St. Louis Cardinals executive John Mozeliak has been honest since the end of last season about what his plan was for the organization. The terms 'reset' and 'retool' have been thrown around a little too ominously.
While the Cards did let the likes of Paul Goldschmidt walk this past winter, they were unable to find trade partners for Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray or Ryan Helsley. It's tough to take Mozeliak's reset comments seriously when his 2025 product looks a lot like the team that finished last season 10 games back of the Brewers in the National League Central.
"The word 'reset' can be interpreted a lot of different ways," Mozeliak told ESPN. "I've been trying to use the word 'transition' more because it's more relatable to what we're trying to do. We are in a transition in leadership. We're also in a transition to what this team is going to look like. Our business model has changed. There's less revenue on the TV side, we have less revenue on the ticket-sale side right now. We're trying to make adjustments as best we can. The one lever to pull is payroll when you're dealing with that."
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Cardinals players are confused about John Mozeliak's lack of direction
Mozeliak has already changed the terminology, which is not a good sign. It is the sign of an executive out of his element, and with one foot out the door. Regardless of what happens in 2025, this will inevitably be Chaim Bloom's mess to clean up. Mozeliak is just fine with that, but it doesn't mean the Cardinals players are any less confused.
"I'll be the first to admit, I thought I was gone for sure," Helsley said. "I mean if it's a reset, and this is my walk year. I thought I would be first to go. I was kind of surprised they brought me back."
Helsley wasn't the only one surprised. Cardinals fans were pleasantly surprised as well. Helsley, at his best, is an NL All-Star and classic trade bait. Perhaps St. Louis will send him elsewhere at the trade deadline, but every outing under his belt is one that he could be spending with a real contender. That means Helsley's price tag goes down.
Of course, no one was more flabbergasted at their St. Louis return than Arenado, who even had to turn down a trade to the Houston Astros in the process.
"It was 50/50 and then at one point I probably got to like 70/30, I wasn't [returning], but at the end of the day I always knew there was a chance I could come back and so I've always been prepared for that," Arenado said.
Needless to say, if the Cardinals players don't understand Mozeliak's direction, how are the fans supposed to?