John Mozeliak’s prized Cardinals addition left a lot to be desired in 2024
The St. Louis Cardinals are officially eliminated from playoff contention, marking another disappointing campaign for the franchise under president of baseball operations John Mozeliak. To cap off what’s been a substandard year, the club has placed starting pitcher Sonny Gray on the 15-day injured list, effectively ending his season.
St. Louis announced Gray will be out due to flexor tendonitis in his right forearm. The Cards recalled Kyle Leahy from Triple-A Memphis in a corresponding move.
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John Mozeliak’s prized Cardinals addition, Sonny Gray, done for the year after an uninspiring 2024
Ultimately, it’s an unfortunate conclusion to Gray’s first season in St. Louis, which fell short of expectations. He went 13-9 with a 3.84 ERA, 1.088 WHIP and 203 strikeouts across 166.1 innings of work. Albeit solid numbers, Mozeliak made him one of the highest-paid pitchers in free agency last offseason. Naturally, Cards fans envisioned getting more out of the right-hander after he received a hefty salary. ‘;
Gray signed a three-year, $75 million contract with the Cardinals this past March. He was the runner-up to New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole in the AL Cy Young voting with the Minnesota Twins in 2023. His debut season in St. Louis wasn’t as fruitful, and the 34-year-old regressed considerably.
While Mozeliak and the Cardinals thought they were getting a top-of-the-rotation arm, Gray proved to be more of a modest option. The three-time All-Star headlined a slew of veteran starters St. Louis added, including Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson. However, things didn’t go as planned — arguably one of the more notable factors for them not qualifying for the postseason.
After a solid start to 2024, Gray’s performance tailed off. His pre- and post-June splits are eye-opening. Perhaps the wear and tear took a toll on him, or his health factored into his struggles. Nonetheless, it’s a concerning trend for the Cardinals, considering they invested significantly in the hurler.
When St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations cak 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 cccccc 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.
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 undercwatch.
