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Cardinals GM regrets trading Scott Rolen to Blue Jays in 2008

REUTERS/Alan Mothner / Action Images

General managers around Major League Baseball are faced with tough personnel decisions every season. Some work out, and some are regrettable.

Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch queried Cardinals GM John Mozeliak about his do-over wish list. There's only one move he'd take back.

If I could do it all over again ... probably the one player I regret trading was Scott Rolen (to Toronto). I felt like he still had a lot of baseball left. It was the circumstances as to why we had to do that that were more out of our control. 

Tony (La Russa) certainly deserved a voice in that but I think it weakened the team in making that deal. I don't think it was a great baseball decision.

Mozeliak was named the Cards interim GM on October 3, 2007. He finalized Rolen's trade to the Blue Jays on January 14, 2008 after Rolen and former manager Tony La Russa's relationship went sour during the 2006 postseason. Rolen disagreed with his manager on the status of his surgically repaired shoulder and whether or not he was capable of playing.

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