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

The All-Mozeliak Infielders

Catchers: Willson Contreras, Andrew Knizner

Contreras has only been on the roster for two years, but he's already been the most valuable catcher since the 2008 season who isn't named Yadier Molina. Molina was drafted when Walt Jocketty was at the helm, so he isn't eligible for this exercise.

Contreras has a 133 wRC+ in 209 games since joining the Cardinals. He has been a leader in the clubhouse as well since the 2023 season.

Contreras's backup would be Andrew Knizner. Knizner was drafted in 2016, and he played for the Cardinals from 2019 through 2023 and was the club's primary backup in that span. He was excellent at controlling a staff, and his offensive numbers were serviceable given his role.

Honorable Mentions: Tony Cruz, Jason LaRue, Matt Wieters

First base: Paul Goldschmidt, Matt Adams

Paul Goldschmidt is the obvious choice at first base. Acquiring him was one of the best moves that John Mozeliak has made during his tenure as the head of baseball operations. While the Cardinals were unable to experience lots of postseason success with Goldy on the roster, he brought home the club's first Most Valuable Player award in over a decade. Goldschmidt was a Cardinal through and through while with St. Louis.

Matt Adams, also known as Big City, delivered a memorable home run against Clayton Kershaw in the 2014 NLDS. That alone is enough to include him on this list. He also slashed .266.311/.449 in over 500 games as a Cardinal.

Honorable Mentions: Jose Martinez, Luke Voit

Second base: Matt Carpenter, Kolten Wong

Second base was complicated simply because I didn't know where to put Matt Carpenter. He's played the bulk of his professional innings at third base, but there were two other players who needed to be there. Essentially, second base was more open. Marp slashed .271/.328/.470 with the Cardinals, and he was worth 29.6 fWAR during his time in St. Louis.

Kolten Wong, one of my favorite Cardinals of the John Mozeliak era, is the backup second baseman. The Hawaii native had a .261 batting average and was worth 13.3 fWAR over 850 games at second base for the Cardinals. His defensive output was spectacular for his position.

Honorable mention: Brendan Donovan

Third base: Nolan Arenado, David Freese

Nolan Arenado, for as unceremonious as his postseason output was, was the best third baseman to have played for the St. Louis Cardinals under John Mozeliak. Nado, who may be traded this offseason, finished third in MVP voting in 2022, and he is the owner of several web gems of this generation at the hot corner.

Arenado's backup is postseason hero David Freese. In one of his first trades as general manager, John Mozeliak acquired Freese for center fielder Jim Edmonds. David Freese was one of the heroes of game 6 of the 2011 World Series, but he also slashed .286/.356/.427 for his career with the Cardinals.

Honorable mentions: Troy Glaus, Jedd Gyorko

Shortstop: Paul DeJong, Jhonny Peralta

Paul DeJong was the Cardinals' most consistent starting shortstop during the John Mozeliak era. He was the team's Opening Day starter at short from 2018 through 2022, the longest stretch for any shortstop since 2008. DeJong was also a serviceable player at one of the toughest defensive positions. Pauly D slashed .233/.305/.426 as a Cardinal, but his primary value was on the defensive side of the game.

DeJong's backup would be Jhonny Peralta. Peralta was signed as a free agent in the 2013-2014 offseason, and he played his final four years with the Cardinals. His first year featured him slashing .263/.336/.443 with solid defense for an fWAR total of 4.6.

Honorable mentions: Masyn Winn, Aledmys Diaz

Utility: Tommy Edman

Tommy Edman is the ultimate utility player. He can play any position on the defensive side of the ball well, and he was an average hitter according to wRC+. Edman won a Gold Glove at second base in 2021, and he accumulated 15.2 fWAR while with the Cardinals. There are few players during Mozeliak's tenure who could be considered better all-around players than Tommy Edman.