ST. LOUIS — One by one, four leaders of the St. Louis Cardinals took their seats at the podium in the media room at Busch Stadium.
Three of the faces were plenty familiar. Chairman Bill DeWitt II, president Bill DeWitt III and president of baseball operations John Mozeliak have been staples in the Cardinals organization for decades. On their left sat Chaim Bloom, the former chief baseball officer for the Boston Red Sox and current special advisor to Mozeliak. Though he has been a member of the Cardinals’ front office for less than 10 months, his influence will soon be instrumental.
After missing the playoffs for the second straight season, the Cardinals could no longer ignore their problems. On Monday during the team’s end-of-season news conference, the four executives addressed their plans to fix things.
“Like many of our fans, we were disappointed with our results the last two seasons,” DeWitt Jr. said. “But our goals remain unchanged: to consistently contend for NL Central titles and playoff appearances, and ultimately win the World Series.
“We have always prided ourselves on drafting and developing our own players. It is clear that we need make significant changes to get back to this model. Our baseball decisions going forward will focus on developing our pipeline of players, giving our young core every opportunity to succeed at the major-league level.”
To recap:
Chaim Bloom will take over as #STLCards president of baseball operations in 2026. He has signed a five-year contract.
John Mozeliak will step down after the 2025 season.
Payroll will go down next season as club redirects to improving player development.
— Katie Woo (@katiejwoo) September 30, 2024
In other words, a lengthy transition period is coming to St. Louis. The organization will completely rehaul what has become a lacking player development system. Mozeliak will oversee the beginning of this process, but will step down from his position after the 2025 season. Bloom will succeed Mozeliak as the Cardinals’ president of baseball operations starting in 2026. For the next 12 months, however, Bloom will be responsible for upgrading the organization’s minor-league system, including adding staffers to all levels and integrating modern technology.
“Ownership has given the green light for us to make real investments across the department now and going forward,” Bloom said.
That starts with hiring a new director of player development, a process Bloom will head. Longtime farm director and assistant general manager Gary LaRocque announced his retirement from the role in 2024, though he will remain a special advisor to the organization in 2025. LaRocque is not the only shakeup coming to the front office. Mozeliak announced Monday that general manager Mike Girsch, who has been with the Cardinals since 2006, has been reassigned as the team’s vice president of special projects. The club does not plan on hiring a new general manager until 2026. Mozeliak will absorb the general manager responsibilities until the end of his tenure.
The Cardinals will also see the groundbreaking of their upgraded spring training complex in Jupiter, Fla., which is expected to begin in April 2025.
What was also made clear Monday, by ownership and by Mozeliak, was how this transition period would impact the major-league club. Payroll is expected to go down in 2025, Mozeliak said, as the organization redirects its focus to its young core of players.
“The good news is that we have a strong group of young players, and we will continue to push for ways to get better in the short term,” DeWitt Jr. said. “The number one priority will be to lay the foundation for a sustained period of competitive excellence in the years ahead.”
What that means for the current veterans will become more clear after the postseason. The Cardinals have already informed Paul Goldschmidt he will not be re-signed. The club has options for 2025 with Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson. St. Louis could also be inclined to move Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras, though all have full no-trade clauses. Ryan Helsley is coming off a dominant year of relief pitching entering his final year of arbitration. He also could be on the market to be traded.
It will be Mozeliak, not Bloom, who makes these decisions over the offseason. He’ll also work with manager Oli Marmol, who will return in 2025, regarding any impending coaching changes, something Mozeliak indicated could take place over the next few days.
It will also be Mozeliak, not Bloom, in charge of next year’s roster. The organization believes that using 2025 as a transition year will allow for a more seamless changeover when Bloom eventually takes over.
“It’s a multi-year strategy, a focus on player procurement and development,” Mozeliak said. “It’s a long-term investment in the organization’s future.”
“It’s not a Band-Aid solution,” he added. “And this is not an excuse. Focus on the word ‘change.’ We need to make changes to realize our ultimate goal. The groundwork for these changes has already been laid. The excitement to get back to winning, to getting back to October is real, but we all understand this will take time.”
John Mozeliak: “We want to put a lot of time, energy and money into being on that innovative side of maximzing player performance. … We know we can find better ways to do things, and that’s ultimately our goal.” #STLCards pic.twitter.com/lRtFpvz4nu
— Bally Sports Midwest (@BallySportsMW) September 30, 2024
The first step of this multi-year process is to get the Cardinals back to where they once thrived: consistently developing homegrown talent. Bloom, who is credited for modernizing the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox player development departments, will dive in immediately. He will look to increase the number of player development coaches and instructors, including in Latin America. He’ll also add updated technology to help with advanced analytics, and people who understand how to deploy such technology.
“The competition in this area of our industry has been absolutely relentless over the past decade,” Bloom said. “It takes boldness and humility to get on top and to stay there, and if you stand still and you rest on our laurels even for a moment, you get beaten.”
The Cardinals learned that lesson the hard way. Though DeWitt Jr. pushed back on the notion that concerns over player development had been raised and ignored for years, he did acknowledge the Cardinals had fallen behind in the area that they once championed.
“We’ve had success in (our) model, but things move and change,” DeWitt Jr. said. “As Chaim said, if you don’t keep up, you’re going to fall behind. This is a matter of catching up to a degree and building to a degree.”
Now the Cardinals are forced to deploy what was once unfathomable in St. Louis: a rebuild. Mozeliak was careful not to describe this transition period as such, terming the organization’s direction as a “reset,” but the sentiment is clear. Winning in the big leagues will be secondary in 2025, and likely 2026.
“There is a lot of work ahead of us,” Bloom said. “These days, given the competition, the bar for excellence in this area keeps getting higher. But the St. Louis Cardinals at our best are the organization that sets the bar from everyone else, and we can be again.
“I’m excited for the challenge.”
(Photo of John Mozeliak from 2023: Vishwanat / Getty Images)
