John Mozeliak virtually guarantees his Cardinals departure in series of wild roster moves

What a weird season this has been for the St. Louis Cardinals. Their season felt all but over in mid-May when they were as many as nine games under .500, but then they battled their way back over the .500 mark and were in the NL postseason hunt to the point where they bought at this year's trade deadline.

Unfortunately, the Cardinals have hit another rough patch, and after losing this past weekend's series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, they're now back under the .500 mark, entering Tuesday's series opener against the Milwaukee Brewers with a 61-63 record. They're not completely dead yet, but at 5.0 games out with a little over one month to go, their odds are as bleak as they've been all year.

John Mozeliak made sure to add to the weirdness that has been this season with a series of roster moves before Tuesday's game. Those moves saw him admit defeat on a couple of important things, which could lead to his departure.

Wild roster moves could eventually play a role in John Mozeliak departure

The headliner of the moves made by Mozeliak saw the team send Jordan Walker, once one of the top prospects in all of baseball, back down to Triple-A. This comes as a bit of a surprise, as the team promoted him back to the majors after spending nearly four months in the minors only to use him for 11 at-bats. Walker had a total of one hit in those at-bats.

As weird as this move is, it's the right one for the Cardinals to have made. Walker was being used primarily in a platoon role in his short time back, which does not play to his strengths. Luken Baker, on the other hand, crushes left-handed pitching, and is more suited to play a part-time role. The Cardinals should have left Walker in the minors from the beginning if they weren't going to give him playing time. The move felt like a desperate one at the time, and never made much sense.

Another roster move saw the Cardinals activate Matt Carpenter from the IL and release Brandon Crawford as the corresponding move. Both Carpenter and Crawford were signed this offseason by Mozeliak as veteran bench players. Carpenter has done fairly well in that role, but Crawford has never looked the part. While his veteran presence probably helped out somewhat, he hasn't looked like an MLB-caliber player for a while now, which is unfortunate.

Crawford appeared in just 28 games despite being on the roster all season, recording 12 hits in 71 at-bats (.169 average). He hit just one home run and had four RBI. Crawford has had a great career but with Masyn Winn taking over, the signing never made much sense. Now, the Cardinals have finally admitted defeat with that move.

While this Cardinals team is better than it was in 2023, Mozeliak didn't do enough to make them serious postseason threats at the end of the day. A signing like Crawford didn't contribute to winning on the field. With Walker, the Cardinals have continued to misuse him, and that has been an unfortunate storyline that has come from this season.

Barring a shocking run to the postseason, major changes are needed in St. Louis. This team hasn't won a playoff game since 2020. They haven't won a playoff series since 2019. Oli Marmol is far from perfect, but if the Cardinals want real change, letting Mozeliak go after his tremendous run is the right move to make. It's time to try something new, as things have not been working with Mozeliak running baseball operations lately.