Cardinals rebuild expands beyond roster as Spring Training facility nears completion

For good reason, most of the conversations surrounding the St. Louis Cardinals this offseason have been built around how Chaim Bloom will begin shaping the roster as the team enters a rebuild period. With the focus spent on the players, it is fair that the construction and rehabilitation project at the Cardinals' shared facility in Jupiter, Florida, has gone unnoticed.

Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium will have major upgrades as the Cardinals join the rest of the league in facility development.

Last season, St. Louis announced that Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium would be undergoing massive renovations that were originally scheduled to begin sometime during 2023. The Cardinals share the facilities with the Miami Marlins, and the retro stadium was opened in 1998 without much maintenance done to keep up with the times. That all finally changed last season once the teams departed for their major league homes, and work has been moving steadily along since.

President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom spoke to Tom Ackerman on KMOX during his weekly segment and Bloom touched on multiple things, ranging from the pitching situation to the trade market. One aspect that the new POBO made sure to bring up was the update on the construction for the newly updated Florida facility.

"“So we're going to have a brand new building, a new weight room, a new training room in there. We're going to have a cafeteria on site where we will be able to serve everybody, major leaguers, minor leaguers, which we haven't been able to do in the past. New meeting rooms, there will be changes to the stadium that fans will see.""

Chaim Bloom

The updates may not mean a lot to fans like me who have yet to make it out to Spring Training for one reason or another. But for the players taking part in the extended practice period, the renovations will be a welcome advantage to their prolonged stay. Bloom feels that the facility could be used as a recruiting tool to an extent when convincing free agents that St. Louis is a good destination for development. He said, "In terms of development,... player improvement, in terms of how we can help our pitchers, how we can help our hitters, the facility is a big part of that." The coaching staff will also get an upgrade, with updated meeting rooms and offices that will help bring the space up to current days' standards.

While there will be a noticeable difference to the facility for players and fans who have attended games at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium before, the construction will continue throughout the summer. Pitchers and catchers report to Jupiter in a little more than a month, with the rest of the squad trickling in soon behind the batteries. Those that are hoping to see some of their favorite players in a more intimate look should be aware of those Cardinals players who have already committed to play in this year's World Baseball Classic, which will take place during the first two weeks of March. The latest commitment came from catcher Ivan Herrera, who will play for his home country of Panama.