As the 2025 MLB trade deadline approaches, we find the St. Louis Cardinals stuck in the awful middle of the National League. They are 52-50 through their first 102 games, which is good enough for third-place in the deep NL Central. This may be the winningest franchise in the National League, but the Cardinals seem to have hit a rough patch of mediocrity under their current regime in recent seasons.
Although John Mozeliak has been with the Cardinals organization since 1995 when coming over from Colorado, their long-time general manager could be on the way out. He has been in this role since 2007. While the Cardinals did win a World Series shortly after he took over in 2011, that was 14 years ago. Furthermore, Mozeliak seems to have no grip on what it means to make a trade deadline deal.
With St. Louis designating pitcher Erick Fedde for assignment on Wednesday, he is now the third of three players the Cardinals have DFA'd who they acquired at last year's deadline. Pitcher Shawn Armstrong lasted about a month after coming over from Tampa Bay. Now he is in Texas. Outfielder Tommy Pham came over in the same deal as Fedde with the Chicago White Sox. He lasted a month.
Fedde was the far most productive player of the trio, but that is three terrible returns on investment.
The #STLCards have officially DFA'd all three of their 2024 trade deadline acquisitions in which they were seen as buyers:
— Thomas Gauvain (@thomasgauvain) July 23, 2025
Tommy Pham
Shawn Armstrong
Erick Fedde https://t.co/ZxmaUGtY2I
With former Boston front office executive Chaim Bloom now in-house, will he get to call the shots?
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John Mozeliak could be replaced by Chaim Bloom in Cardinals front office
While there is some correlation to the Cardinals becoming great in the mid-1990s and into the 2020s because of Mozeliak's roles with the team, the straw that stirred the drink in St. Louis was obviously their former iconic skipper Tony La Russa. Are the Athletics, Cardinals and White Sox better since he last managed them? La Russa was not for everyone, but he got his team ready to play most seasons.
Admittedly, I quite reluctant on giving Bloom another chance to build a team. He was a disaster in Boston. Are we ready to live in a world where the Cardinals are scraping along at rock bottom in the National League? Have they ever been a bottom-feeder before? Regardless of what may become of St. Louis, Mozeliak continues to provide the team with diminishing returns from a roster standpoint.
Throughout my 35 years on this planet, there are two National League teams that are seemingly never bad: Los Angeles and St. Louis. Yes, they may have down periods, but they are never bringing up the rear. In fact, the Cardinals and Dodgers are the only two franchises who have been more consistently strong in the Senior Circuit than my Atlanta Braves. Simply, Mozeliak is not good enough.
I may not want to see Bloom take over from within, but the Mozeliak era has officially run its course.