The next season, Mozeliak was promoted to scouting director and oversaw the drafting of talent such as Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina.

[4] He garnered much attention as a major up-and-coming GM in the industry and interviewed with the Cincinnati Reds and Houston Astros.

[5] On October 3, 2007, chairman of the board of directors Bill DeWitt announced that the Cardinals "had cordially and respectfully" parted ways with Jocketty based on philosophical differences of player development.

Dating back to the year before, tension arose after Jeff Luhnow, later the Astros' GM, was promoted to vice president of amateur scouting and player development.

[8] One of Mozeliak's first major moves was to trade iconic center fielder Jim Edmonds to the San Diego Padres for third baseman David Freese on December 15, 2007.

Although stating regret at first over trading the popular but often-injured Edmonds, Freese later proved to be integral in the Cardinals' 2011 season.

[9] In 2009, Mozeliak acquired slugger Matt Holliday in a trade with the Oakland Athletics and signed him to the richest contract in team history the following January, valued at $116 million.

[17] The positional flux eased with the 2017 ascendance of Paul DeJong, who started a majority of the team's games at SS for five consecutive seasons (2017-2021).

Due to his 2010 results of a .248 batting average with 14 home runs and 58 RBIs in 122 games with the Houston Astros and New York Yankees, opinions circulated that he was too old to continue to produce at his former levels.

Early the next season, hitting coach Mark McGwire corrected a flaw in Berkman's swing that had been introduced by leg injuries and he responded with a .301 batting average, 31 home runs and 94 RBIs.

He traded the highly regarded but troubled center fielder Colby Rasmus, relievers Trever Miller, P. J. Walters and Brian Tallet to the Toronto Blue Jays for starter Edwin Jackson, relievers Octavio Dotel and Marc Rzepczynski, outfielder Corey Patterson and three players to be named or cash.

[21][22] Still 10.5 games short of the wild card berth after 130 games on August 25, the Cardinals ended the season on a 22-9 run while capitalizing on the Atlanta Braves' collapse to avoid elimination on the season's final day, capping one of Major League Baseball's epic regular-season comebacks.

[23] Dotel and Rzepczynski proved to factor significantly in making up the 10.5 games as they helped stabilize questionable bullpen performance.

[27] Berkman became the second batter to tie the game on the team's final strike in the ninth inning or later with a two-run single in the tenth.

[28] Berkman and Freese became just the third and fourth hitters in World Series history to knock game-tying hits where the alternative was elimination.

"[28][30] Following the 2011 World Series, the Cardinals found themselves in the position of having to negotiate to re-sign iconic first baseman Albert Pujols when he filed for free agency on December 1.

'"[31] Even so, Pujols' performance decline started before he became a free agent: in 2012, he finished in career lows in multiple categories, and in 2013, plantar fasciitis cut his season short.

[36] Since then, Mozeliak's decision to let Pujols walk has paid off, as with the money he saved by not signing him, he extended ace Adam Wainwright and star catcher Yadier Molina.

After making it to the 2013 World Series only to lose to the Boston Red Sox, the Cardinals addressed weaknesses the following offseason at shortstop and center field.

Fellow players such as Brad Ziegler of the Arizona Diamondbacks publicly complained that the 50-game suspension was not enough of a deterrent, because it appeared to fail to prevent players who violated the collective bargaining agreement's banned substances use policy to receive compensation for their performances equal to those who had not been found to violate the policy.

The year prior, he led the major leagues in hits, runs scored, and doubles while batting .318 and becoming a regular at a position he had yet to play as professional.

[53] The matter wasn't adjudicated until January 30, 2017 when Commissioner Rob Manfred ruled that the Cardinals forfeit its top two selections in that year's MLB Draft (numbers 56 and 75 in the second and competitive balance round B respectively) and $2 million in damages to the Astros.

[56] After a three-year absence from the postseason, the Cards won the NL Central in 2019 and defeated the Atlanta Braves in a five game NLDS.

In 2020, the Cardinals would only end up playing 58 total games due to COVID-19 pandemic that had reached American shores in late January.

[10] Eight days later, the Cardinals dismissed Mike Shildt, who had been manager since 2018, and elevated bench coach Oliver Marmol in his place.

Throughout the year the team had several individual successes and milestones, which most notably included Albert Pujols' 700th career homerun in a 11–0 victory vs. the Dodgers in Los Angeles on September 23.

[14] On September 14, Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina made their MLB-record 325th start as battery mates, breaking the record previously held by the Detroit Tigers pair of Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan.