Chaim Bloom is ready for a multi-year rebuild for the Cardinals

[swatski]

I would guess that ensures Oli stays. Doesn't sound like a whole lot of trades, outside of maybe a few vets waiving their NTCs. We knew it was going to be boring, and many even asked for it, but delaying it an extra year is extremely frustrating.

Of course Oli stays. With his knowledge of the game, his eye for talent along with his extraordinary in-game strategy, and his track record of development of the young talent on his roster, who else would Bloom want running the show into the foreseeable future?

[renostl]

Woo is guilty of the worst kind of "journalism" - complete and undocumented speculation based on unidentified sources.
She has zero idea what Bloom is thinking.
She has no idea what he thinks of the roster.
She has no idea what DeWitt is willing to spend.

Correct
Your third item being the first order to address.
Keeping the current budget means a few additions.
A couple players at both the MLB level and the MiLB level should have had a conclusion made of what they project to be.
Even if Woo has guessed correctly, that would leave a couple players that they would lose control of before they project being a contender. It would not be smart to watch them die on the vine so to speak.

[Ozziesfan41]

I agree. It’s not like this team is the 2011 cubs. Bloated roster full of vets, zero farm system.

The cards are around .500 the last few years. They haven’t traded a prospect since Oviedo 3+ years ago. Only accumulating.

Their ‘bloated’ contracts are Gray, NA, and WC. Gray is gone in a year. The other two under contract only until 2027.

This is a young team.

Exactly. I think that the only one they really need to get rid of is Arenado. I think they gotta do what they gotta do to get him off the team, although it pains me to say it. If they can’t get anything for Gray, then he’s not a bad guy that can you can use as a solid veteran who can hold down a spot in the rotation and will be a good presence for some of the younger guys. Contreras is a guy that I think you want your young guys to emulate, so if he’s still on the team, and making $18 million, that’s not a ton of money.

They also have some interesting trade pieces in Donovan for sure, but maybe also Burleson, Nootbaar, and basically anyone else.

I don’t expect much from 2026, but 2027 could be interesting, provided a few things go our way and ownership is willing to do what it takes.

Why should ‘27 be interesting? Where is this talent coming from? You theorize trading a couple of their better players …..who replaces them??
I see several comments like this with no real specifics……entire offense and SP will need to be replaced. Is magic involved?

The cardinals aren’t going to be making big free agent signings they aren’t making any trades for veteran players. Trades they make will be guys like noot or Donovan or burly for more minor leaguers hopefully Gorman also. That’s what is happening you can complain all you want but it doesn’t change that is what will happen. Just because you don’t want a rebuild doesn’t mean others don’t want one. The rebuild is coming accept it or you should probably get on some medication

Perhaps reread my question…….as you say no $$$ FA, no vet trades, not much talent in minors and as this season of YUTES proved not much young talent on the ML Team. So where or what is this REBUILD coming from??? Waiting for several years to hopefully draft enough talent to eventually field a ML team??? For that to work a major tank job for 4-5 years will need to commence. Please provide detail because just saying “we’re going through a rebuild” means nothing.

Provide what detail? How can I provide detail on blooms rebuild? You’ll see what he does in the rebuild he’s the one rebuilding not me

[Melville]

Woo is guilty of the worst kind of "journalism" - complete and undocumented speculation based on unidentified sources.
She has zero idea what Bloom is thinking.
She has no idea what he thinks of the roster.
She has no idea what DeWitt is willing to spend.

I like her chances of getting it right better than yours or mine.

Why?
She made it clear that she has never spoken to Bloom about his specific plans for 2026.
No different than you or I.
Gossip and speculation from unidentified resources is no more valuable than what can be found daily here.
Maybe less so.
After all, she has subscriptions to sell and her "sources" may have a personal agenda.

Yawn.

Correct response to her reporting.
The team was in control of a W/C on July 1 each of the past 2 seasons and faded down the stretch under some very poor leadership.
The notion of a complete tear down and multi-year rebuild is nonsense.
The team will win 79 this year after winning 83 last year.
In only needs to add half a dozen wins next year to get moving in the right direction - and then build from there.
Bloom knows that.
Even if Woo does not.
If Wetherholt can join Contreras and Burleson to give the team the beginning of a line-up foundation, it is not hard to see how it starts to come together.
Winn and Donovan can then be complimentary pieces, which they are best suited for.
Add 2 starting pitchers and a middle order RH hitting outfielder for next year, while kicking The Marmot and his staff to the curb, is all that is then needed to begin making progress next year.
Very easily done with the trade assets and expected payroll for next year.
Easy.
Obvious.
Correct.

[Melville]

I don’t think it will take that long. As bad as we make them out to be, they haven’t been that bad really. They’ve been hovering around .500 the last three years. Definitely not where you deserve to be if you’re a Cardinals fan, but not as bad as a lot of teams. And maybe more importantly, not committed to a ton of money beyond this year. You have Gray, Contreras, and Arenado, and Nolan is the only one who really appears in steep decline. And you could probably trade him, if you eat a lot of money, and release him at worst to open up a spot for a younger player.

You still have some promising, young players at a lot of positions, with a big one, JJ Wetherholt, virtually a lock to make the team out of the spring. Some pretty interesting pitching coming up through the system as well. And while they’re not likely to impact the team next year, I think maybe 2027 could end up better than we think, provided the front office is motivated to spend some money to get it done.

I guess that’s my point. Yes, it’s a rebuild. Yes, it should have started earlier. But we’re not horrible, we have a decent core still, we have a lot of money coming off the books, along with some good prospects coming up in the next two years, so let’s not give the front office an excuse to sit around and do nothing. They promised that the new stadium would allow us to stay competitive with payroll. They said the same with the TV deal. No reason for them to drop like $70 million in payroll or something and only make up like half of it. Build from within and supplement those young players with higher paid vets. That’s how you succeeded for two decades in the first place.

I agree. It’s not like this team is the 2011 cubs. Bloated roster full of vets, zero farm system.

The cards are around .500 the last few years. They haven’t traded a prospect since Oviedo 3+ years ago. Only accumulating.

Their ‘bloated’ contracts are Gray, NA, and WC. Gray is gone in a year. The other two under contract only until 2027.

This is a young team.

"Bloated" does indeed belong in quotation marks.
75M for 3 years of Gray and 83.5M for 5 years of work from Contreras are both below market value in the current MLB economic scale.

[Punkk6]

Woo is guilty of the worst kind of "journalism" - complete and undocumented speculation based on unidentified sources.
She has zero idea what Bloom is thinking.
She has no idea what he thinks of the roster.
She has no idea what DeWitt is willing to spend.

Miss Woo is not a journalist , the front office leaks what they want her to write about . They have leaked exactly what they are going to do for the next several years.

[mattmitchl44]

that is according to Katie Woo , Cards writer for the Athletic

Several people within the org have expressed various levels of concern re: how long it will take for the Cardinals to return to contention.

But almost all are in unison: A multi-year rebuild under soon-to-be POBO Chaim Bloom is looming — and it's what's best for the franchise.
Katie Woo
@katiejwoo
As a season full of questions comes to a close, what have the #STLCards really answered?

The short answer? Plenty. Their major-league roster, at least as currently constructed, is not good enough to avoid a true rebuild.

Here is the full article
https://redbirdrants.com/it-sure-sounds ... -offseason


Nothing most of us didn't expect , the 'draft and development ' of the new players will be the priority . Don't look for 2026 quick fixes to the major league roster.

Nothing like wasting a year in 2025……

Actually Mo wasted at least 2 years 2024 and 2025 taking a band aid approach . He wasn't about to admit to the fan base that the team needed a major overhaul . Bernie M. was much harsher saying 'Mo lied to the fanbase about the state of the team. ' According to Bernie , Mo was afraid the fans would bail on the team if he stated that . Well, it backfired on him , for the product on the field deteriorated so much, the fans weren't fooled with the inferior product . But Mo's failure is now water over the dam. He has left the mess for Bloom to clean up. At least , Bloom (along with Cerfolio ) got all of this year upgrading the minors (new technology, more coaches, etc. ) Best of luck to Bloom .

As some of us said at the time, the pivot to rebuilding should have started at the trading deadline in 2023 when the team was 47-60 and going nowhere.

That was when the Cardinals should have worked with Goldschmidt, Arenado, Contreras, etc. to move them where they would go and get something for them.

Then should not have signed Gray after 2023 to a deal that is still going to have them paying him $35 million next year.

[mattmitchl44]

This deep rebuild is going to be all about:

1) Amateur scouting/analysis and drafting
2) International scouting/analysis and signings
3) Better understanding the Cardinals' own prospects to identify who should be kept and who could be traded
4) Better understanding other teams' organizations to identify who the Cardinals should be targeting to acquire

[StlMike1969]

This whole scenario playing out with the forum peeps is like leftovers for dinner. Everyone is griping that they have to eat leftovers and Mom has put her foot down. She is tired and cranky. "You don't like it then get in there and make something yourself!" But we can't cook. That's right! So sit down, eat your leftovers and shut up already. As she storms out of the room.

Some people here just cannot grasp the concept that they are playing for the draft for the next two years while the lockout looms. Who can blame them. They watch the Pirates get guys like Skenes, and the one year they get lucky for a top 5 they get a Wetherholt. 2 or 3 more like that and you have a team for years to come without having to watch tens of millions going down the drain. They are not the only team doing this. Moz and Dewitt created this problem because they constantly did just enough right to be competitive and enough wrong to be just bad enough. Too many got used to them free spending to compete in the mid range players and getting lucky once in a while. Now they won't even do that and some on here are having a hard time with it.

[ScotchMIrish]

Cardinals need pitching. They were .500 on July 31.

The potential danger in a complete dump and rebuild is fans are alienated and they find other things to occupy their time besides Cardinals baseball. Then even if we start winning attendance is mediocre.

Regarding Bloom he might be the guy who was the genius behind Tampa but I've known people who are good at taking credit for the accomplishments of others. In 2023 Tampa won 99 games long after Bloom was gone and Tampa had 4 consecutive losing seasons with Bloom in charge.

He is going to have to show me and if he does a dump and rebuild he could collapse this great franchise..

[2ninr]

Woo is guilty of the worst kind of "journalism" - complete and undocumented speculation based on unidentified sources.
She has zero idea what Bloom is thinking.
She has no idea what he thinks of the roster.
She has no idea what DeWitt is willing to spend.

I like her chances of getting it right better than yours or mine.

Why?
She made it clear that she has never spoken to Bloom about his specific plans for 2026.
No different than you or I.
Gossip and speculation from unidentified resources is no more valuable than what can be found daily here.
Maybe less so.
After all, she has subscriptions to sell and her "sources" may have a personal agenda.

Yawn.

Correct response to her reporting.
The team was in control of a W/C on July 1 each of the past 2 seasons and faded down the stretch under some very poor leadership.
The notion of a complete tear down and multi-year rebuild is nonsense.
The team will win 79 this year after winning 83 last year.
In only needs to add half a dozen wins next year to get moving in the right direction - and then build from there.
Bloom knows that.
Even if Woo does not.
If Wetherholt can join Contreras and Burleson to give the team the beginning of a line-up foundation, it is not hard to see how it starts to come together.
Winn and Donovan can then be complimentary pieces, which they are best suited for.
Add 2 starting pitchers and a middle order RH hitting outfielder for next year, while kicking The Marmot and his staff to the curb, is all that is then needed to begin making progress next year.
Very easily done with the trade assets and expected payroll for next year.
Easy.
Obvious.
Correct.

See the bolded. You have no way of knowing that, yet you accused Woo of the same thing. Woo has a lot better grip on it than you do. I had to laugh. They aren't doing anything you claim they will. That's all what you want them to do. Not happening. Any of it. But we can all quit guessing in a couple months.

[mattmitchl44]

The potential danger in a complete dump and rebuild is fans are alienated and they find other things to occupy their time besides Cardinals baseball. Then even if we start winning attendance is mediocre.

Again, that is just expected. It happened in Houston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, etc. - the organizations went into a deep rebuild, didn't spend a lot of money on the ML roster while they restocked their minor league system, lost a lot of games, and attendance dropped by 1 - 1.5 million a year.

Then, when they came out of the rebuild on the other side and started winning again, attendance bounced right back up to, or exceeded, prior levels.

Are the "best fans in baseball" worse fans than those in Houston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, etc. such that they won't come back when their team is competitive again???

Ultimately, getting back to being a team that wins 90, 92, 94 games regularly solves everything.

[IndCard75]

I’m totally fine with them not spending a bunch of money on the 2026 team as long as they are spending on development and plan to spend more in the future. I’m also looking forward to a Bloom offseason and seeing what moves he makes.

[earp]

Mediocrity is King! Song by Paul Thorn

Ownership Strategy: Spend Less, Win Enough
Many owners prioritize profitability over excellence. Why build a powerhouse when a middling team can still generate playoff revenue?

Deadspin called it out: “MLB owners have been dead set on rewarding their own mediocrity”.

[Goldfan]

This deep rebuild is going to be all about:

1) Amateur scouting/analysis and drafting
2) International scouting/analysis and signings
3) Better understanding the Cardinals' own prospects to identify who should be kept and who could be traded
4) Better understanding other teams' organizations to identify who the Cardinals should be targeting to acquire

And what that means for the ML team is what you’re seeing is probably the high water mark for the next 3-4yrs…….if they hit on the 1-4 you listed.
Thats the things…..Bloom has to nail just about every draft pick and Latin/Asian signing…..very tall task. One that the Cardinals have NEVER accomplished. Every rise from the ashes in modern Cards history has involved vet Trades and FA.

[Red7]

I will try this again: Mo’s job in 2025 was to run the day-to-day operations of the Cardinals. Essentially, his job was merely to keep the lights on. This allowed Bloom to focus on prepping for the rebuild: reorganizing the minor leagues and player development and evaluating what should be salvaged and what should be thrown out. Part of that was getting his people in place. This included being sure of guys like Gorman, Walker, Liberatore, McGreevy etc. Let’s not forget, Gorman, Walker, Liberatore were all highly regarded prospects by those OUTSIDE the organization at one point. Three guys have stood out: Burleson, Herrera, and McGreevy. Three guys have shown promise: Leahy, Svanson, and O’Brien.

Mo hasn’t been in any type of decision making position, except who to call up in the event of injury or need. He may have input in the rebuild, but the decisions have been DeWitt’s and Bloom’s. The trades at the deadline may have been executed by Mo, but who was traded for what was Bloom’s call.