John Mozeliak's key remarks from Cardinals' Winter Warm-Up

ST. LOUIS - It's John Mozeliak's final year as St. Louis Cardinals President of Baseball Operations makes a switch and promotes Chaim Bloom to the position.

Mozeliak spoke to media members for nearly half an hour Saturday during the Cardinals' annual Winter Warm-Up event, addressing the team's offseason and future in depth.

These are among the most notable remarks from Mozeliak at the 2025 Winter Warm-Up ahead of the new season.

Nolan Arenado's future in St. Louis

In his opening statement to media, Mozeliak admitted that the Cardinals have had a quiet offseason in terms of player acquisitions, hinting that some decisions might be influenced by the team's ongoing efforts to trade Nolan Arenado amid the organization's cost-cutting, roster-shaking reset approach.

“I did anticipate us having completed a trade by now, but that hasn’t happened,” said Mozeliak.

Mozeliak described the Cardinals as being in a "holding pattern" with completing a trade after Arenado reportedly used his no-trade clause to block a deal to the Houston Astros. Mozeliak also pointed to the sluggish pace of this winter's free agency market as a factor potentially hindering progress on a deal.

Mozeliak hopes to have some clarity on Arenado's future with the Cardinals, but says that's not guaranteed. He says, “Priority one, two, and three is still Nolan," in terms of whether a trade could materialize.

"It is something in time he and I will have to talk to if the reality is he has to join us and camp, and what that looks like," said Mozeliak. "We'll continue to try to find a place that he's happy with, and we'll use our time as best we can."

Mozeliak doesn’t expect the Cardinals to pivot by trading another player for payroll reasons if Arenado isn't dealt in the coming weeks or months. "I don’t want to tear this [roster] apart for the sake of trying to get to a number," he said.

If Arenado isn't traded before spring camp or the start of the new season, Mozeliak acknowledged that finding at-bats for younger players trying to grasp everyday roles could become a challenge. This, along with other factors, has become a key focus of the offseason.

"I know it's a top priority for the organization and myself, so I will be laser-focused on that until it's not," said Mozeliak.

Free agency

Mozeliak says he has not made any aggressive offers for any free agents this offseason, but has had some conversations.

As for Roki Sasaki, a Japan pitching star who just joined the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday after competitive sweepstakes, Mozeliak said, "We knew early on we were not a landing spot for him. We did not put a lot of energy into what that may look like.

After citing a dull free agency period as a potential factor behind the absence of an Arenado trade, Mozelika turned his attention to broader structural changes that he believes could benefit Major League Baseball, specifically the introduction of a signing period.

"You think about, like the trading deadline, for example, there is a deadline and it's feverish," said Mozeliak. "Our offseason just lacks that. Our offseason, also in Major League Baseball, lacks any dead period. You look at other major sports where they at least have, maybe, a one-month quiet period where nothing can happen. And I've always been an advocate for that. It'll probably happen now that I'm stepping away. But I think everybody could benefit from that.

He continued, "I just feel like creating some crescendo with signings would be good for the game. I think the drag of the offseason is not good for the game. I think the old strategy, if you will, is trying to always keep baseball on paper being talked about, but I think the way people get their news, the way people follow things today, I don't think it's quite as relevant or as important, so I would be very much in favor of dead period."

Franchise direction

As Chaim Bloom prepares to take over as the Cardinals' lead executive after the 2025 season, Mozeliak says the team's ongoing reset is essential to provide roster flexibility for the next leadership team.

"My ultimate goal is to try to create a pretty clean slate for my successor so they would have the ability to do really whatever they wanted to do," said Mozeliak.

As for the current team, Mozeliak says it's largely one where young guys will compete to claim larger roles.

"I'm still pretty optimistic about this current group, hedging a lot the bat on these younger players stepping forward, but I really think some of these young guys are very talented, and given the right opportunity and the right setting, they could be successful. That's the play."

Keeping other vets

While the Cardinals have explored trades for Arenado this offseason, other veterans, like Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras, will stay put as the organization moves through its transitional reset.

"They like our young core, and so I wasn't surprised when they decided they wanted to be a part of it," said Mozeliak. "I think there's that loyalty of wanting to be part of something. It could have been very easy for either one of [Gray or Contreras] to say, 'Hey, move me.' I think it would have been pretty easy to move them. Both were asked about often. From that standpoint, it felt great that this is something that they still believe in, and they still believe in their peers in that clubhouse, and they think there's a chance that we're going to be more successful than people think we will be."

Even with retaining Gray and Contreras, Mozeliak is confident the Cardinals can stay focused on long-term goals, particularly getting younger and developing prospects.

"Obviously, taking Willson and moving in the first we would have had to fill that regardless [with Paul Goldschmidt's departure], right? So you're still getting those younger guys the opportunity to catch, not putting a block on somebody like [prospect Jimmy] Crooks in any form. Really, the group of younger players - they're the guys that we really want to see step up and run with this. So I don't think anybody's getting blocked."

Pitching staff

Mozeliak envisions this year's starting rotation will feature a blend of veteran experience and emerging talent. He expects Michael McGreevy to push for a rotation spot after a strong first impression last season (1.96 ERA over 23 innings).

"I definitely think as we get into camp, McGreevy is going to be competing for a spot," said Mozeliak. "But you could argue some of those spots are already taken by veteran players. But historically, some of those players haven't been able to go pole-to-pole and post. So I think the depth of what we have in our rotation is something that we feel good about, and we would like to keep that if possible."

Mozelika also expressed a desire to bolster the bullpen and noted the potential for added flexibility, particularly if a trade involving Arenado materializes.

"We would like to do some things in our bullpen if we can before we get to camp or Opening Day, but time will tell if we're able to accomplish that," said Mozeliak.

Broader outlook of the Cardinals

Where do the Cardinals stand among MLB's biggest spenders? Mozeliak touched upon evolving markets for talent and how the Cardinals hope to regain an edge.

"When you think about the arch of the last 30 years of baseball, there's always been some big players in terms of if they want to dictate the market," said Mozeliak. "I think there are new teams to emerge to join them, and a couple of teams that seem to be in and out of it [year-after-year]. There's that natural ebb and flow."

"Specifically about where that fits with the Cardinals, for 25 years, we've always been able to punch above our weight. Part of that was our fanbase, part of that was the TV deal we had, and we've always been able to leverage that. As these markets start to shift, clearly there are teams willing to invest at a higher rate than they were 15-20 years ago. That competitive playing field is getting more difficult to navigate. In the end, you still see teams with lower payrolls competing."

"We're going to have to find that sweet spot between scouting, development, and augmenting with the free agent market."