ST. LOUIS – For the second straight year, the St. Louis Cardinals sit in last place at the season’s quarter point. Wins have been hard to come by, and there appears to be at least some sense from within that the franchise is at a crossroads.

Cardinals lead executive John Mozeliak, met with boos during the Cardinals home opener, used a conversation about manager Oli Marmol to also reflect on his own standing within the organization.

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After a season-worse seventh straight loss heading into Sunday (since followed up by two wins), Mozeliak offered the following remarks to KMOX’s Tom Ackerman:

“These times are difficult. I still think [Marmol] understands the job. I think he knows how to manage. I think he’s trying to put the right combination of players in, but at some level, you have to have some performance. Yeah, I understand fans are not happy with myself. They’re not happy with Oli. I don’t think anything I say here today is going to change that. So, I think we have to just keep trying to go back and try to get this to work. We understand that if it doesn’t, people are going to be held accountable. And ultimately, that starts with me.”

At the very least, Mozeliak, who’s spent almost three full decades in the Cardinals’ organization and the last 17 years as the team’s lead executive, seems to express the weight of responsibility that comes with his role.

Mozeliak also seems direct in making sense of the team’s struggles and what the consequences could mean for him. It’s a noticeably different evaluation compared to his remarks in an interview with 101 ESPN last month, during which he said, “To say we are not trying to put a winning product out there, I think is rather insulting to someone like myself.”

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Fans have directed their frustrations at Mozeliak for much of the last two seasons, booing him on multiple occasions at Busch Stadium, including this year’s home opener. Some fans have even threatened to boycott Cardinals games until big changes are made, either in staff or team improvement.

Do the comments suggest that Mozeliak or Marmol on the hot seat? That’s hard to say definitively, but results in the next handful of series could ease or build pressure to shake things up. Mozeliak is reportedly expected to join the Cardinals for their series in Los Angeles, which runs through Wednesday.

The Cardinals stand at 17-24 in the 2024 season on the heels of one of their worst records in decades.

NOTE: Video from FOX 2’s TKO segment on Mozeliak in February 2023, slightly outdated, but still tackling some key points presented in this report.

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