The St. Louis Cardinals have a lot of items to check off their to-do list this offseason, and they may have an opportunity to add some high-profile support to their front office in the near future.
Chaim Bloom, who was the Chief Baseball Officer for the Boston Red Sox from 2020 until being fired in September of 2023, reportedly may join the Cardinals front office in an advisor role, according to insider Peter Gammons.
Bloom is a pretty controversial name due to how things went in Boston over the last few seasons, but he has been heralded as a bright baseball mind. He oversaw the Tampa Bay Rays Baseball Operations in various roles from 2011 until being hired by Boston, helping consistently field some of the best teams in baseball despite the low budget the Rays ran on. He was also heralded for writing "Rays Way", a player development handbook that has contributed to the Rays' ability to constantly develop talent.
Even with the Red Sox failing to compete the last few years, they did build an excellent farm system during his tenure, and Bloom could provide another voice to the Cardinals in this area. While Randy Flores has overseen an incredible scouting department over the last few years, there have been real questions about how the Cardinals handle player development, especially on the pitching side. Luckily, that's where Bloom thrives.
At the moment, there is nothing more than rumblings that Bloom may end up in St. Louis in some kind of advisory role. I don't really see much downside with bringing Bloom into the Cardinals front office group, especially considering where his strengths lie. The Cardinals would be wise to bring in outside voices to shake things up in the front office department, and Bloom would certainly fill that void.
While the immediate need for the Cardinals is to bring in veteran starting pitching help, they desperately need to revamp their pitching development infrastructure and churn out young pitching that can become major contributors. Tink Hence and Tekoah Roby represent their next best shots at this, and Bloom could be a major part of helping get that system firing on all cylinders.
We'll continue to follow the Bloom story, the potential addition of Yadier Molina to the Cardinals' coaching staff, and all of the potential pitching moves that could happen this offseason. This is looking more and more like a potential franchise-altering offseason for the Cardinals in the best way possible.