ST. LOUIS -- As the Cardinals detailed changes to the club’s leadership structure on Wednesday, the conversation shifted to the current team’s unlikely status as a contender.
A question was directed toward incoming CEO Bill DeWitt III on whether the timeline for the Cardinals’ contending expectations has been accelerated based on the performance of the team on the field so far.
“[President of baseball operations] Chaim [Bloom] is at the table here too, you know,” DeWitt III joked. “And has a microphone.”
After poking fun at the direction of the reporter’s inquiry, DeWitt III took a crack at navigating his first baseball-centric question in his new role.
“This team has been really fun to watch,” DeWitt III said. “We’ve got a lot of young players who are sort of coming into their own. And I don’t know, maybe we’re a little ahead, certainly a little ahead of where we thought we were. Still a long way to go this year, right? But, if they can keep this up, it could change a little bit how we think about things. But, always hedging on stuff like that until you get to that actual decision point.”
Bloom, who is in his first season as president of baseball operations, jumped in to tackle the question next, providing his insight on how the front office weighs the early success of the team in 2026 against staying anchored to a long-term vision for success.
“Obviously, I sat here in the fall and I’ve said it a number of times since, that we have pretty ambitious goals,” Bloom said. “We want to make sure that we have a good plan to get there and that we don’t get distracted from the things that need to happen in order for us to reach those goals.
“I still feel, as I felt then, shortcuts aren’t going to get you where you want to go… But at no point are we not going to walk into this building looking to win.”
Bloom’s takeaway from the Cardinals’ results, which, entering Wednesday, saw the club as the occupant of the top Wild Card spot in the National League, serves to reinforce that the team has arrived to this point by staying committed to its goals.
“The success that we’ve come by, I like to think we’ve come by it honestly,” Bloom said. “We’ve come by it, not through taking those shortcuts. Not through trying to find cheap thrills. But really to try to build something. We’ve experienced a lot of success, so far, along the way.”
Like DeWitt III, Bloom spoke to the notion that a lot can change between now and the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline.
“We’ve got a lot of time between now and when the Deadline action really heats up,” Bloom said. “Any time you have a deadline, most of the action’s going to happen pretty darn close to that deadline. So that may inform some of the opportunities that are available then, and where we stand might inform some of the specific decisions.
“But I think that we want to keep in mind, we want to have this success through building toward something. I think that really, more than characterizing us any one specific way, just keeping in mind what we’re building, doing justice to that and trying to win through doing that really needs to continue to be front and center for us.”
Arguably the most pointed commentary toward the Cardinals’ potential approach to this year’s Trade Deadline came from principal owner and chairman of the club, Bill DeWitt Jr.
His words echoed the approach that has been shared by Bloom dating back to the beginning of the past offseason, an indicator that the Cardinals are unlikely to pursue a traditional buyer’s mindset of short-term acquisitions, regardless of the club’s position in the standings leading into the deadline.
“We’re a draft-and-build organization,” DeWitt Jr. said. “When the Trading Deadline comes up, teams have a tendency to [think] 'Well, if I get one more guy, I’ll give them two of my draft choices, then I can make the playoffs.' That’s kind of not our model.
“We’ll obviously engage at the Deadline, but it will not be for a two-month hopeful. It will be a good reason to make the deal, regardless of where we happen to be.”