John Mozeliak's potential trade that almost sent a Cardinals legend packing

John Mozeliak has been around baseball for a very long time. With the 2025 season coming to a close, Mozeliak's 30-year career with the St. Louis Cardinals is also over.

John Mozeliak has been able to foster relationships with several other executives across baseball during his time at the helm of the St. Louis Cardinals. In a recent piece for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Derrick Goold detailed Mozeliak's relationship with three executives in particular: Jerry Dipoto of the Seattle Mariners, Jed Hoyer of the Chicago Cubs, and Brian Cashman of the New York Yankees. Only Cashman has held his position longer than Mozeliak did.

This reminiscing of sorts with various long-time executives brought up old memories, sentimental statements, and even some tidbits that hadn't been revealed before about potential deals.

During a 30-year time period, the number of trades, signings, free agent discussions, and trade requests rivals the decisions a manager makes in a single season. Eventually, John Mozeliak rose high enough that former general manager Walt Jocketty trusted Mozeliak — his assistant general manager as of 2003 — to be an advisor on trades and signings.

John Mozeliak once reached out to the New York Yankees to try and acquire second baseman Robinson Cano.

Robinson Cano was instrumental to the Yankees' successes from 2005 through 2013. The second baseman posted a slash line of .309/.355/.504 with the Yankees during his nine-year career there to go along with 204 home runs, 822 runs batted in, and a 126 OPS+. He also won two Gold Gloves and five Silver Slugger Awards at the keystone position. He was one of the, if not the, best second basemen in baseball at the time, and his 44.4 bWAR during this time is indicative of his level of talent.

According to Derrick Goold, John Mozeliak tried to trade for Robinson Cano at one point in the 2000s. "As Jocketty engineered the Cardinals’ robust and championship teams of 2004, 2005 and 2006, Mozeliak was involved in signings and trades," writes Goold. "Once, he reached out to Cashman about trading for All-Star second baseman Robinson Cano. Maybe, the Yankees replied, but it would have to involve Adam Wainwright. The conversation ended."

The timeline isn't clear here, but there was certainly an effort in the 2000s to add Robinson Cano to an already stacked Cardinals lineup. The chance to add Robinson Cano to a Cardinals team that had Albert Pujols at his peak, an ascendant Yadier Molina, and Adam Wainwright would have been an exceptional boost., but clearly the cost was too high for Mozeliak and Jocketty to swallow.

Adam Wainwright came over to the Cardinals in December of 2003 when J.D. Drew was sent to Atlanta. The man who could come to be known as "Waino" didn't make his mark in the Cardinals organization until the 2006 season. Up to that point, he was a prospect with a sky-high ERA.

Waino was iconic in the Cardinals' 2006 World Series victory, and his star grew brighter every year after that.

A request for Adam Wainwright in a trade would have been a deal-breaker after that time more than likely, and John Mozeliak was promoted to general manager after the 2007 season. He also became busy almost immediately with the trades of third baseman Scott Rolen and center fielder Jim Edmonds.

If the Cardinals would have traded Adam Wainwright for Robinson Cano sometime around 2006, St. Louis may have one less World Series trophy. The Cardinals also wouldn't have a pitcher-catcher combo to set the record of the most battery appearances in Major League Baseball history. Robinson Cano's PED suspension didn't come until 2021 and it was a result of medication he took while with the Seattle Mariners, but it would have left a bit of a stain on his legacy as a Cardinal had he been traded.

However, having Robinson Cano to pair with Albert Pujols from 2007-2011 would have made for a potent right side of the infield. The Cardinals were missing another power bat after the 2006 season, and Cano would have fit the bill.

There are plenty of "what-if" trades and signings that fans rarely ever hear about. Acquiring Robinson Cano in the mid-2000s would have been a high-risk, high-reward move, especially considering what the Cardinals would have had to give up in Adam Wainwright. I'm sure thankful John Mozeliak turned down that offer.