Bloom’s aggressive Cardinals 40-man strategy is a clear departure from Mozeliak

If you care deeply and follow closely how the St. Louis Cardinals manage the edges of their 40-man roster, you're probably a baseball sicko like me. And I mean that as a compliment.

The majority of fans don't pay close attention to the waiver claims and DFA's of players who, most of the time, play very little to no role on the active roster. And I don't blame them! But again, if you're a sicko like me, you know that the best and smartest organizations maximize their 40-man rosters and use them as a tool to acquire and cycle through as much talent as possible in order to get the best mix of players they possibly can.

In recent years, it has really felt like the Cardinals have missed the ball on that. It's not like they've been allergic to the waiver wire, but I think us sickos have gotten tired of seeing them hold onto certain players on their 40-man roster for far too long, and not be one of the most active teams on that market.

That's certainly changed so far under Chaim Bloom, and I do not think that it is solely because of the full rebuild they are in the midst of.

Chaim Bloom's Cardinals 40-man roster churn is a major departure from what fans got used to with John Mozeliak

The Cardinals have been very active on the transaction logs this offseason, whether that be through significant trades or free agent signings, under-the-radar swaps or free agent deals, or on the waiver wire.

Just look at the month of February so far:

2/02: Traded 2B Brendan Donovan for three prospects and two draft picks
2/06: Claimed 3B Byran Ramos off of waivers
2/10: Traded RHP Andre Granillo for RHP George Soriano
2/16: Claimed RHP Zak Kent off of waivers, designated 3B Bryan Ramos for assignment
2/21: Signed 3B Ramon Urias, designated RHP Zak Kent for assignment

Oh, and in case you forgot, the Cardinals claimed Kent off of waivers back on December 5th as well and designated him for assignment after they traded for LHP Justin Bruihl on January 6th.

In total, the Cardinals have claimed and/or designated a player for assignment 10 different times, with some of those involving the same player multiple times. Just in the month of February alone, they used Donovan's open 40-man roster spot to bring in three different players off of waivers or eventually free agency in the form of Ramon Urias.

Churn, church, churn.

Obviously the majority of these claims, fringe roster trades, minor league free agent signings, flyer Major Leage free agent contracts, and any other "smaller" moves Bloom's regime makes won't send ripples through the organization, but the more and more they get in the habit of being aggressive on those fronts, the more likely it is that they can "hit" on an acquistion because of their willingness to make a move.

I won't always agree with the move, like swapping Granillo for Soriano, but I really do like the new process the Cardinals have in place of churning through this part of their 40-man roster frequently to see if they can hit on anyone. Most of the time, those moves won't "work", and that's just part of the process. Sometimes the churn will bring them a contributor who plays a complementary role on the roster, and that's helpful. And hopefully, every once in a while, they find a diamond in the rough who helps them out far more than you would have ever expected.