photo: John Mozeliak via Zoom (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
Much has been discussed and written about the St. Louis Cardinals and their player payroll. Fan expectations were raised when team President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak announced early in the offseason that spending would increase in 2023.
John Mozeliak, president of baseball operations of the #STLCards: “Our payroll is going up.”
— Benjamin Hochman (@hochman) October 26, 2022
Since then, other than the major signing of free agent catcher Willson Contreras, the Cardinals have not made significant moves, whether it be fortifying the rotation or adding a left-handed bat, for example. With spring training just a month away, time will soon be running out on the 2022-2023 hot stove season.
Departures from the 2022 team include Yadier Molina, Albert Pujols and Jose Quintana, with most roster incumbents due for a raise. Numbers vary based on the source, but one national tracker, Cot’s Baseball Contracts, has the 2023 Cards at $172 million, 15th in MLB, vs. $155 million, ranked 13th, the year before.
On Sunday morning, Mozeliak appeared on KMOX Radio 1120 with host Tom Ackerman. Ackerman’s first question was about payroll.
Following is part of what Mozeliak said.
“We did have an opportunity to increase payroll, which it will be higher than what we played at last year,” Mozeliak said. “So that’s fact no. 1. And no. 2, just because you have resources, you aren’t going to just go spend it wildly on something that doesn’t make sense.
“We knew what we had to accomplish this off-season. We went into it with the hopes of doing it. And then as other things presented itself or unfolded, it just didn’t get to the point where we were excited enough to necessarily do it. That might depress people or disappoint people, but my responsibility is to adhere to the franchise and adhere to ownership and do what we think is best for putting together a winning club.
“I do think we are at a unique situation maybe relative to other teams where we do feel we have some emerging talent, up and coming talent. We just don’t want to go down a path where we don’t create that opportunity and then regret not having that opportunity for individuals, as we enter 2023.”
(Ackerman: “So that sounds like right now that if you are expecting fireworks, a big splash, something like that, don’t get your hopes up. That is what it sounds like.”)
“Right. You never rule anything out, right? Something could present itself that makes a whole lot of sense that we haven’t talked about or explored to this point. But in terms of looking at our club, there are names that get bantered about that we are just not going to trade. And in doing so, it does I guess create some level of paralysis in something.
“And then you say, ‘Well, what are you trading for?’ Right now, the bet we are making is on Waino, Mikolas, Flaherty, Montgomery and Matz. And you’ve got Dakota in the wings…”
Mozeliak continued from there, discussing many individual players, both pitchers and position players, and their readiness for 2023.
The link follows to KMOX Sports on a Sunday Morning so you can listen to his complete comments yourself. Mozeliak joins the show at the 1:26:00 point.
More will be coming from Winter Warm-Up this coming weekend in St. Louis. We’ll be there to share it with you!
Sports on a Sunday Morning – 10:05 – Headlines, scores 10:30 – @CoachTFord5 🏀🔵 10:45 – #stlblues breakdown 11:15 – Mike Kelly 🎙🐯 11:30 – John Mozeliak #stlcards 11:45 – NFL Preview https://t.co/lncpF4hasB
— KMOX Sports (@KMOXSports) January 8, 2023
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