John Mozeliak's all-time St. Louis Cardinals roster

We are entering the final year of John Mozeliak's tenure at the helm of the St. Louis Cardinals. The long-time executive has announced that he will not return as the Cardinals' president of baseball operations following the 2025 season and the conclusion of his contract.

The 2025 season will be his 18th as the head of baseball operations for the Cardinals. The club has made 10 postseason appearances, won two National League Pennants, and taken home a World Series Trophy under Mozeliak's leadership. They've won the National League Central six times in that span, and they boast one of the best-winning percentages since the 2008 season. John Mozeliak has led the Cardinals to an era of success during his time as a leader.

However, the last few years have fallen flat. The Cardinals have advanced past the first round of the playoffs only once since 2016, and the last two years have featured the club falling from its perch atop the baseball world. Things have grown stale in recent years.

This isn't to say that John Mozeliak has failed in player acquisition and team development. In fact, there were several years in the first half of his tenure that featured the Cardinals being the cream of the crop in Major League Baseball.

As things wind down for Mozeliak, I wanted to take a look back at the best players he acquired during his tenure. These could come from trades, waiver claims, free agents, or via drafting. My idea for this piece came from Bernie Miklasz's column on Scoops in which he detailed the "All-Time Walt Jocketty Team". My baseball fandom started prior to John Mozeliak's run, but my stretch of interest in the team has been longest with Mozeliak at the helm.

Let's start with the coaching staff.

The All-Mozeliak Coaching Staff

Manager: Mike Shildt (252-199, .556 winning percentage)

Mike Matheny was close here. His final record of 591-474 with a winning percentage of .555 falls just short of Shildt's record. However, I favored Shildt strictly due to his ability to lead the team through adversity. Shildt was manager during the crazy COVID season, and Shildt led the Cardinals to a wild 17-game winning streak to make a push for the playoffs that year.

St. Louis lost to the Washington National, the eventual World Series champions, in the 2019 NLCS, and they made playoff appearances the next two years under Shildt. Mike Shildt's ability to inspire his players and manage with a fire gives him the slightest of nods over his predecessor, Mike Matheny.

Hitting Coach: Mark McGwire

From 2010-2012, under Mark McGwire, the Cardinals had the third-best wRC+ in baseball. They were a top-ten team according to batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS. They also scored the sixth-most runs in baseball during that span.

McGwire's philosophy can be summed up in three sentences: See the ball. Only swing at pitches you can handle. Use your head. That was evident during his tenure.

Pitching Coach: Mike Maddux

This was an easy decision in my mind. Derek Lilliquist preceded Mike Maddux, and Dusty Blake has held the position since Maddux moved to the Texas Rangers following the 2022 season.

Under Maddux, the Cardinals had the 6th-best ERA in baseball as a staff. They allowed the fewest home runs in baseball, and their 95 ERA- was 8th-best in baseball that year. This shows that their staff as a whole was 5% better than the average pitching staff.