5 things Cardinals fans should know going into GM meetings in San Antonio

The vibes for the St. Louis Cardinals will be significantly different than in years past. The Cardinals have emphasized bolstering their player development system, creating a need for payroll cuts that may be painful for some fans.

Executive Chaim Bloom and new assistant general manager Rob Cerfolio will join Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak in San Antonio. Bloom and Cerfolio have been working to hire a new farm director and director of performance. Once these two hires are in place, coordinators will be employed to fill various positions within the system, bolstering a farm system that was once the best in Major League Baseball.

After the departure of Albert Pujols in 2012 and the death of Oscar Tavares in 2014, the Cardinals struggled to find a top-tier, once-in-a-lifetime player to develop within the system. While attempting to develop talent internally, the Cardinals emphasized finding free agents to come into the system to build around. Jason Heyward, Dexter Fowler, Paul Goldschmidt, and Nolan Arenado were all brought in and found some personal success, but the club didn't see the championship successes they once had.

Now, the organization is going back to the drawing board. It promises to bring a youth movement. Veteran players and leadership are greatly needed, though. While the Cardinals have some exciting players coming up, veterans like Gray, Arenado, and Contreras help. The Cardinals' fan base is upset after two consecutive seasons of subpar baseball. Trading away players and not replacing them with players of equal stature would irk this fan base that struggled to fill the stands at some points of the 2024 season. While this may be obvious to most, Mozelaik's tone doesn't reflect his knowledge.

As we gain a clearer perspective on Bloom and Cerfolio's plans and the organization's path to a television deal, it will be easier to gauge what to expect from the Cardinals this offseason.

Until then, the question remains - Do fans have something to look forward to in 2025?

Here are five things we know to watch for the organization at the GM meetings.