How does John Mozeliak stack up against other long-term general managers?

John Mozeliak has been at the helm of baseball operations for the St. Louis Cardinals for over 16 years now. After being announced at the team's General Manager in the 2007-2008 offseason, Mozeliak has taken full control of the organization's baseball side of things.

Prior to his promotion, Mozeliak was the team's scouting director; in that role, he was a part of the drafts that brought Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina to the team. He was then an assistant general manager to Walk Jocketty. After his general manager appointment, it took Mo a decade to see another promotion to President of Baseball Operations in the middle of the 2017 season.

Mozeliak is the second-longest tenured baseball head in all of baseball right now. He's been operating in one of the highest positions in an organization for a very long time now. The franchise has seen ample success under John Mozeliak's guide, and he has outpaced many of his contemporaries who have been in similar roles for comparable periods of time.

A brief glimpse of St. Louis Cardinals' social media will conjure fans across the country calling for Mozeliak to be fired (along with his manager, Oliver Marmol). While recent years haven't been as kind to the two Cardinals' figureheads, John Mozeliak has a resume that stacks up against the best among his peers.

In order to see just how effective John Mozeliak has been as a General Manager and President of Baseball Operations, I wanted to conduct an exercise. Teams are judged mostly by wins and losses, particularly those in the postseason. While a general manager isn't on the field for each game of a 162-game season, he or she is responsible for setting up the players and field manager for success.

I analyzed a variety of win-loss stats for the 10 longest-tenured heads of baseball operations for teams throughout Major League Baseball, John Mozeliak included, to see how much more accomplished he's been compared to his peers. Below you'll find these figures for John Mozeliak himself.

The argument against John Mozeliak is that he hasn't seen success in nearly a decade. After all, the team's last World Series appearance was in 2013, and their last championship was in 2011. You'll find that argument to be common for many leaders on this list.

*All stats are as of the end of the 2023 season. This was the most recent full season, so I cut off analysis prior to the current MLB season.

Let's see if John Mozeliak has outpaced other baseball leaders in other organizations during their tenures.

Brian Cashman, New York Yankees -- February 3, 1998

Brian Cashman has overseen now 4 decades of Yankee baseball now. He is far and away the longest-tenured head of baseball operations for any team in baseball, and he has seen just about everything a baseball executive can see.

While other smaller franchises must work within certain financial confines, Cashman has largely been given blank checks to sign for players he wants. Cashman was able to poach talented players from other organizations in the early 2000s, and he's been able to acquire superstars like Alex Rodriguez, Gerrit Cole, and Juan Soto, among others.

It's tough to mess up when given complete financial freedom to build a talented team. Therefore, Cashman almost needs to be judged on a different scale, but alas, the purposes of this exercise deem him a valid player.

League parity has made it more challenging for teams to continually win World Series the way the Yankees did in Cashman's first 3 years. The Yankees of the late 90's and early 2000's were a formidable team. They went to 5 World Series within 6 years, and they won 3 of them. Money played a big factor in Cashman's success early on, but as teams have figured out to use data more effectively, the Yankees have seen a drop in success.

In 10 more years at the helm, Cashman has had double the amount of playoff appearances and division titles than John Mozeliak. The World Series comparison isn't close, although neither baseball ops leader has had a team make it to the Championship Series since 2019. In fact, the Cardinals have made the World Series more recently than the heralded Yankees.

Mike Rizzo, Washington Nationals -- March 4, 2009

Mike Rizzo stepped in following a string of 4th and 5th place finishes for the franchise that stretched back to 2003. The National were in just their 5th year in the nation's capital, and the future wasn't very bright for the team. It was a tall task for Rizzo to turn around an organization.

A glut of top draft picks that included Stephen Strasburg (2009), Bryce Harper (2010), and Anthony Rendon (2011) would eventually pay dividends for the organization, though, and Rizzo didn't have to wait to long for his team to finish first in the National League East.

From a pure winning perspective, Mike Rizzo's teams don't hold a candle to John Mozeliak's teams. Mo's winning percentage is .050 points higher in a very similar time span. The same applies to playoff appearances. The Nationals' World Series victory in 2019 stands tall, however, as neither Cashman nor Mozeliak can claim a championship in the last decade.

The Nationals are currently running a 4-year stretch of last-place finishes in the National League East. They have a 55-win season mired in the middle as well. For as bad as last season was for the Cardinals, it as par for the course for Nationals fans (who also finished 71-91 in 2023).

I'm not sure if calls for Mike Rizzo to be fired or replaced have started in Washington D.C., but if Cardinal fans are calling for John Mozeliak's resignation -- which is imminent -- then Nationals fans should do the same with their general manager. Mozeliak has performed much better than his counterpart with the Nationals despite both starting within a year of each other.

A.J. Preller, San Diego Padres -- August 6, 2014

A.J. Preller is known to be a bit of a wild card amongst his peers. Preller has made trades for Juan Soto, Dylan Cease, Matt Kemp, Fernando Tatis Jr., Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish, and Blake Snell. It seems like Preller is playing fantasy baseball with a real organization at times, but his team has finished above the .500 mark in 3 of the last 4 seasons, so something must be going well for him.

Preller joined the Padres in the summer of 2014 after spending time as the Texas Rangers assistant general manager. He was primarily in charge of scouting and player development while with the Rangers. Preller was 37 at the time, making him one of the youngest executives in baseball.

Preller's success both in the regular season and postseason pales in comparison to Mozeliak's. A.J.'s winning percentage is drastically lower, his team has never won a division title, albeit in one of the toughest divisions in baseball, and not one of Preller's teams has made it to the World Series in 9 years.

Since 2015, Preller's first year at the helm, the Cardinals have made it to the postseason 5 times, and they have just one season with a below-.500 record. The Padres, meanwhile, 6 seasons where they weren't a .500 team, and they have just two playoff appearances.

To make matters worse, Preller was given relative financial freedom in 2022 and 2023 while Mozeliak was being asked to maintain payroll well below the luxury tax threshold. Given the lack of playoff success among recent Padres teams, John Mozeliak has outpaced A.J. Preller in franchise success during each's tenure.

Andrew Friedman, Los Angeles Dodgers -- October 14, 2014

The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees play in the two biggest markets in the country. Therefore, each has been able to spend with relative reckless abandon (see Shohei Ohtani's deal this past offseason paired with Yoshinobu Yamamoto's contract). This has allowed Andrew Friedman to operate with little care in regard to finances.

However, don't mistake this financial freedom as a reason for Friedman's success. Rather, it has only bolstered his already uncanny ability to develop and maintain a consistent pipeline of talented MLB players. Even before Friedman took over as the Dodgers' President of Baseball Operations in 2014, he was able to turn the once abysmal Tampa Bay Rays into a powerhouse of production.

In about half the time, Andrew Friedman has been able to surpass Mozeliak in division titles and pennants and tie Mo in World Series titles. Yes, money has played a factor in the Dodgers' success, but long-term viability isn't built via free agency and open spending. Rather, a consistently dominant roster is developed at the lowest levels of the minor league system up to the top; the Dodgers have done that in recent years.

It appears as though Andrew Friedman has surpassed John Mozeliak in terms of building a successful organization. The Dodgers' winning percentage is wildly high, they have only lost the division once under Friedman's watch (and that was a season where they still won 106 games), and a string of deep playoff runs has been admirable.

Given the financial commitments the Dodgers have made in recent years, it's seemed as though the goal has been and should be a World Series trophy. They have one, but that came in the COVID-shortened 2020 season; its luster may be lacking slightly. If Andrew Friedman isn't able to bring his current roster to the World Series this year, not even a stretch of 9 straight playoff appearances can offset 3 World Series failures.

Mark Shapiro, Toronto Blue Jays -- August 31, 2015

Mark Shapiro was a long-time executive for the Cleveland Indians/Guardians prior to joining the Toronto Blue Jays as their President and CEO. He moved up north near the end of the 2015 season, and he is in his 9th season with the organization this year. Shapiro became an executive for the Blue Jays in 2015 as they sought to end a 22-year stretch without a playoff appearance.

The Blue Jays have seen moderate success under Shapiro, especially in the last half-decade. Thanks to young players like Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and an enviable starting rotation, the Blue Jays have remained in contention in one of the toughest divisions. However, the team has been unable to convert talent into results under Shapiro's leadership.

It's really not close between Shapiro and Mozeliak. Both teams have 4 playoff appearances in the last 8 years, but the Blue Jays haven't won the division in a very long time. Yes, Toronto has faced much tougher in-division opponents (they finished 4th in the division in 2021 despite a 91-71 record), but the Cardinals have 2 division titles in the same time span. Both Toronto and St. Louis have made it to the Championship Series in the last 8 years, and both were sent home packing at that point.

There are two main detriments to Shapiro's resume: first would be the fact that his team went three straight years with a below-.500 record and the second would be an inability to capitalize on young talented players with a deep rotation. The Blue Jays have been relatively frugal since Shapiro's hiring, but they've spent time in the top 12 of team payrolls these last 3 years with nothing to show from it.

Mark Shapiro and John Mozeliak are close, but Mozeliak edges out Shaprio ever so slightly thanks to more sustained success.

Jerry Dipoto, Seattle Mariners -- September 28, 2015

Jerry Dipoto, most recently known for his "54%" comment, took over for Jack Zduriencik near the end of the 2015 season. The Mariners hadn't been to the playoffs in 14 years, and the rabid fanbase desired postseason play. Dipoto would be unable to take his team to the postseason for the first 6 years of his tenure.

The Mariners have fought valiantly in the American League West under Dipoto's leadership, and they've had to try and overpower one of baseball's best teams during that time: the Houston Astros. The Astros' reign of terror began just before Dipoto took the helm, and he's had to fight an uphill battle ever since. This has inhibited the Mariners from taking a huge leap in the division and in the playoffs.

The Mariners have just 1 playoff appearance to tout during Dipoto's tenure, and they have toiled in the middle of the division for nearly a decade now. Their lone playoff appearance came in 2022, and the Mariners were trounced in the division series that year. While their winning percentage is decent, the lack of postseason success (and even lack of postseason presence) detracts from Dipoto's shine.

Mozeliak easily supersedes Dipoto in this comparison strictly due to Mo's playoff presence. 4 playoff berths compared to 1 isn't even close, and the Cardinals have just 1 season under .500 in the same span that the Mariners have 5. Dipoto doesn't measure up to Mozeliak in this comparison. Similar to Mike Rizzo, I wouldn't be surprised if calls for Jerry Dipoto and manager Scott Servais to be fired begin to grow if the 2024 postseason doesn't pan out positively for the Mariners.

Derek Falvey, Minnesota Twins -- October 3, 2016

Derek Falvey was hired to be the Minnesota Twins' Chief Baseball Officer after the 2016 season. The Twins hadn't sniffed the postseason in 6 seasons, and they were coming off possibly the worst season in franchise history. In 2016, the Twins had a 59-103 record, and they finished 35.5 games behind the Cleveland Indians.

Falvey started off strong, as he was able to build a Twins team that made it to the playoffs in 3 of his first 4 seasons. The Twins haven't been big spenders during his time as the head of baseball operations; they've floated around the middle of the pack in terms of total payroll. This has limited Falvey's ability to add via free agency.

The Twins have seen relative success in the regular season, but they've failed to make it past the division series in any of their 4 postseason appearances. Falvey has had three teams finish below .500 in his 7-year career as the team's leader. Given the team's fiscal restrictions, Falvey has done reasonably well with the franchise.

There's a strong case to be made for Falvey being better than Mozeliak, especially when considering financial commitments from ownership. Minneapolis is a much larger market, but the Cardinals have consistently drawn more fans than the Twins have.

The Cardinals have seen a comparable amount of postseason success in the same time span with more regular season success to a certain degree. However, these two teams have actually had very similar histories recently. What the Cardinals have lacked recently in player development under Mozeliak they've made up for with wily trades and free-agency acquisitions. The converse is true for Falvey and his Twins teams of late.

Mike Hazen, Arizona Diamondbacks -- October 16, 2016

Mike Hazen entered as the Arizona Diamondbacks general manager after the team lost 93 games in 2016. Despite having young studs such as Paul Goldschmidt, Jean Segura, and Brandon Drury, the team couldn't put it together that year. Hazen supplanted Dave Stewart. Ironically, Jerry Dipoto, now the head of the Seattle Mariners, was once an interim GM for the Diamondbacks in 2010.

Mike Hazen was tasked with tapping into the potential that players like Zach Greinke, Robbie Ray, and Patrick Corbin had as starting pitchers. Hazen did just that, and he flipped the team's wins and losses from 2016; the D-Backs won 93 games in his first year at the helm, and they made the playoffs that year for the first time in 5 years

What the Diamondbacks can tout over the Cardinals in the last 7 years is a World Series appearance. The Diamondbacks, against all odds, made it to the World Series in 2023. They lost to the Texas Rangers, but Hazen can lay claim to something that John Mozeliak hasn't been able to do in the last 7 years.

Mo's Cardinal teams overpower the Diamondbacks in division titles, winning percentage, and playoff appearances over the same stretch of seasons. Also, the Cardinals have had only one season below .500 under Mozeliak's watch whereas the Diamondbacks have finished under that mark in 4 seasons.

It depends on what you value out of your franchise, but Mozeliak likely edges out most of the baseball heads who have been in their roles for at least 7 years. A consistently good product has created a model of sustained success under John Mozeliak's leadership. While he has soured on some in the past few years, it's hard to argue with his resume when pitted against other modern general managers or presidents of baseball operations.