Chaim Bloom's philosophy on big contracts mirrors Cardinals' historical preference

New President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom has not been afraid to meet with the St. Louis Cardinals media since officially being promoted to his new position, and his media availability continued on KMOX earlier this week. During a commercial-free interview on The Gashouse Gang, Bloom spoke with Tom Ackerman, Chris Rongey, and Bernie Miklasz while answering some questions from the trio.

Chaim Bloom believes a long-term, big money contract must fit the organization's goals and timeline.

Among the topics of discussion was the financial resources that Bloom was going to have access to while navigating this rebuild and if he believes that ownership is giving him what he needs to be successful. Bloom did repeat some of the things he said during his opening press conference last week, saying that ownership is supportive and their main objective has been and will continue to be player development, especially as they navigate these muddy retooling waters.

When Rongey asked Bloom specifically about the financial aspect of the offseason and brought up the Cardinals' historical hesitance of signing high dollar free agents, the new POBO made it sound like fans should expect more of the same. Rongey's question surrounded around the idea that, if the fit and opportunity were there, would the Cardinals find themselves competitive on the offer sheet? Bloom said, "That's where the track record is important... they've always wanted to invest in the organization. They've done so thoughtfully... with a bigger picture and wanting to make sure the revenues are in line with the projected investment..." He continued by saying that free agency is about "investing smartly" and not necessarily spending the most money. He finalized his statement by saying, at times, the best investment strategy is to be disciplined and be okay with missing out on a guy, as long as the organization's evaluation is sound.

In addition to his statements, Bloom said that spending heavily in free agency can also be viewed as a shortcut, something that he has been very clear that the organization is in no place to do. Looking at the current roster, Bloom could argue that spending a big chunk of change on big-name superstars could put the team back into at least NL Central relevancy, but the current plan is to look more towards the future beyond 2026. While that may be frustrating, a massive part of free agency that is forgotten by fans is the fact that players have to want to go to the team offering them the contract. We hear every offseason about player preference, and right now, St. Louis is not a place or organization that players seem to be publicly announcing as their hopeful home.

Understanding that, it appears that the payroll is going to stay around the $100 million mark, give or take a handful of millions. It looks like, then, that the largest contract given by the Cardinals in their history will stay as the five-year, $130 million deal for Paul Goldschmidt. That figure puts the Cardinals near the bottom (25th) of the league in terms of largest contracts given out. In Bloom's career, the biggest free agent contract he gave was $140 million to Trevor Story over six years. The largest contract overall was an extension given to Rafael Devers, who signed an 11-year, $331 million deal before being shipped to San Francisco.