4 moves John Mozeliak must make to answer Willson Contreras’ candid challenge

Not only are St. Louis Cardinals fans frustrated by their second straight season without a postseason appearance, but Willson Contreras wasn't shy when it came to voicing his frustration with the franchise as well.

"The only thing we can control is show up next year and keep working. But as an organization, I think the Cardinals are one of the biggest organizations in baseball, and if I was them, if I was the front office, I'd have to be hungry to own this division," Contreras said.

Contreras called out the front office in large part due to the fact that they fielded an offense that finished toward the bottom of the league in virtually every important offensive category but also questioned their hunger to win. If that isn't a wake-up call I don't know what is.

While the Cardinals might finish above .500 this season, they will miss out on the postseason. They haven't won a postseason game since 2020. They haven't won a postseason series since 2019. This is one of the most successful organizations in professional sports history, but they haven't done nearly enough winning lately.

Hopefully, Contreras' remarks can serve as the wake-up call this front office needs to get things done. These four moves would answer Contreras' challenge.

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4) An extension can't stop the Cardinals from firing Oli Marmol

For no good reason, the Cardinals chose to extend Oli Marmol ahead of the 2024 campaign. That's right, they gave the manager who led the team to a 71-win season in 2023 an extension to remain in St. Louis past the 2024 campaign. The reason behind that was to essentially avoid making him a lame duck.

Marmol is certainly not at fault for everything that went wrong for St. Louis this year and last, but three years into his managerial career, are we sure he actually makes this team any better? It feels like the Cardinals only go on hot streaks when he gets himself ejected, which is very odd.

It's hard to see what positive attributes Marmol has brought to this organization, while things stemming from giving players too many scheduled days off to flat-out calling players out for no good reason, are bad things that can easily be pointed out.

Something has to change after yet another failure of a season. We know Mozeliak isn't going anywhere, so Marmol really should. The Marmol tenure has not worked. Rather than drag it out just because they extended him, Mozeliak and Co. must be willing to let him go. If the Cincinnati Reds can do it, so can they.

The Marmol tenure has not worked. Rather than drag it out just because they extended him, Mozeliak and Co. must be willing to let him go. If the Cincinnati Reds can do it, so can they.

3) The Cardinals must commit to or trade Jordan Walker

This isn't really a move, but the Cardinals cannot continue to mess around with Jordan Walker. They must decide whether he is actually part of their core or not. He has proven all he needs to prove in the minors, and needs time in the majors to show what he's capable of.

Walker is only hitting .229 with a .270 OBP since the Cardinals made him an everyday player down the stretch but he has shown his immense potential by recording a five-hit game, launching five home runs in just 74 plate appearances, and driving in 14 runs in 20 games.

Has Walker played well enough in September to earn an everyday role on the 2025 Cardinals? That's a question only Mozeliak and Co. can answer, but if the answer is no, he must be traded. Keeping him in Triple-A will only diminish his value further, limiting what St. Louis can get in a deal, and likely won't do Walker much good as he's already spent a good amount of time there.

Trading Walker can get the Cardinals a difference-maker in the rotation or lineup that they could use. Keeping him is an option too, but only if he's an everyday player given more than the first three weeks of the season to produce. The ball is in your court, Mo.

2) Acquiring a frontline starting pitcher is a must for the Cardinals

The rotation was a clear weakness for St. Louis in 2023, so Mozeliak was sure to add reinforcements, signing Sonny Gray, Kyle Gibson, and Lance Lynn all early in the offseason. The Cardinals rotation did improve, but they still rank 22nd in the majors with a 4.35 ERA as of this writing. That, obviously, needs to improve.

The Cardinals could easily choose to run out a rotation of Gray, Erick Fedde, Miles Mikolas, Steven Matz, and Andre Pallante in 2025, but that'd be the opposite of what Contreras wants. Especially with how Gray and Fedde finished their seasons, the Cardinals need a frontline starter.

Whether it's done via free agency or through a trade, Mozeliak must get that done. Lynn and Gibson exceeded expectations, but that's just because they were so low to begin with. There are several difference makers in free agency, like Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, and Blake Snell, just to name a few. There should be several starters available on the trade market as well.

Adding another high-end starter to this rotation would show that Mozeliak is interested in winning now. Failing to do so and sticking with what they have or going in the same route they did last offseason by signing older starters to one-year deals would be a costly mistake.

1) The Cardinals must sign a power bat

Paul Goldschmidt, the player tied for the team lead with 21 home runs, is set to hit free agency. Based on how his season has gone, it'd be foolish to bring him back, especially if he wants to be an everyday player. Nolan Gorman, the player with the third-most home urns on the team, is currently in the minors thanks to his struggles.

Who the power bat is that they acquire is up to them. Pete Alonso and Christian Walker, two of the premier power-hitting first basemen in the game, are set to hit free agency. They're both younger and considerably better than Goldschmidt at this stage of his career. They'd cost more in terms of years and dollars, but serious teams pursue upgrades of that magnitude, especially when power is needed.

The bottom line here is that an expensive power bat to plug into the middle of the order and give the Cardinals the kind of production that they thought they'd be getting from Goldschmidt (and Nolan Arenado) would go a long way in St. Louis.