The first season of Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom’s tenure was an unquestioned success. St. Louis took a step forward at the Major League level, cultivated a farm system now considered among the best in the game and saw a dramatic improvement in the unscientific, decidedly non-analytic statistic of “vibes.”
At the same time, it’s obvious his work is far from finished.
“I am pleased with a lot of the things that we've done,” Bloom told me and my "Seeing Red" podcast co-host Bernie Miklasz on our show last week. “We just need to do a hell of a lot more things to get where we want to go. The World Series is [happening]. We're not in it. And it's not because, ‘Hey, we got unlucky.’ We're not in it because we're just not there yet. So we have to do a lot more.”
It was a fun, wide-ranging 45-minute conversation that you can listen to right here.
Here are four key takeaways from Bloom’s comments.
1. He’s not caught up in the idea of competitive windows
I asked Bloom about whether the Cardinals’ fast start to this season, which had them in Wild Card contention well into August, provided him any temptation to act aggressively and push up what was thought to be an extended timeline to contention. But he argued, persuasively, that this is the wrong way to think about it.
“There’s a temptation to say, ‘We’ve done the hard part’ by starting to build the foundation,” he said. “But the hard part is just starting. This is a hard game. The competition never ends. We can't stop focusing on those fundamental things that make good organizations. Over time, sure, that can include some things that are more, quote unquote, ‘win now.’ But we can never neglect that foundation, because ultimately, again, just point to the two teams in the World Series.”
His point was clear: There is no hump to get over, no point where a good organization, like the Brewers and Rays, decides now is the time to start really trying to win. That’s something the Cardinals are always trying to do -- in the short term, the long term and, really, the forever term.
2. Bernal made a big impression in September
Of the 13 rookies who made their big league debuts this year, perhaps no one made more of an immediate ‘Whoa, this guy is here to stay’ impact than catcher Leo Bernal. From his first second in the bigs, Bernal looked like he’d been playing there for a decade, even wowing Cardinals catching legend Yadier Molina. It is fair to say that Bloom noticed.
“That was about as good of a use from a player of a September cameo I have ever seen in my career,” Bloom said. “Our Minor League guys were saying this guy is playing at a really high level right now. He is on it. The details of the game, the way that he plays that position, things that will never show up in the box score -- he’s doing all of it.”
When I asked him if Bernal’s debut changed the way the team thought about its very crowded catching position, Bloom couldn’t deny that it did.
“So you don't want to put too much on a month of big league baseball for anybody,” he said, before pausing. “But that was pretty darn impressive.”
3. They want their young prospects to be versatile
My colleague Miklasz asked Bloom about the progress of three specific prospects: catcher Rainiel Rodriguez (MLB No. 10, Cardinals No. 1), infielder Jesús Báez (Cardinals No. 15) and outfielder Tai Peete (Cardinals No. 17). Bloom was effusive about all three -- he called Peete “an electric person” -- but what was most interesting was how open he was to both Rodriguez and Báez playing multiple positions.
Rodriguez is a natural catcher and Báez is playing shortstop, but the Cardinals are going to keep moving them around the diamond. That could include places where the Cardinals may have a need, and specifically third base, which Bloom said in his postseason press conference had a “long-term opening.” While Bloom emphasized that Rodriguez is remaining a catcher, he has played first base, and third could be an option, too.
“We've done some work at third,” Bloom said. “I'm not going to rule out that he might get some time there.”
He also sees Báez being able to play everywhere on the infield, including shortstop (“He has the hands for it. He has the arm for it.”) and third base. Bloom even said Báez could play second base in a pinch, though he noted, grinning, “We got a guy that we like there.”
The Cardinals are keeping all options open.
4. He wants to respect Cardinals tradition … but be themselves, too
For years, the Cardinals have been known, fairly or (I’d argue mostly) unfairly as a franchise that is buttoned up, perhaps to a fault. Some might say “traditional,” or even a little fuddy-duddy. Bloom noted that even some of the team’s young players had expressed worry about showing too much joy on the field because of it.
“In Spring Training, there were some comments from some of our guys, especially while the [World Baseball Classic] was going on, and they were seeing all the emotion that those players were showing, that our players almost assumed, maybe because of reputation over the last decade-plus, that that wasn't something the Cardinals were about,” he said. “And it was almost like a little sad for me to hear players kind of express that. Some of our longtime staff members almost got mad, saying, ‘That’s not it at all.’”
Bloom wants his team to express joy -- and he believes fans will respond to it.
“Yes, we need to respect the game. We need to be on top of details. But to show who you are and to show some emotion -- like that should not be taboo.”
Bloom made it clear: It’s a new era in Cardinals baseball.