John Mozeliak speaks to reporters after it was announced the club had given the GM a  three-year extension.  UPI/Bill Greenblatt

John Mozeliak speaks to reporters after it was announced the club had given the GM a three-year extension. UPI/Bill Greenblatt

St. Louis Cardinals General Manager John Mozeliak received a three year contract extension and now fans will be wanting Mozeliak to get to work on fixing a broken roster as the team battles with Cincinnati in the second half of the season.

Mozeliak has been GM since 2007.  He was criticized a bit in 2008 when he was inactive around the trade deadline in 2008 when the Cardinals trailed the Cubs by just five games at the end of July. St. Louis finished that season 10 games over .500 but 11.5 games out of first place. Last year, Mozeliak, who started in the Colorado organization was familiar with Matt Holliday and pulled a deal to get the left fielder in St. Louis and the Cardinals took off upon his arrival.

Now, with six players on the disabled list and the minor league system depleted because of call-up and the need for their help on the big league club, it will be a challenge to see if Mozeliak can pull something off for the final two months of the season. He has the payroll, not sure he has much to offer other teams. I still think it would be nice to get one more starting pitcher.

Carpenter and Wainwright will be solid, but the Cardinals need to hope Jaime Garcia can continue to pitch well and with Brad Penny and Kyle Lohse out of the rotation, another starter would bring some relief to the bullpen. Arms will be needed in late August and early September before we can even think about October.