By Rob Rains
It’s been 11 years since Rob Cerfolio had a decision to make – to go to medical school or pursue a career in baseball.
A recent graduate of Yale, Cerfolio had spent a year working as an intern by the Cleveland Guardians, then the Indians, and while he was putting off his plans to go back to school and follow his father’s career path, Cerfolio found out he really liked working in baseball.
“I wish my dad was here,” Cerfolio said on Friday. “We had some fun conversations about that when the fork in the road was in front of us. This is just my passion. It’s been that way since I was a little kid.
“I was lucky enough to trick the Indians at the time, now the Guardians, into hiring me as an intern and I don’t know why they kept asking me to come back candidly but they did and here we are.”
Where Cerfolio was on Friday was at a press conference at Busch Stadium, being introduced as the new general manager of the Cardinals.
Cerfolio, 34, was promoted from his assistant general manager position two years after Chaim Bloom and the Cardinals hired him away from the Guardians to be in charge of player development and performance.
“It’s what I love, and when I kind of had to make that decision (about medical school) with some finality to it I was glad I didn’t have to go back to school and spend all that time hitting the books,” Cerfolio said.
“I’ve been lucky to be in some great places and be challenged and be around some great people that just modeled excellence. I’ve just tried to take a small part from everyone that way.”
Bloom, the team president of baseball operations, said it was a “very natural step” to promote Cerfolio. The team had not had a person with the general manager title since Bloom took over as the team’s president a year ago.
The promotion of Cerfolio, who will remain in charge of player development and performance, came a week after assistant GM Randy Flores left the organization to become the general manager of the Astros.
Cerfolio also had been interviewed for jobs in other organizations before deciding to remain in St. Louis.
He said part of the decision to stay stemmed from his relationship with Bloom, who first interviewed Cerfolio for a job when he was running the Red Sox several years ago.
“I think it’s really hard to find people that push you to be better but that you can also in the same hour have a great laugh with and also have a really challenging disagreement with,” Cerfolio said. “For that to lead to productivity is what I think a great relationship is all about … The people part of it is really important to me.
“It’s humbling when other teams reach out and ask you about various jobs but the competitor in me, we started down a mission here two years ago and I’m really committed to help see that all the way through.”
Even before his promotion, Cerfolio, with Bloom, has been busy in what they call “staffing season” as they try to fill jobs on both the major-league and minor-league levels in the organization. Neither would say where they are in that process.
The major-league general managers will meet next week in Las Vegas, which could also produce conversations about free agents and trade candidates. The Cardinals, like all teams, know that the potential of a lockout is fast approaching when the current agreement between the owners and players expires on Dec. 1.
There also will have to be decisions made on which players to added to the 40-man roster and if there will be any players who will not be offered a contract for next season, allowing them to become free agents.
To read more about Cerfolio’s background CLICK HERE to read our in-depth profile written when he was hired by the Cardinals in 2024.
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To listen to the press conference, click on the audio player below:
