It’s been another disappointing season for the Cardinals and their fans — one that has manifested in manners not previously seen at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals announced over the weekend that the season-long attendance clocked in at 2.8 million fans. As Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat points out, that marks the first time since Busch Stadium III opened in 2006 that the Cards have sold fewer than three million tickets in a season.
Jones adds that the Cardinals are expected to host an end-of-season press conference as soon as next Monday, writing that “staffing changes which stretch from the front office to the dugout” are “likely” to be announced. There’s no firm indication yet that president of baseball operations John Mozeliak, general manager Mike Girsch or manager Oli Marmol are on the chopping block, but there’s been ample speculation regarding Mozeliak’s future recently. He’s signed through the 2025 season. Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch opines that it’s time for chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. to make a change and move on from Mozeliak — the longest-tenured baseball ops leader in the NL (and second-longest in the sport, behind Yankees GM Brian Cashman).
USA Today’s Bob Nightengale suggested last week that former Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, whom the Cardinals hired as a senior adviser this past offseason, would have a larger role in baseball operations next year and could even overtake the top spot on the baseball operations hierarchy. Hochman suggests a similar outcome, calling Bloom a natural successor to Mozeliak.
As rumblings of changes up the ladder mount, there are players in the clubhouse hoping for some continuity. Right-hander Kyle Gibson tells the Post-Dispatch’s Derrick Goold that he hopes the Cardinals pick up his $12MM option for the 2025 season rather than pay the $1MM buyout and send him back to free agency. Gibson could command similar or perhaps even greater earnings on the open market after a season in which he’s pitched 165 2/3 innings of 4.13 ERA ball with a 20.8% strikeout rate, 9.3% walk rate and 44.8% grounder rate. However, Gibson is a Missouri native who starred for the University of Missouri in college and makes his offseason home in the St. Louis area.
Goold lays out that Gibson has not only performed well on the field but taken up a key leadership role in the clubhouse. He’s rarely missed bullpen sessions for young pitchers and has been a mentor for Matthew Liberatore, Andre Pallante and others. The catching corps has cited Gibson as a huge part of the team’s game-planning, even for games he’s not pitching. Readers can check out Goold’s piece for a fascinating self-analysis from Gibson on a mistake he made to Jose Ramirez in his most recent appearance. The breakdown makes it easy to quickly glean the thoughtful approach Gibson takes to his opponents and see how his experience could benefit those around him — particularly younger pitchers and catchers.
The Cardinals have Sonny Gray, Miles Mikolas, Steven Matz and Erick Fedde all signed through next season. Gibson and fellow righty Lance Lynn have 2025 club options on their contracts. Of the two, Gibson seems likelier to have his option exercised. Keeping Gray, Mikolas, Gibson, Fedde and Matz would give the Cards a veteran quintet on which to lean. In-house names like Pallante, Michael McGreevy, Quinn Mathews and Sem Robberse (among others) would be waiting in the wings should injuries or continued struggles from Mikolas and/or Matz prompt changes.
Like Gibson, righty Andrew Kittredge is open to a St. Louis reunion. The 34-year-old setup man is a pure free agent and doesn’t have an option on his contract, but he tells Goold he would “definitely” be interested in coming back. Though the team’s results haven’t been what the clubhouse hoped, it’s not for any lack of effort in the clubhouse, Kittredge says: “I don’t have anything negative to say about any player in this clubhouse. Everyone comes to play every day, and I like to be a part of teams like that.”
The Cards reportedly plan to approach Kittredge about a re-signing him. The right-hander set a Cardinals franchise record when he secured his 36th hold of the season recently. He’s posted a terrific 2.93 ERA with sharp strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates of 23.2%, 7.2% and 44.4%, respectively. He’s not throwing quite as hard as he did prior to undergoing Tommy John surgery with the Rays, but Kittredge’s 94.7 mph average sinker still has plenty of life, even if it’s down nearly a mile per hour from peak levels.
Old York
Chaim Bloom is secretly sizing up John Mozeliak’s office for a decor makeover, just in case the Cardinals decide to give him the top job. Rumor has it, he’s already been spotted eyeing the perfect spot for his vintage baseball card collection!
Remember, MLBTR, to note that I was first to report the news!
MLB Top 100 Commenter
Seems like Gray, Fedde and Pallante are the top of the rotation. Lynn should be sent packing.
Very Barry
Lance Lynn knows if he sets foot in the White Sox clubhouse again ….. He will leave on a stretcher. Lance Lynn has a big mouth, but no longer has the pitching skills to match.
Old York
@MLB Top 100 Commenter
Lance Lynn for president.
MLB Top 100 Commenter
@Old York
President of Golden Corral maybe
stanton100
“Vintage baseball card collection…..” and his BLM flag.
mlb fan
The St. Louis Cardinals have long been known for their on-field consistency and extremely supportive and enthusiastic fanbase. But when that “consistency” turns into mediocrity, it’s time for substantial changes.
JoeBrady
Meh. Before the last two years, the Cards averaged 90 wins since 1999. Two years of mediocrity is kind of meaningless.
Blackpink in the area
As recently as 2022 the team looked terrific. I do think it’s time for Mozeliak to step down but the situation isn’t as bad as people are making it out to be. Cardinals fans expectations are higher that’s the issue.
Manfred Rob's Earth Band
As they should be. It’s quite the disappointment for Cards fans to deal with the last 2 years. I’m curious on why they should keep Mozeliak at this point?
Bo Hart's Biggest Fan
The alternative could certainly turn out to be worse.
That said, I’m willing to take the chance. Flags fly forever.
helloelan
Thanks ChatGPT!
SewaldSwansonSwoon
Gibby is one of baseball’s true good guys.
BigV
I hope they bring him back
FemboySportsFan!
He needs to start mentoring liberatore more it seems.
Very Barry
I’ve been telling ya’ll for awhile now that the Cardinals are in desperate need of a FULL rebuild. Gonna be a painful rebuild.. Not much by way of “assets” that anybody wants. The rebuild must be done! Prospect development has been abysmal lately. Lots of highly touted duds. No studs. Sad to see the fans just stop showing up to see Cardinals baseball.
I am nice and comfy right now with the White Sox. We didn’t lie to ourselves about where the franchise was, and went full rebuild. We maximized getting a return on our assets and still have an absolute haul coming for Garrett Crochet. #roadto2026wildcard
stoll79
It appears to me there is an organizational development problem. Prospect studs can’t make the transition to MLB. Recent trades have shown what other organizations can do with that talent. This is a deep issue that is going to take some time unfortunately.
RobblyDobs
In short, wrong
But impressed that you’re happy with where the Sox are. I guess if you have no expectations, its hard to be disappointed even by the pile of excrement served up to Sox fans year after year.
(By the way thats a genuine compliment. Real fans follow their club through thick and thin like you do.)
Very Barry
Plenty of expectations for the White Sox. I have the White Sox playing in a 2026 Wild Card game. Winning games in the MLB has nothing to do with the size $$$ of the checks you write. Tampa and Milwaukee have proven that. Yankees and Dodgers $$$$ only buy early round playoff exits.
Best time to buy free agents is digging around in the dumpster for the guys pissed off they didn’t get the contract they wanted. They come in hungry for stats. They leave happily at the trade deadline to a contender who wouldn’t sign them, now needs them. We got plenty of pitching on the way. We can buy some bats. We can trade for some bats from teams that enter rebuild mode. We got a full White Sox budget to work with.
Blackouts are racist
Gibson is a native of Greenfield, IN. He pitched at Missouri. But he’s a Hoosier.
BigV
Bring him back
bpskelly
Correct. I think his wife is from St. Louis — they met at Mizzou.
Bounty Hunters IA
Terrible franchise in decline as I have said for the last couple years. Old and long past their prime “stars”, empty farm system after the top 3-4, bleak future. Couldn’t happen to a better franchise. Enjoy the cellar the next 5-6 years, right where they belong
Ronk325
Chaim Bloom is perfectly fine as a top lieutenant but he should never be the top guy in a front office again. He’s good at stockpiling prospects but atrocious at roster building
Slider_withcheese
You know it’s bad when you have Contreras and Arenado both calling out the front office publicly.
Jrnomo100
They will trade conteras
Reynaldo's
What is “Busch Stadium III”? Is there a Busch Stadium Sr and Jr somewhere?
Bo Hart's Biggest Fan
There are Busch 1 and 2, yes. They’ve had three stadiums over the years and all of them were named Busch Stadium.
laynestaley2002
Yes. Google is your friend, kiddo.