Redbird Droppings: Introducing Chaim Bloom

This edition of Redbird Droppings is brought to you by the word “Bloom”

The Cardinals introduced Chaim Bloom as the new President of Baseball Operations this afternoon and ran threw a bunch of topics.

Bloom started by thanks the organization, John Mozeliak, his family, and the fans for the warm welcome to the organization.

While he says they are working hard, he acknowledges that they aren’t where they want or need to be. They are encouraged by Player Development changes they’ve made, but more to do.

Cardinals set the standards for baseball; notes Branch Rickey, George Kissell, and Whitey Herzog for the heights they brought the organization. He wants to get back there.

The Cardinals are a draft and develop organization; core players that are acquired and developed. They aren’t just looking at the field for these guy; he noted living standards, nutrition, training. They are taking a fresh look at the whole organization.

2026 roster will have talent here and there will be more coming. Need more of a core to build around. There will be some short-term sacrifices; they always want to win and will make moves for short term as long as they help long term too. The long term is ultimate goal, and that goal is to get back to regular competitiveness. He won’t lower standards or concede.

Q&A Notes
(Questions can’t really be heard in the recording, so the answers are just kind of thrown together)

The team will continue to invest in International Market; critical for success. Bloom likes what they have done recently and will continue to be active. Truthfully, the International Market has been a weak point for the team. They’ve regularly traded international bonus money for low level prospects, because they have less risk.

We’ve seen other teams hit on teenagers from Latin America and the Cardinals really haven’t.

The past 2 years has allowed him to learn the organization and the people within it. Bloom feels that being in his position shortens the learning curve and he has learned the dynamics without noise of the day-to-day grind of leading the front office. He got to know players and their status going forward, and they got to know him and what he’s planning. Basically, he’s talked to Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray, and Willson Contreras about the rebuild plan and was kicking the tires on waiving no trade clauses.

Field staff still needs to be sorted out. He said it’s a good group and he’s gotten to know them. It was also implied Oli Marmol will be back for 2026, which he should be.

Payroll for 2026 hasn’t been discussed yet; DeWitt hasn’t set it yet. A non-answer of it’s going down.

Most important thing is for moves to make sense, be it free agency or any other way to acquire talent. It’s his way of saying that they won’t be very active in the free agent market and that they’ll be trading for young players. He didn’t name anyone, but it’s almost a given that Arenado, Brendan Donovan, and anyone else not part of 2027’s roster will be on the move.

Made progress with minor league system and there is still more to do. The system is definitely better than it was a year ago. He’s not satisfied with “some progress” though and they are going to continue to bring in more people to continue to improve the organization.

Not doing it the “Rays way” because every org is different. The Cardinals have been built on and won with tentpole players; they know they can’t keep everyone and they’ve had a history of trading the right guys. The Cardinals have more revenue than the Rays, but they don’t want to say that they won’t be keeping a small payroll.

Restaff of coordinator level was key to minor league success. He believes that it hurts the players if no plan in place between Minor League levels; that’s been the issue the last few years. They filled big leadership positions last off-season and will continue to evaluate places to get better.

Draft and development model is best for Cardinals because of continuity (Bill DeWitt Jr). It’s worked in the past and they’ve done more than their weight market-wise; he said they small market club with mid-market resources.

Message has been received from fans (DeWitt III). They are trying to enhance fan experience. Fans want value and prices are an issue; they trying to be creative by raising some sections and lowering in others. They are working on value concessions for next season. Can’t control parking prices for the most part, since they only own 1 of the nearby lots. They are also working with city and the other STL teams about safety concerns.

TV revenue and potential labor stoppage could impact flexibility; can’t really tell the impact yet. They are going into off-season with thoughts it won’t impact anything. It’s basically a non-answer to the question though.

Not happy with results; goal was to get into playoffs (DeWitt Jr). They understands fan frustrations and will make every effort to get back to regular contention.

Not throwing everything out and starting from scratch (DeWitt Jr). They want to build around young core coming in, but didn’t address who that core is or if it’s going to be new players going forward.

Here’s the full press conference: