Cardinals extend contract of GM, option on Matheny

The 44-year-old Mozeliak will now be with the Cardinals through 2016. Matheny, in the second year of a two-year contract, is now guaranteed through next year. Terms were not announced.

"We just wanted to solidify their standing in the organization and keep the continuity of the baseball operations going," chairman William DeWitt said, adding that the vision of the organization is to "win a championship but not at the expense of mortgaging our future."

Mozeliak was named senior vice president and GM in October 2007. Since then, the Cardinals have reached the postseason three times, winning the 2011 World Series and coming within a game last season.

Mozeliak, an 18-year veteran of the Cardinals front office, is credited with acquiring players such as All-Stars Matt Holliday, David Freese, Carlos Beltran, Lance Berkman and Rafael Furcal in his five years as GM. He signed All-Star catcher Yadier Molina to a long-term deal last spring.

"Since taking over in 2007 the results on the field speak for themself," DeWitt said of his GM. "Beyond that we have total alignment on our vision for this organization and that is to compete year in and year out at the major league level and we know the only way to do that consistently is to have a strong player procurement and development program."