Cardinals' Mozeliak openly ponders shake-up
The past week has seen the St. Louis Cardinals fall behind the Pittsburgh Pirates into fourth place in the NL Central division. It was the latest setback in a generally disappointing season for the Redbirds, who came into the campaign thinking playoffs and made offseason moves accordingly.
Things haven't gone according to plan, and president of baseball operations John Mozeliak is starting to think about next year.
"Watching a game like yesterday (Thursday's 3-2 loss to the Mets), it's tough to justify going out and solely playing for this year," Mozeliak told MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch. "So maybe (the) broader question is do attitude and culture need to be something that we look at to either change or shake up?"
Thursday's loss to New York - on a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth - was particularly frustrating for St. Louis; not just that they lost, but how. Reliever Trevor Rosenthal failed to cover first base on a ground ball with two outs and a runner on third. The batter reached, and the winning run scored.
Related: Cardinals' Carpenter: Rosenthal's fielding lapse 'just can't happen'
Mozeliak's comments could indicate a number of things, although it doesn't mean drastic changes are imminent. The Cardinals did shuffle up their roster slightly on Friday, but that was mostly to make room for Randal Grichuk and Zach Duke returning from injuries.
They also made a forward-thinking move by sending left-handed pitcher Marco Gonzales to the Seattle Mariners for the team's top outfield prospect, Tyler O'Neill.