Jim Edmonds becomes latest Cardinals legend to put John Mozeliak dysfunction on blast

Safe to say the vibes around the St. Louis Cardinals could be better right now. A second straight season without a trip to the playoffs seemingly resulted in a long-overdue reckoning in the organization, whose player development track record had fallen off a cliff in recent years. In reality, though, all that reckoning has produced is ... well, more or less nothing: John Mozeliak is still in charge of the front office for one more year, and he appears set on using that year to simply keep the seat warm for eventual successor Chaim Bloom.

The team hasn't found trade partners for any of its high-priced veterans, it hasn't locked up any members of its long-term core and it's barely dipped a toe into the free-agent market this winter. While staff changes behind the scenes are cause for optimism, the overall picture is that of a franchise that doesn't really know how to make the significant changes that are clearly necessary to get back to the top of the National League. And that picture only became clearer after yet another Cardinals legend decided to put the team on blast.

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Jim Edmonds rips Cardinals culture, player development under John Mozeliak

Among the most damning indictments of how bad Mozeliak allowed things to get under his watch is the ever-lengthening list of former players who have ripped St. Louis on their way out the door. You can add Jim Edmonds' name to that list now, after the All-Star center fielder shed light on why he's distanced himself from the organization in recent years.

“I haven’t gone really down in spring training the last couple years," Edmonds said in a wide-ranging radio interview on Monday with ESPN 101's "The Morning After". "It’s not fun anymore."

"They don’t make you feel like you’re wanted to be around the stadium. You know, I love [manager] Oli [Marmol], the DeWitts [Cardinals owners], and have so much respect for [Mozeliak]. Everybody’s great. But somehow, indoors, in the inner circle, it’s just not the same. It’s not the same organization. It’s not fun to be around.”

Edmonds didn't stop there, claiming that Mozeliak had tightened his "inner circle" significantly since the pandemic hit in 2020, leaving coaches and former players on the chopping block.

"You know how they say, ‘cut the fat,’ and basically that’s what Mo said to a couple of us when we were working as his assistant, basically ‘cut the fat,’ and it just continued, and it’s just like ever since then. It’s been, if you see each other in the hallway, it’s like, ‘Hey, how you doing, how’s the family,’ and then, ‘See you next month.’ It’s just weird.”

The most egregious example of all? According to Edmonds, a “third baseman from Newport Beach, California" — meaning Nolan Arenado — asked if he could have a spring hitting session with former slugger Mark McGwire. The Cardinals, however, shot him down.

“I heard that he asked, and [someone unidentified in the organization] kind of just said, ‘We don’t need him. We have everything that we need. Thank you,’" said Edmonds. "And that was a couple years ago."

Taken on its own, this could just be a disgruntled former player upset that he doesn't have quite the unfettered access that he used to. But Edmonds is hardly alone here, as even active former players like Kolten Wong and Zac Gallen haven't exactly been shy about the ways in which they found Mozeliak's organization lacking. And the proof would seem to be in the pudding: A franchise that was once the envy of the league in its ability to develop homegrown talent has seen its prospects flounder lately, making ill-advised splashes in free agency to try and patch the holes.

Overall, it seems as though Mozeliak's Cardinals have grown increasingly insular in recent years, unwilling to engage without outside opinion that might help the organization grow.