10 potential replacements for Cardinals' John Mozeliak if he steps down this season

Jeff Luhnow

I felt like it was worth addressing the idea of Jeff Luhnow as I have received various comments in recent weeks saying the Cardinals need to bring back their former front office executive.

Before helping construct perhaps the best team of the mid-2010s to early 2020s in the Houston Astros, Luhnow was hired by Bill DeWitt Jr. in 2003 to join the Cardinals front office. Luhnow joined the Cardinals as Vice President of Player Development after having zero experience in a Major League front office, and yet, he was one of the key cogs in building the Cardinals' contenders we loved for many years. The first three drafts Luhnow ran for St. Louis produced more big-league talent than any other organization in baseball.

Following the Cardinals' World Series win in 2011, Luhnow was hired by the Astros' front office, and he began their long rebuild that resulted in a World Series Championship in 2017 and sustained that success up until this point. Unfortunately, we all know about the sign-stealing scandal that was uncovered in 2020, and Luhnow received a year-long suspension for his role in the cheating. He was then fired by the Astros' organization.

With all of that being said, I think it's a long shot that the DeWitt family would bring back Luhnow. I'm not completely ruling it out, but it sounds far more like fan theory than actual substance. Luhnow has not gotten back into baseball since 2020 and now owns two professional soccer teams. Would it be the craziest thing for Luhnow to return to St. Louis? Maybe not. But I would definitely be shocked if they went in that direction.