If I were you: Willson Contreras calls out the Cardinals front office ahead of key offseason
The St. Louis Cardinals went 71-91 in 2023, finishing with their worst record in decades. John Mozeliak was active that offseason, mainly looking to improve what was a horrid starting rotation, but the moves that he made felt light.
Sure enough, despite a solid mid-season run and the team buying at the trade deadline, the Cardinals were eliminated from postseason contention and might even finish under .500 again if they don't finish strong.
Cardinals fans expressed their disgust with the organization by refusing to show up to the ballpark, and Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras expressed his frustration by saying what he'd do if he was in control of baseball operations in St. Louis.
This feels notable coming from Contreras, a player that the Cardinals essentially called out last season, especially.
"There's some areas that need to be addressed," Willson Contreras said this afternoon. "I don't know if the front office is going to, but...we didn't come together as an offense at all, during the whole year. There's a lot of holes throughout the lineup as well, from 1 to 9..."
— Jeff Jones (@jmjones) September 22, 2024
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Willson Contreras calls John Mozeliak out ahead of key offseason
Contreras began his remarks by saying that the offense was not good enough. He's absolutely right on that front. The Cardinals were a team built around the expectation that they'd be among the league's elite offensively, but it never clicked from the start. The Cardinals rank 25th in runs scored, 24th in home runs, and 19th in OPS as of this writing, proving to be among the league's worst offensively.
Nobody could've predicted the fall-offs that we saw from players like Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado in particular, but clearly, the roster that Mozeliak built was not good enough.
"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..."
— Jeff Jones (@jmjones) September 22, 2024
Contreras knows his role as a player, but he also knows the team he is on. The Cardinals are an organization accustomed to winning every single year and competing for World Series championships. Lately, though, that has not been the case. Not only will they miss the postseason for a second consecutive season, but they haven't won a playoff game since 2020. They haven't won a playoff series since 2019. Something has to change.
The Cardinals did make upgrades after last season's debacle, and the Sonny Gray pickup was a positive one for the most part, but the Cardinals could've chosen to improve their rotation more than they did rather than sign older pitchers like Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn.
"We haven't owned this division this division the last two years."
— Jeff Jones (@jmjones) September 22, 2024
Q: What areas need help?
"That's a good question for the front office to answer. I'm not gonna answer that question. But I think if you look at the numbers as an offense, you will notice what's possibly missing...
Again, Contreras knows his role as a player, but the issue with this offense is glaring. This team lacks thump. None of the six teams below them in home runs right now will make the postseason, and there's a good chance none of them even finish above .500. Home runs are a necessity to win, and the Cardinals didn't come close to hitting enough of them.
Fortunately, the Cardinals have elite power-hitting options in free agency. Juan Soto won't be coming, but why not go out and sign someone like Christian Walker or Pete Alonso?
If John Mozeliak acts aggressively, the Cardinals can be a lot better in 2025. They have a solid core with Contreras right in the thick of it. It's time for Mozeliak and the entire organization to show the urgency necessary to win.
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