John Mozeliak staying with the Angels has many ramifications for the Cardinals

Bob Nightengale of USA Today dropped a tidbit in one of his recent stories about John Mozeliak, the interim General Manager for the Los Angeles Angels. Nightengale stated that it's expected that Mozeliak will stay on the job beyond the end of the 2026 season.

Mozeliak, who replaced Perry Minasian in late June, was originally thought to be simply an interim GM who would leave the role after the 2026 season. In his temporary role, Mozeliak would be tasked with handling the trade deadline, rebuilding a lacking farm system, and creating an identity for a team that hasn't made it to the postseason since 2014. Their last postseason victory was in 2009.

In an interview with Tom Ackerman of KMOX on June 28th, Mozeliak discussed what the scope of the job would be with the Angels. "You really have to think about my role as more of the hundred-thousand-foot view at the moment in terms of like getting into the weeds and understanding what's happening at the scouting level, player development level," said Mozeliak. "From order of operations, it's the draft coming in two weeks...after that, we'll go right into the trading deadline...after that, we get into early August and that'll begin our GM search."

Well, apparently that GM search is over much quicker than originally thought, and that decision has several ramifications for the St. Louis Cardinals both now and in the future.

John Mozeliak continuing his role with the Los Angeles Angels could affect the Cardinals' trade deadline and front office staff.

For starters, John Mozeliak will handle the trade deadline for the Angels, and the team has several appealing players who could be available. Pitchers Reid Detmers and Jose Soriano, both of whom have several years of team control remaining after this year, would be attractive rotation candidates for the Cardinals. In exchange, St. Louis could trade from their catching depth to fill a need for the Angels.

No one outside of the organization is more familiar with the Cardinals farm system and major-league roster than John Mozeliak, so he surely has players he prefers within the organization. Ivan Herrera, Pedro Pages, Jimmy Crooks, and Leonardo Bernal could all be on the table in the right deal to bolster the pitching depth of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Mozeliak could also poach some of his former staff members as he begins filling out his new team in Los Angeles. Randy Flores, the Cardinals current Assistant General Manager and Director of Scouting, could be poached by Mozeliak. Michael Girsch, Vice President of Special Projects, could also be taken out west with Flores by John Mozeliak. Losing either or both of these high-level executives could affect the Cardinals, particularly Flores, who has been excellent at leading the club's draft push since he assumed that role.

The final piece of John Mozeliak's puzzle in LA could be finding a manager whom he wants. Mozeliak has not hinted at firing Kurt Suzuki, but it's common for new executives and heads of teams to hire their own manager. Given Mozeliak's familiarity with him and his service contract with the Angels, Albert Pujols seems to be the most likely candidate to manage the Angels if Suzuki is relieved of duty at the end of the year.

When the Houston Astros swiped Jeff Luhnow from the Cardinals in 2011, he took several former Cardinals executives with him including Mike Elias and Sig Mejdal. Elias, who is now the GM for the Baltimore Orioles, brought Mejdal with him to Baltimore just seven years later. A similar type of exodus could happen with Mozeliak in LA.

John Mozeliak's now permanent role with the Los Angeles Angels could affect the St. Louis Cardinals in the near future at the trade deadline. It could also affect the Cardinals this offseason as Mozeliak looks to make the Angels in his own image with the coaching and front office staff.

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