John Mozeliak mansplains baseball to Cardinals fans in move that'll surely backfire

The last year-plus of John Mozeliak's tenure with the St. Louis Cardinals has left much to be desired. St. Louis failed to make the postseason last year, finishing last in the NL Central. As a result, Mozeliak promised to address the team's biggest need -- starting pitching.

While Mozeliak did add pitching, he signed just one ace-level starter in Sonny Gray. Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn were both calculated risks that have worked in the Cardinals favor so far. The most questionable decision of Mozeliak's offseason was to extend much-maligned manager Oli Marmol. Mozeliak claimed he didn't want Marmol's contract to be a distraction for the team.

“All three of us were somewhat relieved,” Mozeliak said, per The Athletic. “Because what you didn’t want to have happen was if we got off to a rocky start, all of a sudden everybody is calling up someone’s head. So really, it was more of not just a vote of confidence, because he knows we appreciate what he does and how hard he works. But I think it’s something that now no longer will be a distraction, for Oli, staff, players and front office.”

St. Louis could still fire Marmol after the season, but in doing so they would owe him more money. All of that just to avoid what Mozeliak coined a distraction is puzzling to say the least.

Arrogant John Mozeliak only further alientates St. Louis Cardinals fans

This week, Mozeliak was asked about his relationship with Bill DeWitt. The first half of his answer was informative, and then went off the rails a bit.

"I think that question comes up a lot, and whenever I answer it I get in trouble because no, we're not being complacent. No, his desire to win is more than ever. He's not afraid to pick up the phone and ask me questions. He's not afraid to challenge me on things. We are trying to get this right, but I think people have to understand baseball and managing rosters might not be as simple as picking out your kindergarten kickball team," Mozeliak said, per Martin Kilcoyne of Fox 2 News in St. Louis.

Ah, belittling the Cardinals fanbase sure sounds fun when you're a pundit like myself. However, when part of your job is to appease said fans and have a high approval rating, mansplaining front office politics to them is not the best technique.

Mozeliak is on thin ice, and despite the Cardinals return to winning ways of late, his future is far from guaranteed.