The Cardinals are set to hold a press conference early next week, and it’s already been reported that there will be some notable organizational changes announced at that time. Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat suggested as much earlier this week, and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported a couple weeks back that former Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, hired as an adviser last winter, could see his role expand. That’ll indeed be the case, and Katie Woo of The Athletic now further details that Bloom will be tasked with hiring a new director of player development and overhauling that department.
It’s not fully clear what title Bloom will hold, but Woo spoke with multiple Cardinals staffers about the manner in which their player development system — once the gold standard in the sport — has become antiquated and been neglected over time. Cardinals employees who spoke to Woo for a simultaneously fascinating and damning overview of the organization suggest the club is lacking in coordinators, minor league coaches, technology and other resources, leaving players unprepared to make the jump to the majors.
That’s created a vicious cycle, forcing president of baseball operations John Mozeliak to spend more in free agency to offset the lack of homegrown contributors. In doing so, he’s increasingly had to allocate his baseball operations budget to the big league roster at the expense of player development. It’s become a self-fulfilling prophecy in many ways. Readers (especially Cardinals fans) are encouraged to check out Woo’s piece in full for an exhaustive breakdown of how the Cardinals’ once unparalleled development practices have faltered and failed to position touted prospects like Jordan Walker, Nolan Gorman, Matthew Liberatore, Dylan Carlson and others for big league success.
From an even bigger-picture standpoint, the matter of Mozeliak’s future with the club has also been thrust into the spotlight. He’s signed through 2025 and has suggested previously that he’s likely to step down after that contract. MLB.com’s John Denton reports that it’s at least possible Mozeliak steps aside or transitions to a different role sooner than the end of his contract, however. Changes on the coaching front are expected too, as Jones reported earlier this week. Woo writes that manager Oli Marmol is expected to remain in place but points out that hitting coaches Turner Ward and Brandon Allen, game-planning coach Packy Elkins, first base coach Stubby Clapp and assistant pitching coach Julio Rangel are all signed only through the current season.
The full scope of the looming changes likely won’t be ascertainable until the Cardinals host their press conference Monday. What’s increasingly clear is that ownership and the majority of the baseball operations and player development staff recognize that changes are needed. Whether that results in a rebuilding effort of any magnitude isn’t yet clear. Woo reports that the Cardinals do not intend to go into a tanking-style rebuild but also plan to shift more focus on building up the player development staff and strengthening the minor league system.
Marmol, for his part, isn’t speaking like a manager who expects a pronounced step back. The recent focus on getting to 82 wins to avoid the first back-to-back losing seasons the Cardinals have endured in six decades hasn’t sat well with him, he tells Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “It’s not a goal of mine when I go into a season to only finish above .500, if I’m being quite honest,” says Marmol. “I understand not wanting to have back-to-back losing seasons. We have aspirations for a lot more than that, and we have to build toward it, bottom line.”
Goold joins the rest of the Cards beat in reporting that large-scale changes are indeed expected Monday at a press conference where the team’s “next direction” will be among the topics. The Cardinals face several pivotal decisions, many of them on aging veterans. They hold $12MM club options over starters Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn — both coming with a $1MM buyout. Paul Goldschmidt is a free agent, though there’s been talk of a potential reunion. Veteran reliever Andrew Kittredge is also a free agent, and the Cards have some interest in re-signing him. The 2025 season is closer Ryan Helsley’s final year of club control. Prospects like Walker and Gorman aren’t necessarily at a crossroads but have also failed to cement themselves in the team’s plans. Both were optioned to the minors this season, though both have at least one option year remaining beyond the current season (two, in Gorman’s case).
Monday’s press conference should shed light on how some of those vital organizational decisions will play out. The broad takeaway, for now, is that simply maintaining the status quo no longer feels tenable.
Thefrogsaregey
Cue the red Sox spoiled fans crying
Fever Pitch Guy
gey – if you think any Sox fans are crying because Bloom works for another team, you really are incredibly clueless.
deweybelongsinthehall
Fever, while I’m not shedding tears, I think he was hamstrung by Henry, et al. Not every move works out and while I wish he drafted pitching, he left the team with young talent that Breslow has to now decide on. A true baseball leader makes better decisions on who to build around and who to trade.
Fever Pitch Guy
dewey – Yes …. as is often the case, Bloom’s tenure in Boston was not totally black and white. He made a lot of blunders, but working for John Henry meant many obstacles …. that’s why Dombrowski left.
Poolhalljunkies
Dombrowski was fired
Unclemike1525
Dewey- If that’s true Jed Hoyer should be gone any day now.
Oldguy58
Red Sox fans are crying for other reasons
Salvi
Red Sox farm is stacked with prospects, Bloom is very good at development. Look at what he’s done in both in Tampa and Boston. He just needs to draft/develop more pitchers to have a more balanced minor leagues.
Ignore FPG, hes a troll. And amazingly he has 3 upvotes within 2 mins, everytime he posts.
johnsilver
—Ignore FPG, hes a troll. And amazingly he has 3 upvotes within 2 mins, everytime he posts–
Because that user generally has a good idea what is going on RS wise and a LOT of so called RS fans are what I term ‘fly by night”, changing with the wind opinion wise.
Salvi
Within 2 mins, everytime. Lol. Borderline cult he has there.
According to him Cora is a terrible manager and Bloom is a terrible GM. How do I know this, he’s said it 10,000 times over the past 4 years. Yet, they both have had plenty of job opportunities throughout the league. Someone is wrong, I’m siding with people in the industry instead of an angry fan. But thats just me.
acell10
Silver: FPG’s next good idea of what’s going on with the red six will be his first.
letitbelowenstein
Salvi, yes. He upvotes himself and probably has at least two other accounts.
Joemo
Crying for what? I’m glad hes no longer ruining my favorite team.
Bart Harley Jarvis
I believe Bloom’s first big move is defenestrating Mozeliak.
gojira15
If the window is too high, that’s murder.
Bart Harley Jarvis
With your point being?
gojira15
No kidding about maintaining status quo. This org has clearly been stuck in the middle with no direction for years now. And that’s the worst place to be.
steven st croix
Bloom can hire Chris Correa
sad tormented neglected mariners fan
lol
Old York
Told you so: mlbtraderumors.com/2024/09/cardinals-rumors-front-…
Fever Pitch Guy
Old – You told us more than 8 months after everyone else already knew.
Bloom getting promoted was about as surprising as any Tyler O’Neill strikeout.
mlbtraderumors.com/2024/01/cardinals-to-hire-chaim…
Old York
@Fever Pitch Guy
That was hiring him to an Advisory Role.
As for the comparison, most ball players strikeout. Our baseball culture puts more value if big swings over contact. I’m not sure why you picked O’Neal, specifically.
Fever Pitch Guy
Old – Didn’t think I needed to make myself more clear on both points.
Virtually everyone expected Bloom to eventually have a larger role, most likely replacing Moz. Nobody expected him to stay an advisor for a long time, or leave the organization in a short time.
O’Neill played for the Cardinals before this season.
Old York
@Fever Pitch Guy
But you didn’t make the case that it was expected.
dirtyjog
Congrats
CardsFan57
That’s a lot of words to say we won’t know anything until after the Monday press conference.
Rsox
Mozeliak probably gets fired and Bloom becomes PoBO because its sounds like he’ll be essentially doing that anyway. Best case scenario is Bloom makes it a two-fer and sends Marmol with him
Fever Pitch Guy
Rsox – And then with Marmol gone, O’Neill returns to the one place where he’s wanted by fans.
eatonculo
Not even close. We couldn’t wait for O’Neill to leave.
Fever Pitch Guy
eaton – I dunno, he got a pretty good sitting ovation when he returned a few months ago.
bassrun
How about a three-fer? The DeWitt family.
Ben Z.
Been a Cardinals fan my whole life and this is the first time I want them to clean house. Mo, Oli, assistants, everyone. Complete restructuring of the organization. There’s definitely a point at which the way you’ve always done things becomes stale and unproductive. I think we’re there.
mil
I have to agree. Been a Cards fan for 60 years. The Cardinals gave plenty of talent. They need a change in philosophy. This idea of swing hard in case you hit the ball is ridiculous.
cah011381
And stop promoting from within the organization, when the entire organization is clearly broken. Let Bloom bring in his own people from outside and work on fixing the culture and player development.
Fallguy820
Now would be a great time to bring back Jeff Ludenow ( not sure of the spelling ) to be In the front office.
Kash Considerations
Look Bob Nutting, it really is possible to try something else, even the Cards do it.
For Love of the Game
“In doing so, he’s increasingly had to allocate his baseball operations budget to the big league roster at the expense of player development.”
Don’t apologize for Mozeliak! He’s the one who chose to skimp on player development. That’s the cheap part of the business! Signing expensive free agents will overwhelm the savings from underinvesting in player development.
Fever Pitch Guy
Game – Cards haven’t even come close to making it to the WS since they got caught hacking and stealing confidential info from other teams. Just a coincidence?
CardsFan57
Do you mean since the real reason for their success moved to Houston?
mlb fan
“Don’t apologize for Mozeliak”..It’s not like the “Big league roster” is thriving. This is a classic, standard excuse, because “player development” is the most efficient, effective and inexpensive way to acquire players.
Joemo
I’m so sorry Cardinal fans.
Prepare yourself for drafting and developing only LH MI prospects
all in the suit that you wear
Bloom drafted one LH middle infielder in 2021 and one in 2022. That’s it. I think Bloom drafted pretty well in Boston. He got Roman Anthony at pick 79 and Kristian Campbell at pick 132.
The Saber-toothed Superfife
There appears to be an “in” group of names.
These name have never been successful
But…..
They appear to be little darlings.. always, always, always….talked about and supported in the media.
WHY?
NONE OF THEM HAVE DONE THE JOB SATISFACTORY.
THEY MOVE.FROM TEAM TO TEAM AND ARE STILL LITTLE.DARLINGS.
WHY?
Thefrogsaregey
Hamas rally—-)
johnsilver
frogsaregrey- Shame they don’t have a poll here for post of the year.. You’d get my vote for that crown jewel..
CTS4
C’mon Toronto Fire Shatkins…..
mlb fan
Hire someone who can actually assess talent.
davemlaw
I may be talking out of my rear end but didn’t the Cards used to receive an extra pick in the draft for being a “small market” team? And didn’t that extra pick go away 5-7 years ago?
I’m not a Cards fan so don’t follow them closely but it seems losing that extra pick has coincided with their downfall in player development. That and Yadier being gone, which means the team isn’t quite as good.
I’d love to hear more about this from informed Cards fans.
Bucket Number Six
The last extra pick they used on pitcher Tink Hence in 2020. He’s 22, a top 100 prospect and will be in AAA next year.
bpskelly
Im a subscriber, and Katie Woo’s piece is about as encompassing of piece on the state of the franchise — wholly unsurprising to anyone who follows this team — is as on target as it gets. Great work by her.
My personal gut/feel was post Covid the $$$ just went away. I even think they’ve skimped on stuff with the stadium. The irony is they’re floating asking the taxpayers for $$$ for renovations as well.
Not a great look when your skimping on the actual team as well.
cah011381
This whole article was basically a repeat of everything Katie Woo said.
JimOToole
Here’s Katie Woo’s story in a nutshell:
Not including affiliate coaches, special advisors or medical coordinators, the Cardinals have five full-time minor-league instructors, which marks their leanest staffing level in the past decade.
That number becomes even more conspicuous when compared to other teams in the National League. The Phillies boast 14 full-time field staff members. The Mets employ 15 staffers, including coordinators for catching, base running, infield and outfield. The Brewers, winners of the National League Central three times in the past four seasons, retain 17 staffers.
Kyle Pepperpants
Hope they don’t dump Stubby. He’s awesome and I wish he would replace Marmol.
letitbelowenstein
Here’s a thought. With his former ties to Boston, will Bloom consider approaching Varitek about managing the team?
cah011381
I would actually be fine with that.
baseballpun
Player development has been a glaring problem, no question. Though they have some core bats in place (Nootbaar, Donovon, Winn, Burleson and I’m not counting out Walker yet) to build around. They haven’t developed any starting pitchers in forever, which is a huge problem.
Despite all this they’re going to finish the year with a (barely) winning record, and if Goldy and Arenado hadn’t s*** the bed they’d probably be in a WC position. Not great by any means but not a total dumpster fire. I think with the youth on the team already there’s no need for a total tear down. But Goldy needs to be shown the door and they should be open to trading Arenado if he wants out (maybe even Contreras if he wants out, though I hope he stays). I don’t know if they have the assets to get any young pitching but they should explore that. Given how little production they got out of Arenado and Goldy and how much Contreras was hurt, I don’t think the team will be any worse next year without those guys.
Helsley is the interesting piece. If they want to try and compete next year they need to keep him, but he’d certainly be a valuable trade chip.
BaseballisLife
Because Bloom did such an outstanding job developing players when he was with the Red Sox. Makes perfect sense.
Salvi
Spot on.
Baseball America has six Red Sox prospects in their top 100 (Mayer, Anthony, Teel, Campbell, Montgomery, Arias). Something Boston have never done before. Mayer, Anthony, Teel and Campbell were direct results of Bloom’s 3 drafts. There’s also a few more names hovering just outside of that Top 100 as well (Cespedes, Perales, Romero).
BaseballisLife
MLB Pipeline has 5 Red Sox in the top 100 and 3 were Bloom picks or signings. Montgomery was a 2024 pick, after Bloom was fired.
Salvi
“3 were Bloom picks”
Which one do you not think is a not Bloom pick? Mayer, Anthony, Teel or Campbell?
Bloom has done very superb on drafting/developing players. Fault him for trades or FA signings, but developing players he has done excellent in both Tampa and Boston.
Champs64
The article says that the Cardinals have shown some interest in signing free agent Andrew Kittredge. They should have great interest in signing him. He was part of a good bullpen. I hope he returns.
cah011381
I do too. He’s probably a closer candidate next year if they decide to trade Helsley.
30 Parks
I think MLBTR meant “larger role going to take on Chaim Bloom.”
DecaturRagun
Chaim Bloom like Bendix and NG, wouldn’t even be on the MLB map if it wasn’t for that non traditional Roger Beshens Football slider that’s taken over MLB since 2018. Roger is an influence currently with the Dbacks now it may be smart for the Cardinals chaim in any capacity to hire Roger Beshens.
There are constant power struggles teaching this amazing slider through the organizations from the analytic dept to upper management and even connections to the minors,
DecaturRagun
Everyone by now should know Bloom, NG, Bendix are nothing without implementing the Roger Beshens Football Slider. The Cardinals, Mariners, Orioles very late to the party but at least the O’s and M’s understand it very well. There are power struggles from the analytic people to upper management. Roger is an influence with the Dbacks currently and the inept analytic people with the upper management wanted Nelson to ditch the Roger Beshens Football Slider after the Orioles game. Proof that analytics means nothing for developing a pitcher. It can absolutely hinder a pitchers growth and ruin his career.