Chaim Bloom's draft acumen can turn the Cardinals' farm system into a powerhouse

January follows the holidays with cold, dark weather in the St. Louis area, but February turns up the heat as the Cardinals make their way down to Jupiter, Florida for Spring Training each year. But what fans really are waiting for is springtime to be rung in with Opening Day, and hopefully, those April showers bring in some May flowers as the Cardinals get off to a strong start to their campaigns.

Well, most fans aren't anticipating those May flowers this year when it comes to the Cardinals' on-field performance, but they sure are looking ahead to a different kind of Bloom, one that will truly rise from the soil when fall comes around.

As odd as it seems to hear of flowers blooming in October, that's the plan the Cardinals have laid out for the future of their organization. Rather than making a change in leadership at the top of their baseball operations department this past offseason, they instead laid out a succession plan, one that will see John Mozeliak leave his role as president of baseball operations following the 2025 season and usher in Chaim Bloom into that role.

For those who are unfamiliar with Bloom, I've written about his background various time for the site, but I'll quickly review his resume for those who are catching up on who the 41-year-old is.

Bloom got his start in baseball as an intern with the Tampa Bay Rays all the way back in 2005, and at the end of that season, he was hired to work full-time in their Minor League Operations. Three years later, he became the assistant director of player development, continued to rise in the Rays' organization thanks to creating the "Rays Way" player development manual, and eventually was elevated to Vice President of Baseball Operations when then general manager Andrew Friedman left to run baseball operations for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Rays were one of the best teams in baseball while Bloom was in Tampa, consistently competing at a high level on one of the smallest payrolls in the game.

In 2019, Bloom succeeded Dave Dombrowski in Boston as the Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer. Bloom's time in Boston was a mixed bag, to say the least, as while he succeeded in overhauling their farm system (now ranked first in baseball after being among the worst when he got to Boston) and leading the Red Sox to an ALCS appearance in 2021, Bloom could never really overcome the backlash he received when he was forced to trade Mookie Betts, did not retain Xander Bogaerts, and what seemed to be a lack of decisiveness at trade deadlines when Boston needed a boost. He was fired from his role following the 2023 season.

Bloom was hired by St. Louis that offseason as a special advisor to Mozeliak, and after auditing the organization this past year, was named the successor to Mozeliak at the Cardinals' end-of-season press conference. This year, Bloom is focusing his energy on overhauling player development, an area the Cardinals needed major help in.

That brings me to the main topic today. I mentioned in Bloom's resume that he helped build up the Red Sox-depleted farm system when he took over to become one of the best in baseball. Luckily for Bloom, the Cardinals have a middle-of-the-pack farm system right now, so he actually has more to work with at the start than he did in Boston. But as we know, a major part of drafting the right players is knowing how to develop them, and that is something the Cardinals' have fallen behind the times in.

Let's take a look at the drafts Bloom had during his time in Boston and how those player's young careers have progressed so far.

2020 Draft

The 2020 draft was a weird one for every organization. Cut down to just five rounds due to the pandemic, draft boards were all over the place with canceled college and high school seasons. Some organizations took advantage of it and hit home runs like the Cardinals, while others struggled.

Nick Yorke was the Red Sox's first-round pick, and while he wasn't the most impressive selection for the draft capital they used on him, he's become a really intriguing bat who made his MLB debut this season after being traded to the Pirates at the 2024 trade deadline for RHP Quinn Priester. Yorke is now their sixth-ranked prospect.

The rest of the class was rather uninspiring, highlighted by the Red Sox's 22nd-ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline, Blaze Jordan.

2021 Draft

The Red Sox 2021 Draft Class was clearly highlighted by fourth overall pick Marcelo Mayer, who is now a top 10 prospect in all of baseball and on the verge of his MLB debut. Outside of him, it seems to be a pretty weak class but still plenty of time to see what they become.

2022 Draft

This draft was a really strong showing from the Bloom-led front office. Their first-round pick, Micky Romero, was a high school shortstop boasting big potential. While he has not lived up to the first-round pedigree, Romero is still just 20 years old and just put together his best season to date, ending the year with an .800 OPS at Double-A Portland.

The big win was selecting Roman Anthony with their supplemental second-round pick (79th overall), a high school outfielder who is now seen as the best prospect in all of baseball.

2023 Draft

Bloom's final draft with Boston was once again highlighted by two important names, with their first-round pick catcher Kyle Teel being a top 30 prospect in baseball and was just the centerpiece of the Garrett Crochet trade this offseason.

Bloom was able to snag right-handed bat Kristian Campbell in the supplemental fourth round (132nd overall), who is now a top-15 prospect in the game and another incredible selection by the Bloom front office.

State of the Red Sox's farm system

Even after trading away Teel and 2024 first-round pick Branden Montgomery this offseason, the Red Sox boast one of the best farm systems in baseball, with many of the names being drafted and mostly developed under Bloom's leadership.

According to Baseball America, the Red Sox have two top 10 prospects in all of baseball, likely three in the top 15 when their top 100 is updated soon, and others on the door of the top 100.

A recent poll of MLB executives had the Red Sox ranked as the second-best organization in baseball at drafting and best at developing hitters. While Craig Breslow's new regime deserves credit in that, that high of a ranking did not come from one draft or one year of development. Bloom's fingerprints are still all over that operation.

What this means for the Cardinals' farm system moving forward

The Cardinals are doubling down on regaining their status as one of the best in baseball at player development, and they picked the perfect executive to lead the charge in Bloom.

With that being said, it's likely going to take some time before the results really come through. Bloom has more to work with talent-wise in the farm system than when he arrived in Boston, so that gives him a head start. He'll also have spent two full years with St. Louis before taking over as president of baseball operations, so in some ways, he'll kind of be in year three of his overhaul rather than starting from scratch.

Boston's farm system revival really bore fruit this offseason, almost five years after Bloom took over the organization. The early returns for Bloom in St. Louis will revolve around players brought in under Mozeliak's guidance, but by 2027 and 2028, there'll be names making noise in the system that can fully be attributed to Bloom's regime.

This offseason, the Red Sox were able to trade for one of the best pitchers in baseball and maintain a strong farm system while doing so. In 2025 and 2026, they'll be supplementing their big league roster with some of the best young talent in the game. That's the preferred future that the Cardinals are aspiring to get to.

Signs of growth this year would be welcomed by the fanbase, but it will require a bit of patience for the organization to go from behind the times to one of the best in baseball in player development. If Bloom can be successful in this endeavor, then the future looks bright once again for the St. Louis Cardinals.