Cardinals may make John Mozeliak a complete lame-duck for final year of contract

When St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak helped sign the team's manager, Oli Marmol, to a surprise contract extension prior to the 2024 season, he reasoned that he didn't want the team being coached by someone with lame-duck status. Little did he know that he might've been projecting his own fate in the Cardinals front office, though.

All reports have indicated that the Cardinals will bring back Mozeliak for the 2025 season, the final year of his contract. That's a decision being made much to the chagrin of fans in St. Louis given the perceived (and perhaps properly so) shortcomings of the front office under his watch. However, there could be a huge caveat that comes with that.

Some forget that the Cards brought in Chaim Bloom, former Chief Baseball Officer for the Boston Red Sox, after he was fired in Beantown. And while he has been ostensibly an assistant to Mozeliak in his first year with the new organization, that's a role that could be growing and, as a result, pushing Mozeliak to the side and making him the lame-duck in the final year of his deal.

MLB Rumors: Chaim Bloom could usurp John Mozeliak as Cardinals top decision-maker

USA Today MLB insider Bob Nightengale reported on Sunday that the plan for Mozeliak to "step down" after the 2025 campaign in St. Louis remains intact, his say in the front office could be lessened as Bloom possibly takes on a larger role and even simply taking over as the top dog in the front office:

"While John Mozeliak, president of baseball operations for the St. Louis Cardinals, plans to step down after the 2025 season, special assistant Chaim Bloom is expected to have much greater authority next season, perhaps even become the top baseball decision-maker."

Bloom taking over as the top decision-maker might be something that Red Sox fans who were widely displeased with him throughout most of his tenure would warn Cardinals fans about. At the same time, much of the St. Louis fanbase might also argue that it's hard for things to get that much worse than they've been over the last two years under Mozeliak's watch.

Having said that, the overall potential change of power in the front office could be a long-term positive for the Cardinals. It's a sign that ownership recognizes the shortcomings of ownership and, in turn, the need for changes to be made. Whether Bloom is the right change to be made surely remains to be seen. But it could be the start of what's necessary to get this club back into the thick of the playoff race regularly.