John Mozeliak's throwaway quote hints at another disconnect with Cardinals manager

The St. Louis Cardinals might be gearing up for another drama-filled season in 2025, and not the kind that you see in October as your team attempts to win a title.

In an article from The Athletic (subscription required), President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak mentioned several scenarios that could determine whether the Cardinals are competitive in 2025, and one sentence in particular raised eyebrows when Mozeliak rhetorically asked, "Is Brendan Donovan an All-Star outfielder?"

Donovan has long been seen as a utility player who is not set at any one position. If Donovan were to play the outfield on a near-everyday basis, the most common setup would likely see Donovan in left field, Lars Nootbaar in center field and Jordan Walker in right field, which would leave Michael Siani and Victor Scott on the bench — or in Memphis. This lineup would also prioritize offense over defense, which runs counter to how manager Oli Marmol prefers to construct his lineups.

John Mozeliak and Oli Marmol seem to have different opinions on how to set the Cardinals up for success.

A manager and a general manager both want their team to flourish, but they have to go about it from different perspectives: The manager needs to do whatever he can to win with the team he has, whereas the general manager (or, in this case, president of baseball operations) must have a broader perspective and set the team up for long-term success.

As a general rule, light-hitting defensive stalwarts, such as Michael Siani and Pedro Pages, have less upside than those who exhibit promising bats but aren't as polished in the field, such as Nootbaar and Ivan Herrera. With this in mind, Mozeliak would prefer that the players with higher ceilings receive more playing time to get a better idea of how they can help the Cardinals in the future, but Marmol believes that a defense-oriented lineup will win more games in 2025.

Marmol has said that the front office does not instruct him on how to set the lineup every day, but his preference for defense could prove to be his undoing. It's not the first time that Marmol and Mozeliak haven't seen eye to eye: In 2024, Marmol was reluctant to place Jordan Walker in the lineup every day despite Mozeliak's comments that young hitters need to play on a daily basis.

If Marmol is adamant on playing Siani or Scott in center field, Mozeliak might decide to take his toys away and attempt to deal one of them, likely Siani, to another team, much as he did with Allen Craig in 2014 when then-manager Mike Matheny continually started Craig in right field over top prospect Oscar Taveras.

Marmol is in a difficult situation as he pilots a team that is not expected to contend for the postseason. His job is to win as many games as possible, but Mozeliak looks to be pushing back on his method of doing so because it isn't as conducive to success down the road. It's likely that Marmol will remain the manager for Mozeliak's final season running the show, but all bets are off when Chaim Bloom takes the reins. Don't be surprised to see some roster shake-ups if Mozeliak and Marmol remain at odds.