some free agent moves and trades to the young core they are building.

2027 and 2028 are also when the Cardinals' highest-paid players roll off the books. Nolan Arenado is due just $15 million in the final year of his deal in 2027 (if he has not been traded by then), the Cardinals hold a $30 million mutual option with Sonny Gray that same year, and Willson Contreras is in the final year of his deal in 2027 with a $17.5 million club option for 2028. By that point, young Cardinals who are already on the major league roster will be near or hitting free agency, and a new young core should be emerging.

Also, let's state the obvious — Mozeliak is not going to be in charge then. It won't be his decision if and how they spend. And he would be the first to fully acknowledge that we cannot predict how things play out. Could the team blossom this year and they accelerate that timeline? I believe that could happen. But things could also continue trending downward at the Major League level, and we really are looking more at 2028 and 2029 before things turn for the better.

Should fans be upset about this? You're entitled to feel however you want to. Personally, the optics will be heavily impacted by the trajectory of the club. I certainly don't mind the Cardinals prioritizing youth the next two years and building a strong foundation before running out and spending big bucks on pieces that should build upon that foundation, and frankly, payroll size does not matter much if the team is heading in the right direction. There will for sure come a day that the Cardinals should be looking to rebound that payroll to better represent the large and passionate fanbase that supports them, but I am far more concerned with them allowing Bloom to get things back on track first organizationally.

I do think this should serve as a sobering reminder to Cardinals fans who may already be dreaming about spending and overhauling the minute Mozeliak leaves. Again, I won't say it is impossible that next offseason we will hear a different tune, but odds are the front office and ownership have a bit more patience than most of us do with this.

The difference I am sensing between the patience Bloom may ask for and the patience Mozeliak has been preaching for years is substantial, though. Only time will tell, but parts of Bloom's vision we have picked up on so far seem to suggest he is serious about getting the foundation of this organization right and remaining on the cutting edge while he's in charge before charging forward once again, and I really like that mentality. Mozeliak, on the other hand, has seemed to grasp at opportunities to keep the club relevant and competitive, failing to recognize the deterioration of things that would set them back in the long term. That's how this club has gotten stuck in the "Mozeliak Middle," as my friend Bernie Miklasz likes to say.

Only time will tell how things trend in future years, but it really is interesting to speculate what the Bloom era may hold for the organization.