John Rooney interviews Flores & Cerfolio on Cardinal podcast

[ramfandan]

I always liked Flores. And now that I hear him speak I'm even more impressed. He seems very intelligent and knowledgeable. Cerfolio on the other hand, seems much more (I can't think of the word). He almost seems like he's reading off of a fan site. I don't know much about him but I assume that Bloom does. It was a pretty good interview but there was a lot of repeating that it takes an army and yada yada. Drafting and developing is great but it isn't the end all be all. Nobody goes to the WS just by drafting and developing. You got to spend the ducats. See the Dodgers, Yankee's etc. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking that process at all, but I get tired of hearing how all this "teaching" is going to turn a lesser talent into some kind of star player.

Cerfolio is one sharp cookie CC, he could easily be named GM once C. Bloom fills the position.

Cerf seemed to receive national recognition for Guardians player development improvement .

[Cardinals4Life]

I'll concede the point that they are more likely to help the more talented players to achieve greatness. In that respect I agree, but in any minor leagues you have at most a handful of those types, but you fill in with the best you can for depth. The problem is that depth usually doesn't equal talent but sometimes is just a guy buying time as a warm body. Doyle, for all the fanfare that he's received, hasn't thrown a ball in the majors yet. He may never. When/if he does there's as good or better chance that he fails. That's why you can't put all your eggs into the draft to win approach. You just have to acquire major league talent to win. You just have to.

A "best case" Cardinals roster is going to have:

- maybe five star/superstar level players
- a few above average players
- and a whole bunch of players from ML average down to bench/role players

Developing players that fill any of those roles from within you organization helps.

And the simple fact will be that the Cardinals will never be able to out and simply buy five star/superstar level players who are being paid full market value. They can pay for two, maybe three. But to ever reach their "best case" roster, they have to develop 2-3 star/superstar level players themselves.

Same for the population of a few above average players.

We paid for 5 HOFers in 2022. If we'd had a better manager and MO made maybe one more move, we probably go far in the playoffs that year.

They weren't paying them all at star/superstar rates, however. Wainwright was being paid like a solid regular ($17.5 M), Molina less ($10M), and Pujols only $2.5M. Wainwright produced at an above avg. level (almost 3 fWAR), Pujols was a great value at 2 fWAR, and Molina was just 1 fWAR.

They weren't stars/superstars and weren't being paid as such.

The were only paying for two stars/superstars in 2022 - Goldschmidt and Arenado. And they got star/superstar level performance also from Edman.

Sometimes its worth bringing in the old guys on incentive contracts - the HOF types on the backend of their careers, because you can get that 2-3 WAR value and their experience to boot. But no one here wants to see anyone over 30 in the dugout anymore.

I do. Don't confuse MattMitch for everyone.

[Cardinals4Life]

Nobody goes to the WS just by drafting and developing. You got to spend the ducats.

Nobody really disagrees with that - however, the key is that you have to spend money wisely. If you are a team like the Cardinals, when you are ready to "win now", you can't afford to have expensive contracts on your books that are "underwater." So when you spend and exactly who you spend on are of vital importance.

Nobody knows that "wisely" part you speak of. It's all about taking a chance that a talent will perform. Brett Cecil should have performed better than he did. Some say his peripherals were maybe a warning sign, and that is the informed opinion side of it, but if he had performed well the Cards would have looked smart. The battlefield is littered with the "wisely" corpses of players that should've but didn't perform. Look at Ozuna. If he'd performed, who knows.

"Wisely" starts from, first, defining your needs as precisely as possible. You do that by FIRST establishing what "core" of players you can develop from within your organization and THEN knowing where your holes are that you need to fill. In the Cardinals current roster state, their "core" of players isn't well developed enough to clearly define what the holes are that they will need to fill when that "core" is developed enough for them to be competitive.

Sure it is. We know exactly what we have for the most part.

Winn- SS
Werherholt - 2B
Contreras- 1B
Scott II - CF
Herrera - C/DH
Burleson - OF/1B/DH

Need: 3B, 2 Corner OFers.

Rotation: Need an ace, now a #2 with Sonnt being dealt.

[Ronnie Dobbs]

I wonder if we trade Donovan, we will in hindsight realize we were 1 Donovan away from hitting critical mass of internally developed contributors by sometime in 2027. If the return is too far way in the minors, the timeline gets pushed out and diluted - its a tough needle to thread.

I suppose it's possible. But ask yourself, and be honest, do you really think that this team is 1 Donovan from being able to really compete a year from now? What of the last few years would give you confidence to say yea?

But even if so. If we are that good this year or early 2027, they can still sign a guy before the season or trade for one during the season. We will have the payroll flexibility to do so.

[mattmitchl44]

We do need to develop players but even so, we will very quickly have to start playing the good ones at market or near market rates.

That's why it is important to aggressively extend the young players that you do develop to longer term contracts that lock them up at below market rates (relative to their production) out until they are about age 30, 31. The Cardinals can do that.

BDWJr can easily afford to keep ANY player who's not in the S. Ohtani/J. Soto price range (Re: A 2026 version of Albert).

No need to cry "poor mouth" for Dewitt or to rush extensions.

No current Cardinals deserve an early extension since none will ever be out of Dewitt's reach.

The only one who could emerge and be worthy of that early extension in his third season is JJW, possibly Doyle.

Full market value these days for actual superstars is approaching $35+ million a year.
Full market value for actual stars is approaching $25+ million a year.

How many of those can you float within a $170, $175, $180 million budget and still have enough payroll space to pay you other 20+ guys on your roster - not all of whom are going to be making the ML minimum? You're still going to have ~10 other guys making $5, $10, $15 million a year.

[NYCardsFan]

I always liked Flores. And now that I hear him speak I'm even more impressed. He seems very intelligent and knowledgeable. Cerfolio on the other hand, seems much more (I can't think of the word). He almost seems like he's reading off of a fan site. I don't know much about him but I assume that Bloom does. It was a pretty good interview but there was a lot of repeating that it takes an army and yada yada. Drafting and developing is great but it isn't the end all be all. Nobody goes to the WS just by drafting and developing. You got to spend the ducats. See the Dodgers, Yankee's etc. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking that process at all, but I get tired of hearing how all this "teaching" is going to turn a lesser talent into some kind of star player.

It is helpful that they do these interviews. They aren't just rebuilding a farm system, they are rebuilding the perception of the Cardinals development system to the rest of the industry. When people in the industry feel like there is extensive and comprehensive teaching and training going on, your prospects will be ranked higher. Teams will value your prospects more highly when it comes to trades if they believe your development system is good. Keep doing the interviews.

Also, if you are going into somewhat of a rebuild/reset/restructure, it's helpful to be transparent with the fan base and build confidence that the organization has a plan and a clear sense of direction. Unfortunately, that kind of communication has been lacking the past few years, probably because the FO/ownership didn't have a confident sense of direction to convey.

Cardinal fans expect winning baseball. The Cardinals game plan, which was “confused” to some, was to build for the future while still making the playoffs. Having guys like Goldy, Arenado, Contreras, Gray, etc., while bringing along guys like Winn, Burleson, Walker, Winn, Gorman, and Herrera.

The Cardinals’ “game plan” (as you call it) was “confused”—the stark organizational pivot is a clear admission of that. They publicly stated three objectives: 1) “compete every year”; 2) build from the farm system; and 3) maintain a payroll commensurate with their mid-market revenue. Some outside commentators and even several members of this forum noted contemporaneously that they needed to pick two, because having all three was unrealistic for a mid-market team given MLB’s current economics. As it turned out, those posters were closer to right (and ownership and you were wrong). But to ownership’s credit, they finally decided to change, just as you subsequently changed your tune (without admitting it, of course).

Ownership and the FO engaged in unrealistic, arguably arrogant thinking: for some reason, they seemed to believe that because they were the Cardinals, the economic and competitive laws of gravity that apply to every other mid- and small-market team didn’t apply to them. They were wrong (as were you). Sorry, Cranny, but as CEO and principal owner, BDWJr has to take responsibility and accountability for that. The recent reset and strategic pivot are a repudiation of that old “game plan,” which you defended tooth and nail all the way up to and even in the days after the big press conference announcing the regime change.

But we shouldn’t let the past stand in the way of giving them credit now for making a concerted effort to communicate a clearer, more realistic vision and plan to their fan base.

[mattmitchl44]

Nobody goes to the WS just by drafting and developing. You got to spend the ducats.

Nobody really disagrees with that - however, the key is that you have to spend money wisely. If you are a team like the Cardinals, when you are ready to "win now", you can't afford to have expensive contracts on your books that are "underwater." So when you spend and exactly who you spend on are of vital importance.

Nobody knows that "wisely" part you speak of. It's all about taking a chance that a talent will perform. Brett Cecil should have performed better than he did. Some say his peripherals were maybe a warning sign, and that is the informed opinion side of it, but if he had performed well the Cards would have looked smart. The battlefield is littered with the "wisely" corpses of players that should've but didn't perform. Look at Ozuna. If he'd performed, who knows.

"Wisely" starts from, first, defining your needs as precisely as possible. You do that by FIRST establishing what "core" of players you can develop from within your organization and THEN knowing where your holes are that you need to fill. In the Cardinals current roster state, their "core" of players isn't well developed enough to clearly define what the holes are that they will need to fill when that "core" is developed enough for them to be competitive.

Sure it is. We know exactly what we have for the most part.

Winn- SS
Werherholt - 2B
Contreras- 1B
Scott II - CF
Herrera - C/DH
Burleson - OF/1B/DH

Need: 3B, 2 Corner OFers.

Rotation: Need an ace, now a #2 with Sonnt being dealt.

Contreras - dealt
Herrera - jury out on whether he sticks at C
Scott - I'm not sold yet on whether he's the long term answer in CF.

Need to see a lot more development across the board.

[rockondlouie]

We do need to develop players but even so, we will very quickly have to start playing the good ones at market or near market rates.

That's why it is important to aggressively extend the young players that you do develop to longer term contracts that lock them up at below market rates (relative to their production) out until they are about age 30, 31. The Cardinals can do that.

BDWJr can easily afford to keep ANY player who's not in the S. Ohtani/J. Soto price range (Re: A 2026 version of Albert).

No need to cry "poor mouth" for Dewitt or to rush extensions.

No current Cardinals deserve an early extension since none will ever be out of Dewitt's reach.

The only one who could emerge and be worthy of that early extension in his third season is JJW, possibly Doyle.

Full market value these days for actual superstars is approaching $35+ million a year.
Full market value for actual stars is approaching $25+ million a year.

How many of those can you float within a $170, $175, $180 million budget and still have enough payroll space to pay you other 20+ guys on your roster - not all of whom are going to be making the ML minimum? You're still going to have ~10 other guys making $5, $10, $15 million a year.

BDWJr can afford $35M AAV, right now we have no player even close.

BDWJr can easily afford $25+M AAV, right now we have no player even close.

He also can easily afford a $190-200M payroll given his multi decades drawing 3+M leading to multi-hundreds of millions in retained earnings.

No player on this current roster is worthy of a L-T extension unless their agents have a safe fall on their heads and they (re: M. Winn) accept that $6-$7M AAV you've floated before (News Flash: Not happening).

Better to let M. Winn & I. Hererra (the only two current players even worthy of L-T extension chatter) go through ARB1, Burleson & Libby ARB 2 in 2027 after the new CBA is in place.........then re-evaluate where they are at that point.

JMO, but JJW could be the only players you want to sign to a L-T deal early and only (of course) if he's the player he's seems destined to be.

JMO

[mattmitchl44]

We do need to develop players but even so, we will very quickly have to start playing the good ones at market or near market rates.

That's why it is important to aggressively extend the young players that you do develop to longer term contracts that lock them up at below market rates (relative to their production) out until they are about age 30, 31. The Cardinals can do that.

BDWJr can easily afford to keep ANY player who's not in the S. Ohtani/J. Soto price range (Re: A 2026 version of Albert).

No need to cry "poor mouth" for Dewitt or to rush extensions.

No current Cardinals deserve an early extension since none will ever be out of Dewitt's reach.

The only one who could emerge and be worthy of that early extension in his third season is JJW, possibly Doyle.

Full market value these days for actual superstars is approaching $35+ million a year.
Full market value for actual stars is approaching $25+ million a year.

How many of those can you float within a $170, $175, $180 million budget and still have enough payroll space to pay you other 20+ guys on your roster - not all of whom are going to be making the ML minimum? You're still going to have ~10 other guys making $5, $10, $15 million a year.

BDWJr can afford $35M AAV, right now we have no player even close.

BDWJr can easily afford $25+M AAV, right now we have no player even close.

He also can easily afford a $190-200M payroll given his multi decades drawing 3+M leading to multi-hundreds of millions in retained earnings.

No player on this current roster is worthy of a L-T extension unless their agents have a safe fall on their heads and they (re: M. Winn) accept that $6-$7M AAV you've floated before (News Flash: Not happening).

Better to let M. Winn & I. Hererra (the only two current players even worthy of L-T extension chatter) go through ARB1, Burleson & Libby ARB 2 in 2027 after the new CBA is in place.........then re-evaluate where they are at that point.

JMO, but JJW could be the only players you want to sign to a L-T deal early and only (of course) if he's the player he's seems destined to be.

JMO

And even if they got one $35+ million player and one $25+ million player, their production likely wouldn't offset the losses of Gray, Contreras, Arenado, and Donovan (or Mikolas, Helsley, Matz, etc.).

Even if they signed a couple of really expensive guys their proven talent level would still be behind last year's team that won 78 games. That isn't "competing."

[Carp4Cy]

I wonder if we trade Donovan, we will in hindsight realize we were 1 Donovan away from hitting critical mass of internally developed contributors by sometime in 2027. If the return is too far way in the minors, the timeline gets pushed out and diluted - its a tough needle to thread.

I suppose it's possible. But ask yourself, and be honest, do you really think that this team is 1 Donovan from being able to really compete a year from now? What of the last few years would give you confidence to say yea?

But even if so. If we are that good this year or early 2027, they can still sign a guy before the season or trade for one during the season. We will have the payroll flexibility to do so.

Not 1 away from being ready to compete, but 1 away from having enough below market players already on the roster to be ready to start adding other talent to get us to the level to compete.

Its a stepwise process but we are still not able to find that first step up.

[Carp4Cy]

We do need to develop players but even so, we will very quickly have to start playing the good ones at market or near market rates.

That's why it is important to aggressively extend the young players that you do develop to longer term contracts that lock them up at below market rates (relative to their production) out until they are about age 30, 31. The Cardinals can do that.

BDWJr can easily afford to keep ANY player who's not in the S. Ohtani/J. Soto price range (Re: A 2026 version of Albert).

No need to cry "poor mouth" for Dewitt or to rush extensions.

No current Cardinals deserve an early extension since none will ever be out of Dewitt's reach.

The only one who could emerge and be worthy of that early extension in his third season is JJW, possibly Doyle.

Full market value these days for actual superstars is approaching $35+ million a year.
Full market value for actual stars is approaching $25+ million a year.

How many of those can you float within a $170, $175, $180 million budget and still have enough payroll space to pay you other 20+ guys on your roster - not all of whom are going to be making the ML minimum? You're still going to have ~10 other guys making $5, $10, $15 million a year.

$220M is the new $175M. Baseball inflation is a thing. Bill needs to focus on improving the marketing and revenue producing sides to get us back into the top 10-12.

[rockondlouie]

We do need to develop players but even so, we will very quickly have to start playing the good ones at market or near market rates.

That's why it is important to aggressively extend the young players that you do develop to longer term contracts that lock them up at below market rates (relative to their production) out until they are about age 30, 31. The Cardinals can do that.

BDWJr can easily afford to keep ANY player who's not in the S. Ohtani/J. Soto price range (Re: A 2026 version of Albert).

No need to cry "poor mouth" for Dewitt or to rush extensions.

No current Cardinals deserve an early extension since none will ever be out of Dewitt's reach.

The only one who could emerge and be worthy of that early extension in his third season is JJW, possibly Doyle.

Full market value these days for actual superstars is approaching $35+ million a year.
Full market value for actual stars is approaching $25+ million a year.

How many of those can you float within a $170, $175, $180 million budget and still have enough payroll space to pay you other 20+ guys on your roster - not all of whom are going to be making the ML minimum? You're still going to have ~10 other guys making $5, $10, $15 million a year.

BDWJr can afford $35M AAV, right now we have no player even close.

BDWJr can easily afford $25+M AAV, right now we have no player even close.

He also can easily afford a $190-200M payroll given his multi decades drawing 3+M leading to multi-hundreds of millions in retained earnings.

No player on this current roster is worthy of a L-T extension unless their agents have a safe fall on their heads and they (re: M. Winn) accept that $6-$7M AAV you've floated before (News Flash: Not happening).

Better to let M. Winn & I. Hererra (the only two current players even worthy of L-T extension chatter) go through ARB1, Burleson & Libby ARB 2 in 2027 after the new CBA is in place.........then re-evaluate where they are at that point.

JMO, but JJW could be the only players you want to sign to a L-T deal early and only (of course) if he's the player he's seems destined to be.

JMO

And even if they got one $35+ million player and one $25+ million player, their production likely wouldn't offset the losses of Gray, Contreras, Arenado, and Donovan (or Mikolas, Helsley, Matz, etc.).

Even if they signed a couple of really expensive guys their proven talent level would still be behind last year's team that won 78 games. That isn't "competing."

Disagree and of course we're talking about adding that $35+M & $25+M AAV's players in 2027/2028, NOT in 2026.

First, laughable you'd mention Mikolas (STIFF) and NADO (glove only for two seasons).

While good, a $25+M starting pitcher could replace S. Gray's 2025 production.

A $35+M hitter would not only easily replace but exceed WillyC's 2025 .791 OPS.

JJW (likely) also > than Donovan offensively.

Helsey is on the decline, Matz is easily replaced.

A $35+M & $25+M AAV addition would easily exceed last seasons teams win total and compete for the NLC/WC in 2027/2028.

[mattmitchl44]

We do need to develop players but even so, we will very quickly have to start playing the good ones at market or near market rates.

That's why it is important to aggressively extend the young players that you do develop to longer term contracts that lock them up at below market rates (relative to their production) out until they are about age 30, 31. The Cardinals can do that.

BDWJr can easily afford to keep ANY player who's not in the S. Ohtani/J. Soto price range (Re: A 2026 version of Albert).

No need to cry "poor mouth" for Dewitt or to rush extensions.

No current Cardinals deserve an early extension since none will ever be out of Dewitt's reach.

The only one who could emerge and be worthy of that early extension in his third season is JJW, possibly Doyle.

Full market value these days for actual superstars is approaching $35+ million a year.
Full market value for actual stars is approaching $25+ million a year.

How many of those can you float within a $170, $175, $180 million budget and still have enough payroll space to pay you other 20+ guys on your roster - not all of whom are going to be making the ML minimum? You're still going to have ~10 other guys making $5, $10, $15 million a year.

BDWJr can afford $35M AAV, right now we have no player even close.

BDWJr can easily afford $25+M AAV, right now we have no player even close.

He also can easily afford a $190-200M payroll given his multi decades drawing 3+M leading to multi-hundreds of millions in retained earnings.

No player on this current roster is worthy of a L-T extension unless their agents have a safe fall on their heads and they (re: M. Winn) accept that $6-$7M AAV you've floated before (News Flash: Not happening).

Better to let M. Winn & I. Hererra (the only two current players even worthy of L-T extension chatter) go through ARB1, Burleson & Libby ARB 2 in 2027 after the new CBA is in place.........then re-evaluate where they are at that point.

JMO, but JJW could be the only players you want to sign to a L-T deal early and only (of course) if he's the player he's seems destined to be.

JMO

And even if they got one $35+ million player and one $25+ million player, their production likely wouldn't offset the losses of Gray, Contreras, Arenado, and Donovan (or Mikolas, Helsley, Matz, etc.).

Even if they signed a couple of really expensive guys their proven talent level would still be behind last year's team that won 78 games. That isn't "competing."

Disagree and of course we're talking about adding that $35+M & $25+M AAV's players in 2027/2028, NOT in 2026.

First, laughable you'd mention Mikolas (STIFF) and NADO (glove only for two seasons).

While good, a $25+M starting pitcher could replace S. Gray's 2025 production.

A $35+M hitter would not only easily replace but exceed WillyC's 2025 .791 OPS.

JJW (likely) also > than Donovan offensively.

Helsey is on the decline, Matz is easily replaced.

A $35+M & $25+M AAV addition would easily exceed last seasons teams win total and compete for the NLC/WC in 2027/2028.

Nowhere in what you originally wrote did you suggest you were talking about spending in 2027/2028. The only thing you mentioned was "right now."

[Cranny]

I always liked Flores. And now that I hear him speak I'm even more impressed. He seems very intelligent and knowledgeable. Cerfolio on the other hand, seems much more (I can't think of the word). He almost seems like he's reading off of a fan site. I don't know much about him but I assume that Bloom does. It was a pretty good interview but there was a lot of repeating that it takes an army and yada yada. Drafting and developing is great but it isn't the end all be all. Nobody goes to the WS just by drafting and developing. You got to spend the ducats. See the Dodgers, Yankee's etc. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking that process at all, but I get tired of hearing how all this "teaching" is going to turn a lesser talent into some kind of star player.

It is helpful that they do these interviews. They aren't just rebuilding a farm system, they are rebuilding the perception of the Cardinals development system to the rest of the industry. When people in the industry feel like there is extensive and comprehensive teaching and training going on, your prospects will be ranked higher. Teams will value your prospects more highly when it comes to trades if they believe your development system is good. Keep doing the interviews.

Also, if you are going into somewhat of a rebuild/reset/restructure, it's helpful to be transparent with the fan base and build confidence that the organization has a plan and a clear sense of direction. Unfortunately, that kind of communication has been lacking the past few years, probably because the FO/ownership didn't have a confident sense of direction to convey.

Cardinal fans expect winning baseball. The Cardinals game plan, which was “confused” to some, was to build for the future while still making the playoffs. Having guys like Goldy, Arenado, Contreras, Gray, etc., while bringing along guys like Winn, Burleson, Walker, Winn, Gorman, and Herrera.

It was confusing because it didn't work and they didn't adjust.

And it didn't work because Goldy and Arenado went backward much faster than expected and Walker, Gorman, and Scott didn't go forward as expected. Right?

[Talkin' Baseball]

I always liked Flores. And now that I hear him speak I'm even more impressed. He seems very intelligent and knowledgeable. Cerfolio on the other hand, seems much more (I can't think of the word). He almost seems like he's reading off of a fan site. I don't know much about him but I assume that Bloom does. It was a pretty good interview but there was a lot of repeating that it takes an army and yada yada. Drafting and developing is great but it isn't the end all be all. Nobody goes to the WS just by drafting and developing. You got to spend the ducats. See the Dodgers, Yankee's etc. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking that process at all, but I get tired of hearing how all this "teaching" is going to turn a lesser talent into some kind of star player.

It is helpful that they do these interviews. They aren't just rebuilding a farm system, they are rebuilding the perception of the Cardinals development system to the rest of the industry. When people in the industry feel like there is extensive and comprehensive teaching and training going on, your prospects will be ranked higher. Teams will value your prospects more highly when it comes to trades if they believe your development system is good. Keep doing the interviews.

Also, if you are going into somewhat of a rebuild/reset/restructure, it's helpful to be transparent with the fan base and build confidence that the organization has a plan and a clear sense of direction. Unfortunately, that kind of communication has been lacking the past few years, probably because the FO/ownership didn't have a confident sense of direction to convey.

Cardinal fans expect winning baseball. The Cardinals game plan, which was “confused” to some, was to build for the future while still making the playoffs. Having guys like Goldy, Arenado, Contreras, Gray, etc., while bringing along guys like Winn, Burleson, Walker, Winn, Gorman, and Herrera.

It was confusing because it didn't work and they didn't adjust.

And it didn't work because Goldy and Arenado went backward much faster than expected and Walker, Gorman, and Scott didn't go forward as expected. Right?

The problems going on were going on longer and run deeper than I suspect you are willing to admit.

[CCard]

I always liked Flores. And now that I hear him speak I'm even more impressed. He seems very intelligent and knowledgeable. Cerfolio on the other hand, seems much more (I can't think of the word). He almost seems like he's reading off of a fan site. I don't know much about him but I assume that Bloom does. It was a pretty good interview but there was a lot of repeating that it takes an army and yada yada. Drafting and developing is great but it isn't the end all be all. Nobody goes to the WS just by drafting and developing. You got to spend the ducats. See the Dodgers, Yankee's etc. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking that process at all, but I get tired of hearing how all this "teaching" is going to turn a lesser talent into some kind of star player.

Cerfolio is one sharp cookie CC, he could easily be named GM once C. Bloom fills the position.

Is he though? He sounds like someone that'll be hosting a kegger this weekend and does jello shots off of girls stomachs. I didn't really hear him say anything smart. On the other hand, Flores sounds like a GM. I do think Bloom sounds intelligent. He's not won it all but he sounds like he could. But Bloom doesn't decide who plays for the Cards, DeWitt does.