5 bold Cardinals predictions that aged well in 2024, 5 that did not

Prediction that aged really well - The Cardinals will begin to unveil what life after John Mozeliak will look like

Honestly, I pretty much nailed this prediction back in January. At the time of writing that piece, Bloom was only rumored to be coming on as a consultant, and I wrote about how we could see him become the POBO in waiting if it is not someone like Randy Flores or Michael Girsch.

I also alluded the the fact that while we will know what the post-Mozeliak era will look like in 2024, that it would likely be a transition period where the full changes do not take place until after Mozeliak's contract is over at the end of the 2025 season.

Again, on January 4th, this wasn't the reported direction of how things would be going. We really did not hear rumblings yet of Bloom being the next guy until a few weeks later when he was annouced as an advisor and we got some nuggets at Winter Warm Up. I feel pretty darn good about this prediction.

Prediction that also aged poorly - The Cardinals swing a trade for a top-end starter

I took my bold prediction from 2023 that the Cardinals would trade for a front-line starter and used it as a 2024 prediction, and that was a poor choice on my part.

My original take was that, if the Cardinals are contending once again this year, the thing they were truly missing was a second front-line starter to pair with Sonny Gray. This was when I was under the assumption, like most people, that their lineup would be an actual strength. Maybe they'd trade for a guy like Dylan Cease, Jesus Luzardo, or Framber Valdez to put them over the top?

Instead, the Cardinals' offense cratered, they were only slightly above .500 at the deadline, and each of Cease (traded to Padres pre-season), Luzardo (injured and bad), and Valdez (not available) were not realistic targets for the Cardinals as the season went on.

I even left room for the potential that the Cardinals could make that trade going into the 2025 offseason, in case there were not actually front-line starters available for trade at the deadline. Well, I was wrong here again, as the Cardinals are going into a reset mode so they will not be looking to trade assets away to get a front-line guy.