John Mozeliak is actively sabotaging this top Cardinals prospect

St. Louis Cardinals fans are looking forward to this offseason when John Mozeliak will cede control of baseball operations to Chaim Bloom. This isn't to say Mozeliak hasn't done some great things in St. Louis, but some of his decisions lately have been really hard to get behind. The choice to promote Jose Fermin from Triple-A instead of JJ Wetherholt after the Cardinals placed Brendan Donovan on the injured list can be considered the latest Mozeliak head-scratcher.

To be fair, Fermin has performed well in his limited MLB time this season and has had a good year at Triple-A Memphis, so it's not like he isn't deserving of a promotion, but he's also 26 years old and profiles as a bench bat at best. A guy like Wetherholt, on the other hand, has torn up Triple-A pitching and actually has a chance to be a franchise cornerstone.

Mozeliak keeping Wetherholt in Triple-A is a choice that's really hard to defend.

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JJ Wetherholt has earned a look in the majors down the stretch

Wetherholt just put together his third three-hit game since being promoted to Triple-A a little more than a month ago. He's now hitting .310 with nine home runs, 17 extra-base hits, and an OPS of 1.073 in 26 games for Triple-A Memphis. A 26-game sample might not be massive, but it also isn't nothing. Wetherholt has been in Triple-A for over a month now, and he's just dominated at that level. What else do the Cardinals need to see?

The Cardinals haven't seen too much of Fermin, but he's never going to be anything more than a bench player. What use is it to promote him when your top prospect is tearing the cover off the ball? It's not even as if there are service time reasons to keep him in Triple-A.

Cardinals have nothing to lose by promoting JJ Wetherholt

There's no reason not to promote Wetherholt at this point. The Cardinals are without both Donovan and Nolan Arenado for who knows how long, and after getting swept by the New York Yankees over the weekend, they're now 61-64 on the year. Unlikely runs to the postseason can happen, but the Cardinals are currently 5.5 games back of the third Wild Card spot. They already traded Ryan Helsley, Steven Matz and Phil Maton at the deadline knowing their postseason odds were slim. Why not play for the future?

I'd even go out on a limb and say the Cardinals would give themselves the best chance to save their season and truly compete for a playoff spot by promoting Wetherholt. Who on this team has a higher ceiling right now? We've seen Wetherholt crush Triple-A pitching, who's to say he won't become a potent middle-of-the-order threat down the stretch and help lead the Cardinals to some important wins?

Most importantly, giving Wetherholt a look now will give them an idea of whether he can be expected to produce on their Opening Day roster next season. If Wetherholt hits the ground running, he'll begin next season as a starter somewhere in the Cardinals infield. If he struggles, at least the Cardinals will have had a look of him in the majors and can help figure out ways to help him improve ahead of next season. Again, there's nothing to lose.

For that reason, Cardinals fans have every right to be frustrated with John Mozeliak for his refusal to do the right thing. Keeping Wetherholt in Triple-A doesn't accomplish anything at this point, and the Cardinals did just that anyway.