Chaim Bloom to replace John Mozeliak as St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball ops in 2026

 

[October 01, 2024]  By DAVID SOLOMON

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Chaim Bloom will replace longtime St. Louis Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak after the 2025 season, the team's CEO said Monday.

Bill DeWitt Jr. said Bloom will oversee a reset of the club’s player development system next season and then will take over for Mozeliak, who is the second-longest-tenured head of a big league team’s baseball operations behind the Yankees' Brian Cashman.

“Like many of our fans, we’re disappointed with our results the past two seasons,” DeWitt said, adding that manager Oliver Marmol will remain with the team in 2025. “Our goals remain unchanged: to consistently contend for NL Central titles and playoff appearances and ultimately win the World Series. ... Our baseball decisions going forward will focus on developing our pipeline of players, giving our young core every opportunity to succeed at the major league level.”

The Cardinals, who finished the season 83-79 and missed the postseason for the second consecutive year, agreed to a five-year deal with Bloom. The 41-year-old worked for the Tampa Bay Rays from 2005 until he became Boston’s chief baseball officer in October 2019. He was fired in September 2023, then hired by the Cardinals as an adviser last January.

Mozeliak, 55, said he advocated to bring in Bloom last offseason to “get an assessment of where we are, what we need to do and ultimately where we want to go.”

“I’m certainly willing to do the walk, because I feel like we’re going to position ourselves really well, and ultimately when you think about your own legacy and how you want to leave something, I’m certainly hopeful it will be left in a really solid place when I do step down next year," Mozeliak said.

Mozeliak replaced Walt Jocketty in October 2007 as general manager in St. Louis. He became president of baseball operations in 2017.

In addition to the Bloom move, the Cardinals announced Monday that general manager Mike Girsch will assume a new role as vice president of special projects. This comes on the heels of farm director Gary LaRocque stepping down at the end of the 2024 season. LaRocque will serve as an advisor in 2025.

“Ownership has given the green light for us to make real investments across the department now and going forward,” Bloom said. “That starts with finding and empowering new leadership in player development which is a process that’s already begun."

St. Louis Cardinals Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bill DeWitt Jr. reads a statement at the beginning of a press conference Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. (Zachary Linhares/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)

Change is also on the horizon on the field after a 2024 season that saw the club draw 2,878,115 fans in 80 home dates at Busch Stadium this season, its lowest figure in a full season at full capacity since drawing 2,634,014 fans in 1997, which was DeWitt’s second season as owner.

The club holds options on veteran starting pitchers Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson, who were each signed to one-year deals in November 2023, and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt is poised to be a free agent after completing a five-year, $130 million contract.

“I’m not anticipating any big contracts going yet,” Mozeliak said. “We need to get a little reference on what our revenues are going to look like. Ultimately, when you think about the trading market in general, that starts as we enter post-World Series, we a lot of times sort of think through this. And then, ultimately, there are some players that I still think have some value here, from a leadership standpoint and also from the competitive standpoint. So, that is something that we’ll focus on.”

St. Louis got mixed results from its young homegrown core. Masyn Winn, a 2020 second-round pick, emerged as the club’s everyday shortstop in his rookie season, batting .267 with 15 homers and 57 RBIs in 150 games, while 2020 fourth-round pick Alec Burleson led the club with 78 RBIs and added 21 homers.

However, the club saw several young players struggle with 2020 first-round draft pick Jordan Walker, and 2018 first-round draft pick Nolan Gorman spending time with Triple-A Memphis after emerging as regulars in 2023. The club also traded 2016 first-round draft pick Dylan Carlson to Tampa Bay on July 30 after he hit .198 with no home runs in 59 games in 2024 despite earning National League Rookie of the Year votes in 2021.

“We haven’t really assessed what our payroll will be next year,” DeWitt said. “Certainly, putting a lot of resources towards player development is a key part of us being competitive year in and year out as the years go on.”

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