John Mozeliak may have just revealed his contingency plan if Cardinals fail in 2025

The range of outcomes for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2025 feels as wide as it has ever been.

Most projection systems seem to have the Cardinals slated as about a 78-win team, while various sportsbooks have them more like a 74-win team. Well, the club is coming off an 83-win campaign in 2024, and while they let some players walk in free agency, they did not lose much production and are hoping to see young players take steps forward, so they could be an 80+ win team once again.

While the "median" outcome for this group of Cardinals is likely not a playoff team, it likely isn't a terrible club either. But as I stated, there is a world where things go poorly for the club as things did in 2023, and if that is the case, it sounds like the Cardinals are bracing for difficult decisions in July once again.

If the Cardinals struggle in 2025, John Mozeliak seems prepared to shop key veterans at the deadline

During one of his interviews with "The Morning After" show on 101 ESPN last week, president of baseball operations John Mozeliak was asked about how the Cardinals handled conversations with their veterans who had no-trade clauses this offseason. Mozeliak talked about that process and how two of the three veterans he talked to wanted to stay. When he reflected on the situation Mikolas was in and not asking him his thoughts, he also shed light on the potential that the Cardinals could revisit those conversations in July.

"I didn't really go to Mikolas. He's in his final year, he lives here in Jupiter, I mean I think part of why he signed with the Cardinals was because of that, so I didn't feel like that was something that I had to go down that path. Now, if things don't work out for the Cardinals as we get into the season, then you know we may ask people how do they want to think about it at the trading deadline. But between now and then, we hope we go win some baseball games." (Bold and italics added for emphasis).

It is one thing for Gray, Contreras, and presumably, Mikolas to want to be in St. Louis going into the 2025 season, but their tone may change if the Cardinals are not playing well this year.

In a world where the Cardinals are one of the worst teams in baseball this year, which is possible, both the Cardinals and those veterans could look to part ways at the trade deadline. In the cases of Gray and Contreras, the Cardinals could end up having one of the best, if not the best, bats and arms available to trade at the deadline, assuming they are playing up to their standards. For Mikolas, teams may be interested in giving away a lottery ticket prospect to get some innings down the stretch.

That conversation would likely stretch to names like Ryan Helsley, Erick Fedde, and Steven Matz as well if things go poorly. Mozeliak would love to see this team outperform expectations in this final year in charge, but he is acutely aware of the potential of needing to tear things down further at the deadline if 2025 is another lost season.

Gray, Contreras, and Mikolas would have to approve of such trades, which we won't know until that potential scenario arises if they'd change their mind. Gray and Contreras specifically seem to believe in the direction things are heading beyond 2026, because if they didn't, I doubt they'd want to be here. Even if they believe they'll be better than people think in 2025, neither player is naive enough to believe they are a strong contender in the National League at the moment. Perhaps that means they'd still want to stay regardless of the standing in April.

But I do think it's very possible things change between now and then if the club is losing a lot of games, and we all know Arenado is open to a move as well.

If things go south for the Cardinals in 2025, this could be quite the seller's trade deadline for them.