By Rob Rains
In his first public comments after becoming the Cardinals’ president of baseball operations, Chaim Bloom had a clear and simple message.
“We are not where we want to be. We are not where we need to be. We are not where our fans expect us to be, and we are not where we expect ourselves to be,” Bloom said on Tuesday.
“Our goal is to field a team every year that can compete for this division and for a World Series championship.”
Bloom officially took over his new role on Tuesday and outlined during his introductory news conference that the organization will take a “long-term” approach moving forward.
The Cardinals just completed their third consecutive year without qualifying for the postseason, and for the second time in the last three years finished with a losing record. The team has gone 12 years since it last played in the World Series, and has won only one postseason game since 2020.
Bloom has spent the last two years working for the Cardinals, primarily in player development, as he prepared to take over for the retiring John Mozeliak. Having that opportunity has given him a chance to get to know people in the organization, and observe the talent at the major-league level and in the minors, which he believes leaves him better positioned to make the decisions that will be coming in the next few months.
Bloom said that manager Oli Marmol will return next season but left open the possibility that there could be changes to the field staff of the major-league club, saying they have to “sort out” that process.
He also said the organization expects to make more additions to the player development and performance staff, but it seems likely the biggest decisions Bloom will have to make will be addressing the major-league roster.
The team is expected to pursue trades for both Nolan Arenado and Sonny Gray, despite their no-trade contracts, and perhaps first baseman Willson Contreras as well. Of the three, Contreras has expressed the greatest desire to stay.
Those won’t be the only players whose names will come up in trade discussions, however.
“We have talent here, we have more talent coming,” Bloom said. “We have the makings of that core, but we need more. Our top priority will be to build our talent base for the long term.
“That may mean hard decisions and short-term sacrifices, but to get where we want to go we can’t take short cuts and we won’t. We will always want to win and we will hunt moves and decisions that allow us to do that right now too as long as they also serve our ultimate goal.
“When we have to chose between short-term gratification and our bigger goal of contending consistently, we will choose the long term. We will make moves with that ultimate goal in mind because simply put that’s where this organization needs to be.”
Owner Bill DeWitt Jr. said he and Bloom have not discussed what the team’s payroll will be for the coming season.
Bloom devoted part of his remarks to talking about the “legacy” of the Cardinals, specifically mentioning Branch Rickey, George Kissell and Whitey Herzog.
“This organization, at its best, sets the standard for the rest of baseball,” Bloom said. “That’s what set this organization apart for 100 years … That standard is always changing. It means something different in 2025 than it did in 1925, or 1965 or 2005. It’s going to mean something different in 2035. So now we get to do it again.
“That takes boldness, to do things our way, not to fear being different if we think different means better. … We can never stand still.”
Bloom knows that one of the challenges facing the Cardinals is how to bring the fans back to Busch Stadium. The team’s attendance has dropped by almost one million fans over the last two seasons, for a variety of reasons.
The first way to get them bac is to put a winning team on the field.
“They deserve a hard-working organization that does things the right way and is never satisfied,” Bloom said.
Added Bill DeWitt III, “The numbers are down. It’s obviously something we’re not happy about. To the extent that that’s a message, the message has been received.”
Follow Rob Rains on X @RobRains
To listen to the audio of the full press conference click the audio player below
To hear John Mozeliak’s farewell press conference, CLICK HERE.
