ESPN news: John Mozeliak faces possible sack as cardinals sign a replacement
Although John Mozeliak’s tenure as the Cardinals’ manager has been approaching its conclusion for some time, a second straight losing season could hasten the process.
When it comes to John Mozeliak’s direction of the St. Louis Cardinals, an era is coming to an end. That timetable might arrive in a few weeks or months if things keep going in the wrong way in 2024. If not, Mozeliak has made it rather evident that he is getting ready to step down from the Cardinals’ baseball operations following the 2025 season, when his contract expires.
Although I don’t think ownership would fire Mozeliak, his latest remarks support my theory that, should the Cardinals turn sellers once more, Mozeliak will resign from his position soon.
In case Mozeliak’s tenure as the Cardinals’ President of Baseball Operations is about to expire, let’s examine 10 potential successors.
Chaim Bloom
Chaim Bloom was brought in as an advisor to Mozeliak this offseason, and it feels like the worst kept secret that they’d love to have him take over when Mozeliak is done. Bloom is the most obvious choice to take over as the club’s next President of Baseball Operations (or however they decide to structure the front office post-Mozeliak).
Bloom’s significant contribution to the construction of the Rays’ player development system helped him become well-known throughout the baseball community. After a run of difficult years, he was then brought on to manage baseball operations in Boston, but he was fired at the conclusion of the 2023 campaign.
At the start of his Red Sox career, Bloom was dealt a bad hand when he was forced to trade Mookie Betts and include David Price’s terrible deal in the deal. During his tenure, Bloom got the Red Sox to the ALCS and brought a great deal of stability to the team. Thanks to a number of arms acquired and developed under Bloom’s tenure, their pitching has been excellent this year, and they have one of the greatest farm systems in baseball.
Unless Bloom decided the role wasn’t for him, I would be amazed if he wasn’t Mozeliak’s heir.
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Eight runs in the seventh inning help the Cardinals overcome the Angels.
Monday night in Anaheim, California, the St. Louis Cardinals overcame a four-run hole to defeat the Los Angeles Angels 10-5 thanks to eight runs in the seventh inning.
Before Monday, the Cardinals had only scored eight runs in a game twice this season—and not at all in almost a month—before they amassed seven hits, two walks, and a hit batter en route to their greatest inning of the year.
With the bases loaded and reliever Adam Cimber hitting a crucial double-play ground ball off the bat of Paul Goldschmidt, the Angels took a 4-0 lead into the seventh inning thanks to 5 1/3 scoreless innings from starter Jose Soriano.
However, the Angels bullpen collapsed in the seventh inning.
It was Nolan Arenado of St. Louis who opened the inning with his third home run of the year. It started a run of five straight hits for Cardinals hitters, who had previously hit three straight off of Cimber.
Left-handed After replacing Cimber, Matt Moore (0-1) did not fare much better. Masyn Winn scored two runs off of Moore’s single, and Matt Carpenter also scored one run. Luis Garcia took the mound next for the Angels, and he hit Goldschmidt with a pitch with the bases loaded. He then gave Nolan Gorman a walk with the bases loaded and let Ivan Herrera single for two runs.
Matthew Liberatore, the Cardinals’ starter and only his second start of the year, gave the Angels an early lead with four runs in the third inning. Liberatore is often a reliever.
After Zach Neto singled to start the inning, Kyren Paris doubled to bring him home. Paris advanced to third on a bunt single by Nolan Schanuel. And the Angels led 2-0 after Paris scored on a throwing error made by Arenado, the third baseman, when his throw to first base hit the dirt.
Later in the inning, Kevin Pillar drove in two runs to put the score 4-0.
After Liberatore retired the first batter in the fourth inning, Kyle Leahy (1-1) came in and retired the next eight batters he faced. In reality, the eighth-inning infield single by Jo Adell with two out broke a 15-game run of Angels hitters failing to reach base.
The Angels’ lead was reduced to 8-5 by Pillar’s RBI single later in the eighth, but the Cardinals scored two more runs in the top of the ninth.
