Is this how the St. Louis Cardinals ‘rebuild’?
On the last day of last September, when the St. Louis Cardinals held the end-of-season news conference in which they formally announced the plan to transition the stewardship of baseball operations from John Mozeliak to Chaim Bloom, they were meticulous to avoid calling the decision a “rebuild.” Whether or not they believed that the market had the patience to put up with multiple years of noncompetitive baseball on the path to stockpiling draft picks, it was clear through their language that they were foreclosing on that path.
Bloom, in his only formal, on-the-record comments since officially joining the Cardinals organization in January 2024, barely referenced players other than to praise the team’s “homegrown talent pipeline.” Instead, he spoke of teaching and staff development and a hunger to learn in the individuals in charge of shaping the players between the lines, rather than the action itself.
“The competition in this area of our industry has been absolutely relentless over the past decade,” Bloom said that day. “It takes boldness and humility to get on top and stay there, and if you stand still and rest on your laurels for even a moment, you get beaten.”
Of all the many things the St. Louis Cardinals might have been accused of being over the last half decade, with rare exceptions, “boldness and humility” were not common. If that shift is occurring and is already showing up in results, then there might be a simple explanation. It perhaps wasn’t strictly necessary to strip the various organizational rosters down to the drywall studs; there may have been enough in the structure after all, but without the proper architect to see the vision.
That would certainly be a more rapid fix, if not one that flatters longtime organizational stalwarts.
At the time Bloom made his comments, the team was in the process of beefing up their development and support staff and hadn’t yet made any significant hires. Rob Cerfolio, though, was an early target, and when the Cardinals made him their assistant general manager for player development and performance, it was an indication of following up their professed commitment to new methods with action.
Now barely six months into his tenure, Cerfolio’s fingerprints have already been seen on the big league roster. Multiple pitchers who have come up through the Cardinals’ system and have multiple years of professional experience have spoken glowingly of a new feedback process which sets action plans and reasonable goals and expectations.
Cerfolio and director of pitching Matt Pierpont have been intentional about scheduling meetings with pitchers as they cycle up and down from Triple-A Memphis in order to get immediate feedback into the relevant hands as pitchers work to correct the issues which might have bedeviled them in the big leagues. The specificity of that work has been a welcome change to those who have only known one professional organization, even if it’s been standard practice elsewhere for longer periods of time.
That the new guard, including player development director Larry Day and field coordinator Ryan Barba, took over at a fortuitous time for player procurement will also work to their benefit. Selecting JJ Wetherholt with the seventh overall pick in last July’s draft was an immediate boost to the team’s prospect pool, and a bit of fortuitous lottery luck will allow the new crew to pick fifth overall this summer despite coming off a season with a winning record.
St. Louis Cardinals draft picks
One surefire way to rocket up organizational depth rankings is to pick at the top end of the first round, which the Cardinals were simply too good to do for the better part of two decades. Now all that’s left is to not get the picks wrong; Wetherholt, who enters play Thursday with an .822 OPS at Double-A Springfield in his first full professional season, certainly is living up to his billing.
For all the Cardinals have benefitted from pitching health in the big leagues, they have not been so lucky in the upper minors. Both Tink Hence and Quinn Mathews are just now working through rehab assignments as they recover from early season injuries, and both Cooper Hjerpe and Sem Robberse will miss all of this season and part of next after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
There are some standouts – Ixan Henderson and Tekoah Roby dominating Double-A, Michael McGreevy pitching above the level at Triple-A and showing well in his big league cameo – but ultimately a great deal more growth to achieve. Whether a rebooted system of instructors can overcome a stalled talent pipeline will become more clear in the coming years than in the coming months, but early returns are hard to ignore.
When Bloom takes over the operation full bore at the end of the season, he’ll make further changes and seek additional talent. Cerfolio, for instance, would seemingly be a prime candidate to take over the team’s vacant general manager position if they do indeed choose to fill it. And if those decisions are made in the shadow of a winning season which features a push for a playoff spot, they’ll come in a much more favorable environment than anyone could reasonably have expected at the start of the year.
One reason coaches across professional sports tend to lose their jobs at accelerated rates is that it’s easier to replace one coach than 25 or so players. If that turns out to be true for player development personnel and instructors as well, then the Cardinals might well have figured out a combination for the door to competition that will surprise even them.
