Chaim Bloom must conquer his past to restore the Cardinals' tattered reputation

The once-proud empire of the St. Louis Cardinals has been reduced to rubble over the past few seasons as mediocrity envelops the organization. The team's struggle to adapt to baseball's continued evolution has left it in the dust, and the Cardinals' status as a model franchise that players yearn to join has disintegrated.

The hiring of Chaim Bloom to take over as the President of Baseball Operations in 2026 has provided a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel for Cardinals fans, but his history with the Boston Red Sox suggests that a reparation of the team to its former status as a top destination could be a more formidable task.

MLB insider Buster Olney mentioned that the Boston Red Sox, the team that Bloom helmed from 2020 until his firing in 2023, hold a largely negative perception among current players, which began when the Red Sox opted to trade superstar outfielder Mookie Betts early in Bloom's tenure as part of a cost-cutting measure.

Information is murky regarding how involved Bloom was in ushering Betts out of Boston, but the trade has clearly produced ramifications beyond the on-field production. The Cardinals find themselves in a similar quandary. An article from The Athletic in June 2024 polled 86 anonymous major league players on which team they would sign with if contracts, state taxes and rosters were not a factor, and the Cardinals failed to receive a single vote. On the other hand, the team did receive one vote regarding teams that held a bad reputation among players.

Bloom's history suggests that more penny-pinching could be on the horizon for the Cardinals, which doesn't jibe well with the consequences that arose when the Cardinals lost their luster around the league as a prime landing spot. The team's cratering performance has likely led many free agents to be wary of signing in St. Louis; therefore, the Cardinals would need to outspend their opponents to acquire the desired production. Seeing as that is unlikely to occur, the only realistic solution is for the Cardinals to remedy their player development woes and return to contention via homegrown talent.

If the Cardinals' "youth movement" works as the front office hopes, the team has a chance to push for deep postseason runs within a few years. If Bloom is still steering the team at that point, he might find himself in an unfamiliar position as he attempts to be more aggressive on the market.

Bloom has already made himself into somewhat of a pariah in Boston, so he may be eager to start fresh in a new city. His knowledge regarding pitching development should serve the Cardinals well as they recalibrate their approach in the minor leagues. If the prospect pipeline begins to hum again and the Cardinals can return to respectability, they could reclaim their status as a heavily sought-after team for free agents. The only question is whether Bloom can fight off the all-too-common phenomenon of history repeating itself and become heralded as a franchise savior instead of being designated as another public enemy.