Apr 7, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; St. Louis Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak looks on at the batting cage before the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Cardinals Transition Named Team's Biggest Question Mark

Originally posted on St. Louis Cardinals on SI
By Curt Bishop | Last updated Sep 16, 2025 2:00 PM ET

The St. Louis Cardinals remain 4 1/2 games back of the New York Mets for the third and final National League Wild Card spot, even after Monday night's 11-6 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. However, with three other teams, including the Reds in front of them and just 11 games remaining on the schedule, their hopes of reaching the postseason for the first time since 2022 are remote. They also are five games below the .500 mark at 73-78.

The Cardinals will likely achieve a dubious mark for the second time in less than a decade, enduring a three-year stretch without postseason baseball. They'll rebuild soon under Chaim Bloom.

Tim Britton of The Athletic named John Mozeliak's exit and the transition to Bloom the team's biggest storyline with less than two weeks remaining in the season.

John Mozeliak's Exit Named Cardinals' Biggest Headline

Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

"John Mozeliak’s 18-year run at the head of the Cardinals will come to an end over the next fortnight, with Chaim Bloom taking over baseball operations. Last winter, St. Louis didn’t quite execute its relatively bold plan to start playing for the future, and the season played out as you might have feared: The team was good enough to be respectable, but not good enough to legitimately contend for a playoff spot. The young players the Cardinals hoped would run with their opportunities for playing time have had, at best, mixed results," Britton wrote on Tuesday.

The Cardinals originally stated that they were going to "reset" heading into 2025. Fans understandably believed that this would include trading some players. However, they held onto Ryan Helsley and Erick Fedde in the offseason and let their value deteriorate. All they did was sign Phil Maton to a one-year deal, and he was traded at the deadline along with Helsley and Steven Matz.

Thus, there wasn't much clarity coming from the Cardinals, which just let to more frustration from the fanbase. But the transition will finally be complete after the Cardinals wrap up their regular season slate on September 28, and Bloom will be in charge of the team.

It will certainly be interesting to see how Bloom does things, but fans can at the very least breathe a sigh of relief that Mozeliak is on his way out after almost a decade of mixed messages from him and the rest of the organization.

This article first appeared on St. Louis Cardinals on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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