During a schedule that shuttled him from press conference to television interviews to podcasts, the Cardinals introduced Chaim Bloom officially Tuesday as the team’s second ever president of baseball operations. He takes over a front that he’s been an advisor in for almost two years, and he inherits a minor-league system he was charged with expanding and modernizing over the past 12 months.
The Cardinals gathered Bloom and several reporters and columnists on the beat around a table at Busch Stadium for a lengthy conversation about his vision and what’s next for the club.
Here are four takeaways from the four Post-Dispatch writers present.
Lynn Worthy, sports columnist: Chaim hedged. If you braced for Bloom to hit you with a blunt assessment and a deliberate timeline to Cardinals contention, then you can exhale. He didn’t deliver shock and awe. Bloom stated, “Our top priority will be to build our talent base for the long term.” He went so far as to say that may mean “hard decisions” and “short-term sacrifices,” and he added that they can’t and won’t take “shortcuts.”
That sounded like a guy hunkering down to endure short-term pain in pursuit of long-term success. However, he avoided the phrase rebuild, declared an intention to “win” and insisted the Cardinals would not “concede” anything, not even next season.
If that hit your ears and sounded like familiar fence straddling, well, you may have a point.
Benjamin Hochman, sports columnist: It’s hard not to “win” a news conference. A person arrives with prepared words and thoughts and messages in a statement – and then repeats them in answer form. Still, credit Chaim Bloom for “winning” the press conference by hitting all the right notes. He was candid that the St. Louis Cardinals are currently not at the standard the St. Louis Cardinals should be. He paid homage to the baseball innovators who worked for the organization. He displayed ambition in his chosen words. And perhaps most importantly, he spoke directly to the fans. OK, good. Now it’s time to go to work. Can the 2026 Cardinals be relevant? As we saw, even with a down year, the expanded playoff format allowed St. Louis to be in the mix during the final weeks. But Bloom clearly has a vision for the long-term future. He won’t sacrifice that for what he called “short-term gratification” of moves during next season. The plan is to make the Cardinals great again – and have it stick. That’s going to take a while.
Daniel Guerrero, baseball writer: For prospects on the rise through the Cardinals system, anticipate sufficient time to grow in the minors before there’s a chance to bloom in the majors. After the Cardinals underwent their minor league overhaul a year ago while Chaim Bloom served as an adviser, the newest president of baseball operations highlighted the importance of giving players time to work through adjustments in Class AAA. It’s an approach he described as giving prospects “a little extra seasoning” in Class AAA rather than getting them to the majors undercooked.
Looking for an example of allowing a prospect to get ample time? Take the handling of top prospect JJ Wetherholt as an example. The former first-round pick’s bat helped him soar from Class AA Springfield to Class AAA Memphis before mid-July. But, as Bloom pointed out Tuesday, there are still areas the 23-year-old infielder “can get better at.” Bloom said Wetherholt, who remained in Memphis to end his first full season in the minors, put himself in a spot to make a “really strong impression” when he arrives to spring training next year and added that Wetherholt could begin his career in the majors “sooner rather than later” depending on how other factors develop.
The 2024 first-round pick may be one example of allowing for ample time to develop before needing to face the pressures of the majors, but it could hint at the importance of growth and the avoidance of rushing them to the majors emphasized by Bloom.
Derrick Goold, baseball writer: While it was definitely Day 1 for Chaim Bloom in his new role, it became clear throughout his interviews and conversations that he was starting from Square 1 with the Cardinals. If anything, the two years Bloom had to audit and circulate through the organization seems have created relationships that he wants to continue into his leadership. Bloom has established a strong rapport and relationship with manager Oli Marmol, and he likewise has connected and resonated with senior members of the front office. In a conversation with writers, Bloom said he wants the senior members of John Mozeliak’s front office to remain as part of his group, though perhaps with different responsibilities. His plan is to add to the front office group, expanding on the relationships he has established.
The word that Bloom used for all this was “continuity.”
That, of course, echoed the same words the Cardinals and chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. have said for more than decade about the power of stability and consistency through continuity in leadership. Years ago, I asked DeWitt if “continuity” risked an organization going stale. And while that has been part of the issue for the Cardinals, Bloom offered an updated vision for “continuity.” It’s a foundation that risks becoming cement shoes. It’s tradition that can be launch pad where innovation begins. “We can’t afford to stand still,” he said.
What to watch is how he alloys a new direction with old influence.
Chaim Bloom was introduced as the Cardinals’ newest president of baseball operations. Here is the latest from his introductory press conference.
“The drumbeat was getting loud — candidly, real loud — for a new voice,” the Cardinals’ president of baseball operations says in his final news conference.
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Derrick Goold | Post-Dispatch
Lead baseball writer
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Benjamin Hochman | Post-Dispatch
Sports columnist
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Lynn Worthy | Post-Dispatch
Sports columnist
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Daniel Guerrero | Post-Dispatch
Baseball writer
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