John “Mo” Mozeliak was named President of Baseball Operations on June 30, 2017, the first to be named to that position in franchise history. Mozeliak had served as the team’s Senior Vice President and General Manager for almost 10 full seasons, since October, 2007. He was the 12th general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, and had previously held the position of Assistant General Manager for six seasons. His contract runs through the 2025 season.
Under Mozeliak, the Cardinals have reached the postseason 10 times (2009, 2011-2015, 2019-2022), including a franchise record of five-straight seasons from 2011-15. During that run, the Cardinals won three-straight National League Central Division titles (2013-2015), and have won six N.L. Central Titles overall (also 2009, 2019, and 2022) under Mo’s leadership. The five-year postseason run began with St. Louis’ 11th World Championship in 2011.
The 2022 season was the Cardinals 15th-consecutive winning season, a streak that began when Mozeliak was named General Manager prior to the 2008 season. The Cardinals 1,289 wins in those 15 seasons under Mozeliak’s watch are third only to the Los Angeles Dodgers (1,358) and New York Yankees (1,337), while they and the Yankees are the only teams to have posted 15 consecutive winning seasons in that time period.
A consistent culture of retaining key players has resulted in several significant deals aimed at keeping the organization’s top talent in St. Louis. Since 2012, the club has worked out multi-year deals with Yadier Molina (2012 & 2017), Adam Wainwright (2013), Matt Carpenter (2014), Carlos Martinez (2017), Paul DeJong (2018), Miles Mikolas (2019), Paul Goldschmidt (2019), and Nolan Arenado (2021).
Mozeliak engineered a series of late season moves in 2011 that transformed the Cardinals and saw the team go from 10 ½ games back in late August to winning the franchise’s 11th World Championship. Baseball America named the Cardinals the 2011 Organization of the Year, the first time the franchise had received the honor. Mo was the 2011 recipient of the MLB.com GIBBY (Greatness in Baseball Yearly) Executive of the Year award and he was named, along with Tony La Russa, as the 2011 Baseball Man of the Year by the St. Louis Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America.
In 2012, the Cardinals fell just one win shy of capturing the N.L. Championship, and with the team’s success, Mo was honored by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum with the Andrew “Rube” Foster Award as Executive of the Year. The 2013 team won the National League Championship and returned to the World Series just two years removed from winning the World Series title in 2011. Following that season, the organization was recognized by Baseball America as the Organization of the Year – the second such honor in three years – and was honored by USA Today Sports as having the best franchise among Major League baseball teams. The 2014 team captured the Central Division title for a second-straight season and returned to the National League Championship Series for a fourth-straight year. St. Louis led all Major League Baseball teams in wins and reached the postseason for a fifth-straight season in 2015, the ninth time in franchise history a Cardinals team had won 100 games.
Mozeliak, 54, is a 28-year veteran of the Cardinals front office, having joined the organization following the 1995 season where he initially served as an assistant in scouting operations during both the 1996 and 1997 seasons. Mo was named assistant scouting director in 1998 and was promoted to scouting director during 1999 and 2000. Several notable players came out of the draft classes of 1999 and 2000 under Mo’s direction, most notably first baseman and perennial All-Star Albert Pujols who was drafted in the 13th round of the 1999 draft, as well as catcher Yadier Molina.
In 2001, Mozeliak was named Director of Baseball Operations and was promoted to Assistant General Manager in 2003. During his time as Assistant GM, Mo’s duties increased as he focused more on the Major League Club and professional scouting, while still having direct involvement in both the scouting and player development departments.
Mozeliak began his career in baseball in 1993 with the Colorado Rockies where he worked in a variety of positions in baseball operations. He attended the University of Arizona and the University of Colorado. He currently serves as the National Trustee for the Foundation Fighting Blindness. Mozeliak lives in St. Louis with his wife, Julie, daughter, Allyson, and son, Will.
