For the last 18 seasons, the St. Louis Cardinals have been under the leadership of John Mozeliak.
For the first 15 of those seasons, they went 1289-1037 (.554 win%) with ten trips to the postseason, five trips to the NLCS, and one World Series championship. Over the last three years, though, they've dropped off to a 228-249 record (.478), missing the playoffs each year and posting their own two losing seasons of the Mozeliak era.
While Lance Lynn publicly criticized Cardinals fans recently for getting upset at Mozeliak for how the last three years have gone, if you zoom out further than even those last three years, you can see the downfall coming for a decade. From 2008-2015, the Cardinals went 728-568 (.562 win%), making the postseason six of the eight campaigns, reaching the NLCS four times, the World Series twice, and winning one World Championship. But for the final ten seasons of Mozeliak's regime, they've gone 789-718 (.524 win%), making the playoffs just four of those ten years, winning four total playoff games, and reaching the NLCS just once.
It's time for a rebuild. The Cardinals refused to engage in one after the 2023 season; they refused to use the word again after their failure to turn things around in 2024, but according to a new report, Chaim Bloom is fully embracing that posture as he takes the helm from Mozeliak.
Chaim Bloom is ready for a multi-year rebuild of the St. Louis Cardinals
According to Katie Woo of The Athletic, multiple sources from within the Cardinals organization are concerned about how long a rebuild will take, but they all agree that one is looming and necessary for the organization as Bloom takes over.
Several people within the org have expressed various levels of concern re: how long it will take for the Cardinals to return to contention.
— Katie Woo (@katiejwoo) September 19, 2025
But almost all are in unison: A multi-year rebuild under soon-to-be POBO Chaim Bloom is looming — and it's what's best for the franchise. https://t.co/BnI4Ayys1j
The Cardinals are committed to a "draft and develop" model, getting back to being one of the best organizations at pumping out young talent that they acquire in the draft, international free agency, and trades. Once they can build that foundation back up, the club will likely explore upgrading their roster further through big trades or free agent signings, but for now, they don't want to invest many resources into the big league club.