Chaim Bloom set to offer Cardinals fans refreshing sense of transparency

For years, the St. Louis Cardinals have kept their lips tight with the fans. From the mishandling of Jordan Walker's promotion and subsequent usage to the hiding of injuries to key players, John Mozeliak has opted to keep things close to the chest rather than enlighten fans.

This is Mozeliak's right as president of baseball operations, but fans also have the right to be frustrated when things are hidden regarding their favorite team.

In an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Tampa Bay Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander spoke candidly about Chaim Bloom's preparedness for his upcoming job with the Cardinals. Bloom, who is set to take over as president of baseball operations following the 2025 season, spent 14 years with the Tampa Bay Rays.

He began his career as an intern, but he was promoted to assistant director of Minor League Operations in 2008. In this role, Bloom orchestrated all aspects of the team's minor league system, a job similar to what he's been doing with the Cardinals since he was hired nearly two years ago. Bloom rose as high as senior vice president of baseball operations with Tampa Bay, only second in command to the club's president of baseball operations, Matthew Silverman.

Bloom and Neander grew up together in Tampa Bay, as Neander was hired with the Rays in 2007. He then became the organization's president of baseball operations in 2021. The two worked closely together from 2014 on, when Neander was the vice president of baseball ops and Bloom was the senior vice president of baseball ops.

Few people know Chaim Bloom professionally better than Erik Neander. Therefore, when Neander speaks on Bloom's expertise, Cardinal fans should listen.

Tampa Bay Rays executive Erik Neander promises Cardinals fans more transparency during Chaim Bloom's reign.

In Derrick Goold's piece for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Neander offered a refreshing tidbit about Bloom's character.

"There’s not going to be a lot of GM-speak. He’s going to want to communicate that vision. He understands and appreciates the importance of fans," said Neander. "You don’t open the curtain and disclose the world, but there’s an importance to communicating to fans what you’re doing, why you’re doing it and why (they should) be excited about it."

"He understands and appreciates the importance of fans." That's a refreshing sentiment for a fanbase that has been unwilling to support the current regime and ownership group.

Fans have grown weary of political-esque statements from John Mozeliak lately. He rarely reveals plans for the future, player injuries are kept hush-hush until it becomes a serious problem, and his responses to probing questions require a master's degree in decoding to get to the crux of his response.

As Erik Neander says in his comments, don't expect Bloom to give every fan complete access to the inner workings of the organization; that would be malpractice. What we can expect would be more straightforward answers to questions and an authentic approach to reality with fans.

While Chaim Bloom won't bring back one million fans to Busch Stadium in his first year, several fans will welcome his willingness to be open and honest with them. So long as Bloom can get the green light from the DeWitt family, fans can expect a renewal of honesty and openness that has been missing these last few years with the organization.