5 Cardinals who need to finish strong for Chaim Bloom to keep them around

St. Louis Cardinals fans don't know what to expect at the end of this disappointing season. Chaim Bloom is taking over as president of baseball operations from John Mozeliak. This could be anxiety-inducing for some, but fans may finally see some changes they have been looking forward to.

That said, the players will want to use these final games of the season to demonstrate that they are the ones the team needs to hold onto, as changes are afoot with new leadership taking over. Bloom will be using these final games of this season to see who took this season's runway seriously.

Let's discuss some of those players who must step up in these final games.

Nolan Gorman

While his runway was disrupted by injury, Gorman demonstrated that with consistent playing time, he did improve. He's hitting .208/.301/.681 with 13 doubles, one triple, and 14 home runs. He has 46 RBIs.

He played 51 games at third base this season, 26 times at second base, and six games at first base. The team wanted to give him opportunities at third base because Mozeliak had spent the past off-season advertising their desire to depart with Nolan Arenado.

Arenado thankfully declined at least one opportunity to be traded to the Houston Astros. Once Arenado returned to the lineup after a lengthy injured list stint, it was obviously wonderful to have an actual third baseman manning the position once more.

While he was given plenty of opportunity, Gorman really struggled to capitalize on it and secure his spot in the lineup every day. It will be curious to see if Gorman's runway extends to next season. Will Bloom want to keep giving Gorman more opportunities? Will he move on from the youngster and let Arenado play out his contract as the everyday third baseman for the Cardinals?

Arenado still has an excellent glove for the hot corner, and a bases-clearing triple on Friday against the Milwaukee Brewers showed that he still has some magic in his bat. He is beloved by fans and teammates alike. This will be one storyline to keep track of this offseason for sure.