Mozeliak mum on Cardinals' direction: Teams know we're open for business
St. Louis Cardinals fans might not know what to expect from the club at the trade deadline, but other teams seem to have an idea.
The Cardinals currently sit in fourth in the NL Central, though the club is only 3 1/2 games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers. On the other hand, they are now also eight games back of a wild-card spot, making a potential push for a playoff berth that much riskier.
On Friday, John Mozeliak, the team's president of baseball operations, openly questioned whether a shake-up was needed in the organization, though he wouldn't concede Saturday if that has other teams approaching the Cardinals as sellers leading up to July 31.
"They know we are open for business," Mozeliak told the Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold.
Aside from St. Louis' spot in the playoff race this season, the club appears to be in a position to contend moving forward, which could persuade Mozeliak to add to the locked-up core rather than subtract.
Nearly all of the club's biggest names are under team control for the next little while, including catcher Yadier Molina and outfielder Stephen Piscotty, who both inked significant extensions earlier this season.
| Player | Age | FA Year | $ remaining after 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stephen Piscotty | 26 | 2024 | $46.17M |
| Carlos Martinez | 25 | 2024 * | $81M |
| Dexter Fowler | 31 | 2022 | $66M |
| Mike Leake | 29 | 2022 * | $66M |
| Yadier Molina | 35 | 2021 | $60M |
| Matt Carpenter | 31 | 2021 * | $47M |
| Adam Wainwright | 35 | 2019 | $19.5M |
* has buyout clause in final year of contract
(Courtesy: Cot's Contracts)