ST. LOUIS — Change is coming to the St. Louis Cardinals, according to president of baseball operations John Mozeliak, a sign the underperforming team might deal veterans for prospects ahead of the Aug. 1 trade deadline.
St. Louis started Monday last in the National League Central at 40-53, on track for its first losing record since 2007.
“Usually when you’re having a year like this, it’s more than one thing that went wrong,” Mozeliak said before a game against the Miami Marlins. “I feel like where this club’s at right now, we just know it’s not working intact. We do know we have to make some changes.
“If we can find talent that we think can help emerge in 2024, that’d be great. 2025? I wouldn’t rule that out either. But 2026 seems a long way away.”
“I don’t think this is going to happen overnight,” Mozeliak added. “Change is good if it helps you. We’re not so stubborn or arrogant to say we’re going to keep doing our system and hoping for a better outcome. We understand there’s been a shift and we’re going to try to adjust to it. We’re going to take a hard look at ourselves.”
Among starting pitchers, Miles Mikolas is under contract for 2024. Jack Flaherty and Jordan Montgomery are eligible to become free agents, and Adam Wainwright plans to retire after this season,
“Pitching, pitching and pitching” is the theme of the deadline and during free agency for the Cardinals, Mozeliak said.
“We do like the collection of hitters we have,” he said.
Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, who have no-trade provisions, are likely to stay.
“I don’t have any intentions of trading anybody like them,” Mozeliak said.
St. Louis wants to obtain pitchers who cause “swing and miss.”
“I think the process we have in place can be tweaked,” Mozeliak said. “I don’t think we need to redo it. You are who you are. We’ve been really good defensively and we understood how to shift. Having pitchers put the ball on the ground was something we benefited from.”
St. Louis signed 35-year-old right-hander Ryan Tepera on Monday. The 11-year veteran has a 19-20 record and a 3.59 ERA in 371 major league games, all but one in relief.
Tepera was 2-2 with a 7.27 ERA in 10 relief appearances this season for the Los Angeles Angels, then was released in May. He made nine minor league appearances for the Texas Rangers, then was released Friday.
Left-hander Genesis Cabrera was designated for assignment. The 26-year-old reliever had been with the Cardinals since 2018.
Cabrera was unhappy with his recent use. He went 1-1 with a 5.06 ERA and five holds this season and last pitched in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader against the Washington Nationals. He allowed two runs and three hits while striking out three over one inning.
