ST. LOUIS – John Mozeliak will step down as the St. Louis Cardinals’ President of Baseball Operations at the conclusion of the 2025 season, ending a near three-decade tenure with the club, the team announced on Monday. Chaim Bloom was also announced as Mozeliak’s successor.
Calling Monday’s post-season news conference a “major announcement about our baseball operations and strategy,” Cardinals Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said Bloom has signed a five-year contract as the new PBO. In addition, General Manager Michael Girsch has been reassigned to the role of vice president of special projects.
Bloom joined the team this past January in an advisory role to Mozeliak, with an emphasis on player development. DeWitt Jr. emphasized these moves are part of a “reset” of the organization’s player development system, which will include new investments in staffing and infrastructure, as well as a new facility in Jupiter, Florida, to be built after 2025 spring training.
It is unclear if Mozeliak will leave the team entirely after the 2025 season or be moved into a different role.
Mozeliak has spent nearly three decades in the St. Louis Cardinals organization and just finished up his 17th season as the team’s lead executive.
During his run at the top, the Cardinals won the 2011 World Series and advanced to the 2013 Fall Classic. Since then, they’ve only won two postseason series (2014 and 2019 NLDS) and finished with one of their worst records in decades, 71-91, just last year. The 2024 season was a modest improvement but still ended without a postseason trip and finishing just four games above .500.
Fans had made their frustrations with Mozeliak well known when opportunities presented themselves over the last several years. He was met with an audible chorus of boos at least twice during two recent events at Busch Stadium: Adam Wainwright’s pregame retirement ceremony last season and during Opening Day introductions this past April. The 2024 season also saw record lows in attendance at Busch Stadium III among non-pandemic-altered crowds.
It appears certain players are also disappointed about the state of the St. Louis Cardinals, most notably catcher Willson Contreras, who called out the front office after the team’s Sept. 22 home finale and challenged executives to “be hungry” in owning the National League Central Division.
During the 2023 MLB All-Star break, FOX 2 Sports Director Martin Kilcoyne interviewed Mozeliak one-on-one about several topics, including the lost 2023 season and fan criticism. When asked, “People that are criticizing you, if you could address them, what would you say?” Mozeliak offered this answer:
“I think I have a pretty good resume. I think the history of our decision-making overall has been pretty good. I think the best way to approach this is recognizing that we do have a problem, admit it, and try to find a solution. We understand that. I’m not trying to sit here with you right now and defend what we did and blame other people. I know we’ve made mistakes, and we’re going to try and get it right.”
All told, the Cardinals made postseason in 10 of Mozeliak’s 17 seasons as lead executive and finished below .500 just once.
While answering questions at Monday’s news conference, Mozeliak said he anticipates payroll will decrease as the club focuses on player development. As of Opening Day 2024, the Cardinals had the 11th-highest payroll in Major League Baseball.
