John Mozeliak comments on relationship with Cardinals' owner, Bill DeWitt

To the average St. Louis Cardinal fan, there has been a clear disconnect between ownership, the front office, and the fanbase in recent years. Fans have been clamoring for the DeWitt family to spend more money in free agency. They've simultaneously been begging John Mozeliak to swing for the fences more often in trades and via free agency.

Instead of either entity kowtowing to the whims of the fans, ownership has maintained a tight budget, and Mozeliak has made moves on the edges of the roster by and large.

This financial and transactional malaise has led fans to question the relationship between the President of Baseball Operations and the owners. Given Mozeliak's pending retirement and the change in guard from one DeWitt to another, it's reasonable to wonder how well the three work together on a day-to-day basis.

John Mozeliak recently caught up with Martin Kilcoyne of Fox 2 News in St. Louis. Kilcoyne fired a volley of questions Mo's way about the team and the behind-the-scenes work of the organization. One question related directly to Mozeliak's relationship with his superiors. Kilcoyne asked, "We don't see Bill as often around here. One narrative is 'Is he as committed to winning' and "Is there complacency from what you guys have done in the past?"

You'll find Mozeliak's response below.

I think that question comes up a lot, and whenever I answer it I get in trouble because no, we're not being complacent. No, his desire to win is more than ever. He's not afraid to pick up the phone and ask me questions. He's not afraid to challenge me on things. We are trying to get this right, but I think people have to understand baseball and managing rosters might not be as simple as picking out your kindergarten kickball team.

Contrary to what is perceived among fans, the DeWitt family and John Mozeliak are putting their full efforts forth into this team. This is relatively obvious, at least on the management side, when one considers the number of transactions by John Mozeliak this past offseason and the trade deadline. On the ownership front, financial records indicate the DeWitt family is putting as much as it can back into the roster.

According to FanGraphs, the Cardinals have the 11th-largest payroll at $181 million. Statista places their revenue at 13th in the league with a total revenue of $372 million, and Forbes ranks the organization as the 10th most valuable in baseball. Obviously, revenue and payroll can't be one-to-one; there are countless other financial obligations the DeWitts have outside of the players themselves.

John Mozeliak is nearing the end of his tenure, and he has worked with this ownership group for over 2 decades. The two parties have a mutual understanding, and they seem to work well together.