2 major past mistakes Chaim Bloom must learn from as he leads the Cardinals

Longtime Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak's tenure has reached its end. As the future Cardinals Hall of Famer enjoyed one final ride with the organization, fans are ready to turn the page to the next chapter. Former Boston Red Sox GM Chaim Bloom is now at the helm and ready to make his mark in St. Louis. As exciting as this new beginning is for Cardinals fans, everyone comes with their flaws. Here are two prior mistakes Bloom needs to overcome to redeem himself as a top executive in baseball.

Too much Moneyball

Most people will point to the Mookie Betts trade and trademark that as his biggest mistake. But that decision was forced upon him by ownership when taking the Red Sox job. Even as ugly as the stain is on his resume, that was simply following orders from above him. What Bloom can correct, though, is showing confidence and displaying a backbone when making his decisions. His prior approaches at the trade deadline looked very similar to John Mozeliak's approach. When the Red Sox had obvious holes to fill to remain in contention, Chaim decided to take a gamble instead of making the needed moves. In 2022, he decided to approach the deadline with a buy/sell tactic that backfired. The Red Sox went from hovering around .500 to holding a 26-32 record post-deadline. This playing-safe strategy cost the big-market AL East powerhouse any chance at making the playoffs. This also happened after reaching the 2021 ALCS.

The 2023 trade deadline got even worse when Bloom made few to no moves. In the same situation of hovering around .500, Bloom traded for Luis Urias, which led to no contributions for any serious playoff push. Urias posted 0.0 WAR in 32 games, the defense was horrendous, key players were not contributing, and the overall vibe downshifted in the clubhouse. The team finished the season after the deadline with a 22-34 record and missed the postseason yet again. Both seasons' final records were an identical 78-84, which were both last-place finishes in the AL East. Both 2022 and 2023 for the Red Sox are very reminiscent of the final John Mozeliak years, which need not be replicated again in St. Louis.

Bloom was also not aggressive in free agency during his time in Boston. That franchise has always been a major hitter in signing elite free agents but was handled the complete opposite way during the Bloom tenure. Bloom avoided any long-term/large-value commitments from star players, actively looked for ways to shed payroll, and made odd signings that ultimately failed. He let Kyle Schwarber walk; let franchise icon Xander Bogaerts walk, most likely due to signing Trevor Story that has been a disaster; and signed Masataka Yoshida, who is nothing more than an average DH clogging up the roster. He found small wins in minor roster moves but failed when it came time to add a star player that was needed for the roster.

Conviction

Another area to improve upon is showing conviction in decision-making. When GMs get cold feet, they tend to not make necessary moves in order to benefit the team. The Cardinals saw this after John Mozeliak's repeated blunders with trading young prospects who excelled elsewhere. He became gun-shy with his decisions after and missed out on many opportunities. Bloom faced a similar reality in Boston and avoided any high risks. This led to repeated collapses with his teams, and the fans and media began questioning his ability to take a team to the next level. Red Sox Tribal Chief Jared Carrabis has covered this in much detail about how Bloom did not show any guts while operating the team.

From his unnamed sources internal with the organization, Carrabis stated Bloom was referred to as indecisive, in over his head, not a true number one in the front office, and not a leader for the organization. This sounds very alarming for Cardinals fans after what they have endured over the past several seasons. But given Mozeliak's longtime success leading the Cardinals, having Bloom as his number two might be what he needed to figure things out as a leader. Time will tell, but it is very notable given similar history has played out already in St. Louis.