Cardinals' Mozeliak, Marmol to return in 2025 amid 'directional shift'

St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak and manager Oliver Marmol will be back next season despite restructuring within the club's front office, Mozeliak confirmed Sunday, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Mozeliak said the Cardinals are planning a "directional shift" across the organization that'll focus on investing in player development, technology, increasing staff, and a larger role for executive Chaim Bloom following a second straight underwhelming season that ended without a playoff appearance.

"We're shifting to a heavy emphasis that puts it back on scouting and player development," Mozeliak said. "I would say that over the past 10 years or so, we've run a lean operation, and part of that was to allow us to maximize success at the major-league level.

"But over time, you learn that (the) machine can wear down. It's just not producing at the level it once did. That's not to say our minor leagues are in disarray. But an emphasis on infrastructure is something we have been taking a very serious look at."

Mozeliak added: "It's obviously going to be a shift in philosophy. Instead of looking for short-term answers, we're going to try to take more of a long view."

The Cardinals' minor-league system ranked in the bottom third among MLB teams over the last two years.

Mozeliak, who's said in the past that 2025 would be the final year in his current role, added that Bloom will be included in major-league decisions and player development moving forward after the latter spent the past year examining the organization.

"He'll have a more impactful role," the 55-year-old Mozeliak said when asked about the former Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer. "His voice on the decision tree is going up. He's no longer observing. It's about helping implement a plan."

Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. will discuss the looming organizational changes at a press conference at Busch Stadium on Monday afternoon.