Promotion of longtime Cardinals staff member to opposing club accelerates John Mozeliak's heel turn

Mike Maddux likely felt the flames beneath his derriere when his old St. Louis Cardinals boss took control of the Los Angeles Angels. Former Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak has taken a hammer to his new club, disassembling the decrepit Halos as they embark on their first rebuild under owner Arte Moreno. The deconstruction isn't stopping between the white lines, as Mozeliak just dismissed Maddux along with two other coaches.

Maddux served as the Cardinals pitching coach from 2018 through 2022 before stepping down. His time with the Angels in 2026 wasn't as rosy, as Los Angeles pitchers hold a 4.53 ERA and have surrendered the most walks in the major leagues. According to Mozeliak, Maddux was not sufficiently using the technology available to him, and STLtoday's Derrick Goold said that it was a similar reason to why Maddux didn't return to the Cardinals in 2022 and was replaced with the more technologically oriented Dusty Blake.

Mozeliak's dismissal of Maddux paved the way for Tim Leveque as the interim pitching coach for the Angels. Leveque had spent 20 years in the Cardinals organization as a minor league pitching coordinator, and he was a pitching analyst in the team's scouting department in 2025.

One would hope that Mozeliak has caught up to the modern game and discovered that letting hitters put the ball in play is no longer a viable strategy. That makes his hiring of a coach who had been deep in the trenches of player development for the Cardinals when they were a pitch-to-contact team a surprising one. That's not to say that Leveque is incapable of adjusting to a new pitching philosophy, but it's an interesting move and shows that Mozeliak still has faith in many of his old Cardinals chums as he begins his raid of his old haunt's cabinet.

Mozeliak may continue to pilfer the Cardinals' assets

Leveque was the first Cardinal whom Mozeliak managed to lure to the pristine beaches of the Pacific, but he's unlikely to be the last. One high-level Cardinals staff member whom Mozeliak may have be eyeing is Director of Scouting Randy Flores, who has overseen the Cardinals' drafts since 2016 and gradually ascended the ranks to become one of Mozeliak's right-hand men. But under Chaim Bloom, the Cardinals' drafting strategy has had a distinctly different flavor, and Bloom might look to transfer the drafting duties to someone of his choosing.

Flores has been a strong drafter for the most part, and the Cardinals have found some later-round talent under his watch, such as Brendan Donovan, Lars Nootbaar, Andre Pallante and Quinn Mathews. Mozeliak is fully aware of Flores' track record, and Flores may jump at the opportunity to return home, as he grew up near Los Angeles and attended the University of Southern California.

Mozeliak is likely to be on the warpath for more than just coaches and front office executives, though; he probably holds many players in the Cardinals farm system in high regard and would love a chance to bring them to the Angels organization. Whether Bloom is receptive to Mozeliak's maneuvers, though, would be a different story: Bloom has whisked the Cardinals into baseball's modern era, and he may still be several steps ahead of a wised-up Mozeliak.

Because of the Cardinals' plethora of minor league talent, the Rule 5 draft may be especially interesting for St. Louis fans this December, not just because of whom they might acquire but because of which player or players they might lose. Some players eligible for other teams to take in the Rule 5 draft, assuming the Cardinals don't add them to the 40-man roster in the offseason, include 2022 third-round pick Pete Hansen, international free agent Ramon Mendoza and undrafted free agent Noah Mendlinger. Don't be surprised if Mozeliak jumps at the chance to grab at least one unprotected Cardinal whose development he once oversaw.

Lock up your coaches, scouts and executives now, Bloom: Money Mo has begun his siege on the St. Louis squadron.

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