THE PERFECT SITUATION
There is no consensus among the various stories floating around out there about the impetus for this opportunity. Perhaps the truth is a concoction of several events.
We do know that Bill Dewitt III assumed the ownership of the St. Louis Cardinals upon his father’s death slightly more than a year ago. The process of mourning and probate delayed some administrative tasks, such as extending the soon-to-expire contracts of the management after a successful 2019 season. One unconfirmed theory is that Dewitt used the distractions as an excuse to delay the renewals, so that he could have more time to evaluate his management team. GM John Mozeliak had been on the job since 2008. The franchise had been to the playoffs 8 times with 2 championships during his tenure. Mozeliak was clearly not happy about his lame duck status, and he made some veiled public comments about it at various points during the 2020 season.
The “good news, bad news” results on the field only added to the tension. The 2019-20 regular campaigns were very successful for the Cardinals, as they posted back-to-back 97-win seasons and earned two division titles. However, the post-season experiences were frustrating. The team ran into the powerful Los Angeles Dodgers in the LCS and lost both times. The 2020 series ended in a demoralizing sweep, and there was a brief meeting between Dewitt and Mozeliak on the morning after the LCS. Mozeliak left the facility immediately after the meeting without talking to reporters.
Insiders speculate that Dewitt wanted to install his own management team in place of his father’s. Dewitt also had issues with the overall direction of the franchise. The major league team was very competitive, but the farm system had been allowed to decline in recent years and was no longer capable of producing the next crop of young stars. The Cardinals’ minor league organization was rated #23 by the end of 2020, with only one prospect among the top 100. The minor league rosters were glutted with non-prospects. In addition, the franchise had sliced scouting and player development expenses to well below the major league average in order to support a ballooning payroll. The Cardinals have a nice core, but it is essentially the same roster that lost the 2017 World Series to Tampa Bay. The franchise is entering a period of expiring contracts for some older stars and younger players that would form the next core. Rumor has it that Dewitt did not trust Mozeliak to make the right “sign or walk” decisions on this large and important group.
Whatever the motivations, the Cardinals decided to clean house after the 2020 season. The action was known in St. Louis as Black Monday.
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Dewitt was determined to find a new GM that was experienced in building a sustainable winning franchise. He wanted someone that would value internal development and build a successful farm system. He found his next general manager in a strange place where no MLB owner had gone before.