Chaim Bloom gave the Rays their World Series blueprint, and the Cardinals are next

The Cardinals Way has been the heartbeat of the St. Louis Cardinals organization's success, but did you know that the World Series bound Tampa Bay Rays have their own "Rays Way"? And do you want to take a stab at who is credited as the author of that?

Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom.

As the Rays get ready to face the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2026 World Series, the baseball industry is beaming at how incredibly well run both of these organizations are. In so many ways, both teams are what every other organization is shooting to be like, with the Rays sort of being the the "trend setters" that other Major League Baseball teams want to be like.

Consider this for a moment: Erik Neander (Rays POBO), Andrew Friedman (Dodgers POBO), Matt Arnold (Brewers POBO), James Click (Former Astros World Series winning GM, now Blue Jays VP), and Bloom all worked closely together in the Rays front office during the early days of the organization's success, and since then, each of those men have been elevated to higher positions of authority and poached by other organizations to implement "The Rays Way" into their organizations.

Yes, that "Rays Way" that Bloom is credited to be the author of. What is that, exactly?

Bloom got his start with the Rays organization in their player development, and in 2008, crafted "The Rays Way", the development manual that allowed Tampa Bay to compete with the likes of the Yankees, Red Sox, and other American League foes with far fewer resources. It's become the model for organizations around baseball for how to develop talent at a high-level.

Bloom will be the first to tell you that any great organization is not summed up by one individual's ideas or a manual, but by the culture instilled throughout the building and the humility to be agile and adapt to new ways of thinking. The Rays became the gold standard from 2008-2019 in those areas, and even since Bloom's departure, that mentality has stuck and allowed them to reach their second World Series since 2020.

If you didn't pick up on this earlier, all of those names that Bloom used to sit in a room with playing Nintendo and chopping it up around a conference table have since led teams to the World Series and taken home the ultimate prize. After the conclusion of this World Series, only Bloom will have not led a team to the Fall Classic, and only him and one of Arnold or Neander will be without a title.

Running the Cardinals is Bloom's second crack at taking the Rays model and trying to win somewhere else, but I would argue he is set up far better in St. Louis to succeed than he ever was in Boston.

Chaim Bloom has already laid the groundwork for the Cardinals to return to the World Series

Since Day 1 of stepping into the role of Cardinals' president of baseball operations, Bloom has preached a different kind of patience than what Cardinals fans grew accustomed to hearing from John Mozeliak. Yes, patience is required, but that patience does not equate to stagnation. Bloom has been clear that for the Cardinals to get back on top, they must attack every single day with the same level of ruthlessness as the Brewers and Rays will attack each game of the World Series.

"The competition in this area of our industry has been absolutely relentless over the past decade," Bloom stated during his introductory press conference back in September 2024. "It takes boldness and humility to get on top and to stay there. And if you stand still and you rest on your laurels for even just a moment, you get beat."

You'll notice that his introduction came in 2024, but he didn't take over Mozeliak's seat until the end of the 2025 season. Bloom was brought in as a consultant by the Cardinals prior to the 2024 season, spending the year evaluating the Cardinals' player development process, and after presenting his findings to ownership, they felt like he was the man to lead the organization into the future. That was part of the reason Mozeliak brought Bloom in originally, as an option to potentially take over at the end of his final contract.

Bloom then spent the 2025 season getting to be extremely hands on with overhauling the Cardinals' player development, and coupled with hires like Rob Cerfolio, Larry Day, Matt Pierpont and Carl Kochan, the Cardinals quickly saw massive strides in the work being accomplished down on the farm.

After taking over as POBO at the end of the 2025 season, Bloom then began to make additions to the Cardinals' scouting department, and adding some premier talent to their system that offseason in the Brendan Donovan, Willson Contreras, and Sonny Gray trades. That, couples with a great draft in 2025, nailing their selling moves at that trade deadline, and strong 2026 draft and trade deadline returns, has positioned the Cardinals farm system as perhaps the best in the sport.

What has made the Rays special has been their ability to identify talent - whether that be in the draft, free agency, international amateur market, trades, or even the waiver wire - and find ways to maximize their production. That's what the Cardinals have been working so hard to become excellent at, and the hope is that they can blend that savvy way of roster building with the resources that come from a strong fanbase like what St. Louis has.

It may feel a bit rich to say the Cardinals are "on their way" after a 77-85 season and missing the postseason for the fourth straight year, but 2027 should be the year where fans start to truly see the hard work that's been going on behind the scenes the last few years. The Cardinals already have a dynamic young core with JJ Wetherholt, Jordan Walker, Alec Burleson, Ivan Herrera, Leo Bernal, Joshua Baez, Masyn Winn, Quinn Mathews, Kyle Leahy, Cooper Hjerpe, Andre Pallante, Michael McGreevy, and more on their big league roster, and they'll soon be joined by Rainiel Rodriguez, Tanner Franklin, Liam Doyle, Jesus Baez, Tai Peete, Josiah Ragsdale, Tekoah Roby, and more.

So as you watch the Rays and Brewers duke it out the championship this next week, just remember that the Cardinals are in pretty darn good hands as they head into the next phase of this rebuild.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow