Six years and no more than a few hundred feet removed from where the McCain/Palin presidential campaign held its coda in 2008, Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak met with representatives of this month’s paradigm-shifting pitcher.
Baseball’s general managers meetings in November 2014 brought executives from all 30 clubs to the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, and where there are suits there are agents. Mozeliak arrived for the meetings still reeling personally and rethinking professionally as a result of Oscar Taveras' sudden death the week before. His team needed a right fielder. His team needed a reliever.