Mozeliak talks Cards' roster shuffle, offensive struggles

ST. LOUIS -- Stressing that the slumping Cardinals have not “played up to our expectations” and that the season so far is “definitely not what we’ve envisioned,” president of baseball operations John Mozeliak shuffled his team’s roster again on Tuesday by releasing veteran infielder Brandon Crawford and swapping prized prospect Jordan Walker for Minor League slugger Luken Baker.

The Cardinals dug their way out of a 15-24 start with a 50-game stretch when they went a National League-best 32-18. However, they limped into Tuesday’s series opener against the rival Brewers a season-worst 11 games back in the division chase. Also, the Cardinals entered the night five games back of the final Wild Card spot in the NL.

Much of the blame for the struggles, Mozeliak said, is an offense that is 24th in MLB in runs scored, 21st in home runs and 19th in OPS. Cardinals cornerstones Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado have seen their power production sink to career-low levels, while key young pieces such as Nolan Gorman and Walker have failed to meet the lofty expectations the club had for them.

The offensive struggles come on the heels of the Cardinals spending most of their time and financial resources on addressing their starting pitching and retooling their bullpen. The everyday lineup has changed little from last season, but it has failed to reach the levels of production that the front office counted on.

“That part has been frustrating, no doubt about it,” Mozeliak said of a slumping offense that has played a major role in the Cardinals coming into Tuesday with a minus-62 run differential on the season. “It just shows you that when you think you have something figured out, you probably still need to address that. Clearly, we’ve got to try to take these next six weeks and hopefully, we can get hot and surprise a few people.”

As it specifically relates to Gorman, the 24-year-old slugger who hasn’t homered in 14 games and has struck out 148 times in 106 games, Mozeliak said: “Obviously, it’s a game of production up here and at some point, you’ve got to consistently produce, or we have to find someone who can. I mean, that’s what it ultimately comes down to, and these are hard messages to hear. It can be frustrating, but this is what ends up defining you.

“With our offensive struggles this year, I think you can strictly look at the inability for consistent performance, day in and day out.”

Mozeliak defended the Cardinals’ decision to promote the 6-foot-6, 250-pound Walker on Aug. 12 and then use him only against left-handed pitchers, noting that the club was merely “trying to find something to light a fire for us, and at the time, we were hoping that it might be him.”

Walker, 22, was the organization’s top prospect prior to making his MLB debut in 2023 and registering a hit in his first 12 MLB games. However, Walker was demoted to Triple-A Memphis each of the past two seasons, and he’s headed back there again after going 1-for-11 with a walk and three strikeouts in four August games. Mozeliak said that while Walker has made significant progress as a defender in the outfield, he thinks the No. 21 overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft will need to make some hitting adjustments so that he can stick at the big league level.

“The way I look at Jordan Walker, last offseason he went down and focused on his defense, and he came back and he’s played himself into an average defender, if not slightly better,” said Mozeliak, who promoted Baker, who had 32 homers for Memphis this season. “This offseason, he’s going to have to focus on his approach and his swing. We still believe he’s going to be an enormous talent in this league.”

Mozeliak predicted that other roster changes could be coming, especially with left-hander Steven Matz and right-hander Lance Lynn nearing returns to the regular rotation. While the club could entertain a six-man rotation, the ability to get back into contention will likely come down to the struggling offense turning things around, Mozeliak said.

“There are a lot of demands on our roster right now and we are going to see some changes over the course of the next few weeks, and we also wanted to have the ability to start to take a look at some players before this season wraps up,” he said.

“I just don’t think we’ve played up to our expectations, as far as how we plan. We’re trying to mix and match and figure out how we can get someone hot. Ultimately, that’s all we can do at this point. But it’s definitely not what we’ve envisioned.”