ST. LOUIS — The Cardinals made the transition from John Mozeliak to Chaim Bloom as the team’s president of baseball operations official on Monday – it’s just going to be another year before it happens.
During a press conference at Busch Stadium, it was announced that Bloom, 41, had agreed to a five-year contract to take over the job, which will begin when Mozeliak’s current contract expires and he retires after the 2025 season.
“I will still be running baseball operations for 2025 and a year from now I will be stepping down and turning the keys over to him,” Mozeliak said. “I’m excited. I know the end of the runway is coming and I do think over the next 12 months there is a lot of work to do and I am looking forward to those challenges.”
Bloom, the former head of baseball operations for the Red Sox, had been working for the Cardinals as an advisor since January – and his first task in his new untitled role will be to implement an overhaul of the team’s player development system.
He will be hiring a new director of player development to succeed the retiring Gary LaRocque as well as developing a new leadership team and increasing the number of personnel in the farm system. The Cardinals also will be making in investment to upgrade technology that will be available to players and coaches.
“It really is an arms race in terms of what you are seeing other organizations invest in that infrastructure,” Mozeliak said.
Bloom spent this season observing the various teams in the Cardinals’ farm system and making recommendations about changes he thought were needed. Now he will be trying to implement those suggestions.
“Nothing was a surprise, but it was great to have a fresh set of eyes and fresh voice come in,” Mozeliak said.
Bloom said the changes are necessary for the Cardinals to remain competitive with other organizations.
“That’s what we need,” he said. “That’s what this game demands. The competition in this area of our industry has been absolutely relentless over the past decade. It takes boldness, and humility, to get on top and to stay there. If you stand still and rest on your laurels, even for a moment, you get beat.
“Ownership has given the green light for us to make real investments across the department, now and going forward … There’s a lot of work ahead of us. These days, given that competition, the bar for excellence in this area keeps getting higher.”
Mozeliak said financing the cost for the upgrades in the player development system likely will be connected to a reduction in the major-league payroll in 2025, but he did not discuss any specific numbers.
What that means in terms of trading players, especially high-salaried veterans, has not been determined, Mozeliak said. One specific change he did say was that it was unlikely the team would be pursuing any free agents that would cost them one of their picks in the amateur draft.
“We don’t know the number (payroll) that we are going to play at, so in terms of what we may have to trade or do I think it’s a little premature,” he said. “There are decisions that have to be made pretty soon on options but I do feel like the way we are set up we do have some flexibility.
“Yes this is a reset where we are not focusing necessarily on building the best possible roster we can, but we also are excited about the roster. We do have a bunch of young players and some emerging stars at the minor-league level.”
First baseman Paul Goldschmidt is eligible to be a free agent, and the Cardinals hold options on pitchers Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson for next year. Not bringing those three players back could save the team close to $50 million.
Mozeliak said he intends to speak directly with other players currently on long-term contracts, including Nolan Arenado and Sonny Gray, about the direction that he, Bloom and team chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. envision for the club in the next couple of seasons.
“I wanted to get through today first because once this band-aid has been pulled then I think it’s easier to have discussions versus in hypotheticals,” he said.
Bloom began his baseball career as an intern with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2005 after graduating from Yale and rose through the ranks of their organization before taking the top job in Boston in 2020.
There, one of his first assignments was to trade Mookie Betts, an unpopular move. One theory about the delay in him taking over the Cardinals was so he would not have to be in charge of making a decision like that again so early in his tenure.
“I do think creating a succession plan is helpful,” Mozeliak said. “A lot of times in these jobs someone gets fired and then someone new comes in typically from the outside and therefore the learning curve and take anywhere from six to 12 months.
“This won’t happen. Next year when that transition happens it’s going to be seamless … I think the easiest way to think about this is from a day-to-day standpoint I will be responsible (for decisions) but anything that is going to affect the organization for a long term or a meaningful way, I definitely will be consulting with ownership and Chaim to make sure they feel like it is the right decision.”
Monday’s announcements came a day after the Cardinals completed an 83-79 season, a 12-win improvement from 2023 but still short of reaching the postseason.
It also was announced that Michael Girsch, who had been the team’s general manager, will see his role shift to working as a vice president in charge of special projects. The Cardinals will not have a general manager in 2025.
“What he is going to be able to do is take a deep breath, take a step away, and ultimately there are some areas that we want him to focus on,” Mozeliak said. “He will be given that platform going forward.”
Mozeliak also said he will have conversations with manager Oli Marmol in the coming week about the makeup of the major-league staff but that he would mot rule out that there would be some changes made to the coaching staff.
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