What does Bloom’s hiring say about Cardinals’ plans for front office, player development?
The St. Louis Cardinals announced on Monday that they’d hired Chaim Bloom, formerly the chief baseball executive for the Tampa Bay Rays and most recently the Boston Red Sox, as an advisor to president of baseball operations John Mozeliak.
The part-time position does not necessarily represent an upheaval in the team’s front office structure, but its announcement does raise some interesting questions about how the future of the Cardinals will develop over the coming seasons.
Legendary baseball reporter Peter Gammons first mentioned on Nov. 5 that he’d heard “rumblings” connecting Bloom, 40, and the Cardinals, but whatever relationship was developing took a good long while to become official. As recently as last month’s winter meetings, Mozeliak denied that Bloom – or any other paid outside baseball operations consultant – was in the club’s employ.
Then, over a period of three days to wrap up the week of the meetings, the Cardinals added four players to their organization from Boston’s system via the Rule 5 draft and the trade of Tyler O’Neill.
In fact, of the four relief pitchers added to the 40-man roster from outside the system this winter, all four had previously been under Bloom. Riley O’Brien was drafted by Tampa during his tenure, Andrew Kittredge was acquired by the Rays via trade, Ryan Fernandez was incumbent in the Boston system, and Nick Robertson was acquired by the Sox in a trade with the Dodgers last summer.
For an executive who’s worked previously for only two other teams, that commonality would represent a remarkable coincidence, if indeed it is one.
“I have known Chaim for a long time, and feel that this is a great opportunity for the St. Louis Cardinals,” Mozeliak said in a statement. “It will be good to get an outside perspective of our organization from someone who is as well-respected as Chaim. Having a fresh set of eyes on all aspects of our baseball operations should be helpful.”
In the same release, Bloom added, “I’m excited to join the Cardinals and to be a part of this great organization…Mo and his team have given me such a warm welcome, and I’m eager to build relationships here and to learn, contribute, and help us win.”
The Cardinals’ interest in Bloom is obvious, and shared throughout the league. After establishing the Rays as a force for player development, he moved onto the Red Sox with a sterling reputation that was immediately put at risk when he was commanded by ownership to trade away superstar outfielder Mookie Betts.
The talent deficit Boston endured in the Betts deal – and it was a substantial deficit, not entirely the fault of ownership despite the circumstances of the trade – left them scrambling, and they have not yet recovered. Bloom’s Red Sox finished in last place in three of his four seasons, chalking up a better than .500 record only in 2021, when they lost to Houston in the American League Championship Series.
Mozeliak’s Cardinals finished in last place in 2023 for the first time in several generations, and whatever internal audits have turned up about their process and mistakes are being born out in real time. Upon signing a contract extension prior to last season, Mozeliak mused that he intended to use his new deal, which expires after 2025, as a transitional period into the next stage of baseball operations.
At the time, there was a widely understood assumption that some combination of general manager Michael Girsch and assistant general manager and scouting director Randy Flores would be tasked with taking over Mozeliak’s duties. Now, with Bloom in the fold, it’s impossible to ignore the looming presence of a still-well-regarded executive who, despite his lack of big league success with the Red Sox, still allowed their farm system to flourish.
In 2019, according to Baseball America, the Red Sox had the worst farm system in baseball. This summer, in their last rankings published before his firing, they’d climbed all the way to fifth-best. Player development success has long been an essential component of Major League success for the Cardinals, and it is the backbone of Bloom’s wildly successful years in Tampa.
Among the other benefits for teams, after all, home grown players at the beginnings of their careers can be awfully cheap compared to their veteran counterparts.
In many ways, Bloom’s addition to the baseball operations department mirrors that of Yadier Molina’s return to the fold. Neither has a strictly defined portfolio of full-time responsibilities, but both represent options to which the club could pivot if improvements aren’t seen on the field at a pace rapid enough for ownership’s liking.
Of the five men in the Cardinals’ baseball operation department with a title of assistant general manager or higher, three have only worked in the front office in St. Louis. Mozeliak left Colorado in 1995. Gary LaRocque left the New York Mets in 2008.
Bloom’s eyes are certainly fresher and come with a different perspective than those already working in house. Where those eyes are set, however, is unclear.
Perhaps the Cardinals represent a way for him to remain engaged in the game, biding his time until an opportunity arises which suits him and his family for his next turn at the helm of a team’s wheel.
Or, perhaps, that opportunity has already been identified.
The Cardinals, after all, have only hired one chief baseball executive under the ownership of the DeWitts and their group, and Mozeliak was an inside promotion. So too were each of their last three hired field managers, including Mike Matheny’s promotion from an advisory role.
That is roughly the same title which Bloom holds, for now.
