The three parts of the St. Louis Cardinals' "reset"

The St. Louis Cardinals are broiled in the middle of a self-proclaimed "reset" period. They're looking to remain competitive in 2025 while clearing space for young players to develop and perform at the major-league level all while revamping the player development system.

This is a tall task for any organization, even more so for one that is strapped financially due to ownership pressure like the Cardinals are.

Having an entire reset in one offseason is virtually impossible. Rebuilding clubs like the Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, and Baltimore Orioles took years to see success once they started the process. Other organizations, like the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, and (formerly) Oakland Athletics, have yet to reap the benefits of their rebuilds.

Therefore, fans should have been skeptical all along when John Mozeliak and the DeWitt family said that this reset would allow the team to be truly competitive as soon as 2026.

The Cardinals' "reset" is more likely a three-part saga than a quick reversion to competition.

There are three obvious parts that need to be rebuilt on this roster: the coaching staff and front office, the position players, and the pitching.

The front office and coaching staff have truly been reset already. Chaim Bloom has hired Rob Cerfolio as an assistant general manager in charge of player development and performance and Matt Pierpont as the new Director of Pitching. Both Cerfolio and Pierpont have excellent track records with organizations that have thrived in player development.

The club also replaced former hitting coach Turner Ward with Brant Brown and brought on Jon Jay to help coach the club. Other additions like Larry Day (Director of Player Development), Carl Kochan (Director of Performance), and several minor league coaches and instructors such as Ryan Barba, Jose Leger, Austine Meine, and Ethan Goforth will provide valuable instruction to minor leaguers throughout the system.

So far, part one of the reset has gone swimmingly. Part two, however, hasn't gone quite as well.

The second part of the reset is likely focused on seeing what the organization has in its position players at the major-league level. While players like Brendan Donovan and Masyn Winn have proven their worth, other youngsters, such as Lars Nootbaar, Nolan Gorman, Jordan Walker, Alec Burleson, Thomas Saggese, and Ivan Herrera, either have yet to live up to their hype or simply haven't been given enough time to prove their worth.

With Nolan Arenado still on the roster and a questionable adherence to lower-ceiling players, 2025 will not be a year in which the position players are able to grow or show they aren't cut for the majors. Currently, Arenado occupying third base cuts into playing time for Nolan Gorman, Thomas Saggese, Alec Burleson, and possibly even Lars Nootbaar depending on where Brendan Donovan logs most of his innings next year.

Had Willson Contreras agreed to be traded and had Nolan Arenado been moved more easily, the position player portion of the reset would have been accomplished. That area of development is now tabled for the time being.

The final part of the reset, the pitching, must wait one more year.

This is due to Sonny Gray, like Contreras, wanting to stay in St. Louis and poor contract management years ago by John Mozeliak. The no-trade clause given to Miles Mikolas back in 2022 and a somewhat onerous contract given to Steven Matz four years ago have handcuffed transactions for these two pitchers who are on expiring contracts.

Thankfully, for the sake of the reset, both Mikolas and Matz, along with Erick Fedde, are free agents at year's end. Ryan Helsley joins these three starters, who are all in their walk year.

With high-level pitchers such as Quinn Mathews, Michael McGreevy, Tink Hence, Tekoah Roby, Sem Robberse, Zack Thompson, and others knocking at the door of the majors, the pitching staff must be cleared out soon. That likely can't happen this offseason, as few teams will be interested in Steven Matz given his injury history and price tag, and far fewer teams will want Miles Mikolas due to his underwhelming performances these past two seasons. Look for next offseason to be a "reset" year for the pitching staff.

It was a tall order to restructure an entire farm system, trade veteran players, and remain competitive. The "reset" that John Mozeliak, Chaim Bloom, and the Cardinals are in won't take one year. Expect this mentality to stretch beyond just one offseason.