Jordan Walker announce unexpected retirement

The St. Louis Cardinals won’t have a quiet offseason, though their winter may surprise a lot of fans. The Cardinals aren’t expected to contend in 2025, and they know that. As a result, the front office is willing to sell of aging assets, such as Nolan Arenado. The Cards have already noted that Paul Goldschmidt will likely sign elsewhere.

St. Louis is a team in transition, quite literally. John Mozeliak will leave after the 2025 season and make way for Chaim Bloom. Heck, Bloom already has a say in the moves the Cardinals are making this winter, and rightly so.

However, given Walker is part of the future of the organization, his own comments about Mozeliak – and the lack of help he received along the way from management – are alarming.

“Talking to teammates and also just self-evaluation,” Walker said. “That’s just really what it has been, also just talking to teammates and getting an outside view. Whether it’s Masyn (Winn) or (Thomas Saggese) or (Mike Antico) from the minors, (Nolan) Gorman. Just talking to them and seeing what they see. Getting an opinion from others.”

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Oli Marmol and John Mozeliak get a say in Jordan Walker’s development
Manager Oli Marmol, who for some reason still has a say in Walker’s development, believes the 22-year-old is on the right track.

“We’re not there yet, but he is taking steps in that direction,” Marmol said. “The homers are awesome, but him spitting on a 1-2 slider and being able to hold that position a little earlier or you can just tell he’s recognizing it a little earlier than usual — that’s also important.”

The homers are awesome. What excellent analysis!

Cardinals most recent hire won’t help matters with Jordan Walker
Perhaps most concerning was the Cardinals hire of Brant Brown, who led one of the worst lineups in baseball with the Seattle Mariners. He was fired form that gig, of course, and spent the 2023 season with the Miami Marlins.

“That was very important, someone that can relate to younger players and speak their language,” Mozeliak said. “No. 2, we also wanted somebody that had a larger breadth, if you will, in what they teach or how they teach.”

If you say so! Walker could have enough talent to break out on his own. Who knows? Maybe Brown will connect with the young Cardinals, providing them more guidance along the way. Knowing this front office, though, I would bet on the latter.