ORLANDO, Fla. – A year prior to taking over as the Cardinals' president of baseball operations, Chaim Bloom – then as advisor awaiting his ascension – got a flurry of text messages from various MLB execs alerting him to St. Louis being “lucky” during the MLB Draft Lottery proceedings.
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On Tuesday, with Bloom watching on television from a hotel suite, he and the Cardinals felt the cruel wrath of wayward ping pong balls and lottery luck. This time, after the Cards drew the No. 13 pick in the 2026 MLB Draft, club Hall of Famer Ray Lankford – the organization’s podium representative – was the one receiving text messages.
“I felt a lot of pressure because I wanted to get that No. 1 pick for us – or at least be in the top two – but it didn’t work out,” said Lankford, who hit 228 homers for the Redbirds from 1990-01. “As soon as I didn’t, I started getting texts from everybody [in the front office] talking about, ‘I let them down!’ But it’s all in good fun.”
The Cardinals went into Tuesday with MLB’s eighth-best odds for the No. 1 pick (2.35 percent), but they dropped below the Rockies and Nationals – two teams that weren’t eligible for a lottery pick because of MLB rules. It is the second time in three seasons the Cards fell below their slot in the odds. In 2023, they fell from the fifth-best odds to No. 7, where they landed infielder JJ Wetherholt.
A year ago, the Cards came into the lottery with the 13th-best odds at No. 1, but surged to No. 5, where they selected hard-throwing lefty Liam Doyle. Wetherholt and Doyle, ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the organization’s prospect rankings, per MLB Pipeline, are foundational pieces that Bloom will use to fuel a roster rebuild. A third top-seven pick could have been helpful, but Bloom knows the club will still get an elite player despite Tuesday’s tumble.
“Picking fifth last year, the odds weren’t for us after having a winning [2024] season, but that’s the way to do it because you don’t want to have to earn it,” Bloom joked. “We ended up with a good outcome [with Wetherholt], picking seventh. So, there are all different ways it can fall.”
The Draft Lottery was a reprieve from the numerous trade talks the Cards front office have had with other teams interested in dealing for their established veterans. Nolan Arenado and Willson Contreras are the biggest names possibly on the move, but standout utility fielder Brendan Donovan has drawn interest from 18 MLB teams, per a source. The Mariners, Royals, Astros and Rays have been the most aggressive suitors, per that same source, but the Cardinals want to be diligent in dealing to make sure they extract the maximum prospect capital in return for their lone All-Star in 2025.
“It shouldn’t be surprising [that Donovan is a popular trade target] and what’s not to like about Donny?” Bloom said. “My job is to listen, and with what we’re trying to accomplish as an organization, the possibility is that [Donovan] or any of our players could push us toward our goal.”
Not far behind Donovan – in terms of interest from other clubs – is lefty reliever JoJo Romero, who is drawing interest from the Yankees, Rays, Astros, Tigers and D-backs, per a source. Romero, who is due a raise after pitching to a 2.07 ERA over 65 appearances, can be a free agent after the 2026 season. He appeals to teams in contention because of his 57.1 percent ground ball rate (MLB’s 95th percentile), a wipeout slider that baffled foes (.181 batting average) and his success against lefty hitters (.211), per Baseball Savant.
As much as Bloom is eager to make deals that bring the Cardinals’ long-term goals closer to a reality, he said there is no timetable for action. He said he won’t make a deal in the coming days just because the MLB Winter Meetings are wrapping up. After all, the Cards have been candid about playing the long game in building the franchise back to a contender.
“I’d love to [complete a trade] because it would mean we found something to do that we felt was good for the organization,” he said. “I just don’t want to force that. In my experience, the holidays are a little more of a de facto deadline for people who want to get their business done and maybe take a breather.
“I’ve had times in my career where we had to get people away from the eggnog and get their attention. I had one [trade proposal] a couple of years ago come on Christmas Day. Famously, I’m not even a Christmas celebrant, and I was still annoyed by that. But it takes however long it takes to get to the right outcome.”