You start the conversation with John Mozeliak, the Cardinals' president of baseball ops, this way: "Two out in the Wild Card all of a sudden. Five behind the Cubs."
Mozeliak said, "Looking more at the two. It's not like you can't find a way to make up five between here and October. But it's hard."
The hard part for Mozeliak in the Summer of 2018 came a month or so ago, when he decided to fire his manager, Mike Matheny. The last time someone other than Tony La Russa or Matheny had managed the Cardinals was Mike Jorgensen in 1995, after Jorgensen had replaced .