The St. Louis Cardinals are making major changes to their front office -- but not until after the 2025 season, team owner and CEO Bill DeWitt Jr. announced Monday during his end-of-year news conference.
Chaim Bloom, the former Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays executive, will take over as Cardinals president of baseball operations during the 2025 offseason, replacing longtime front office executive John Mozeliak.
The Cardinals, who finished the season 83-79 and missed the postseason for the second consecutive year, agreed to a five-year deal with Bloom, who spent 2024 as an adviser for St. Louis, examining the team's player development processes.
"We've always prided ourselves on drafting and developing our own players," DeWitt said. "It's clear we need to make significant changes to get back to this model. Our baseball decisions going forward will focus on developing our pipeline of players, giving our young core every opportunity to succeed at the major league level."
DeWitt described the move as a "period of transition" for the team. Current Cardinals general manager Mike Girsch was reassigned to vice president of special projects, while Mozeliak -- the current president of baseball operations -- will work closely with Bloom in his final year on the job.
"I'd like to set us on a course to get back to consistent winning," Mozeliak, 55, said.
The Cardinals have had just one losing season (2023) since Mozeliak took over as general manager in 2007 but have watched other teams pass them in areas of player development, a focus of Monday's news conference.
Player development will continue to be a focus of Bloom's during the transition period.
"It takes boldness and humility to get on top and to stay there," Bloom said. "And if you stand still and rest on your laurels, for even a moment, you get beat. To catalyze that change, ownership has given the green light for us to make real investments across the department."
"Catching up is important. But we want to be able to set the tone so we're not just going to be looking at copying everyone else. We want to find our own way."Chaim Bloom
After discussing the player development changes, DeWitt was asked what the team's major league payroll might look like in 2025.
"We haven't assessed what our payroll will be next year," DeWitt said. "Putting a lot of resources towards player development is a key part of us being competitive year in and year out. It's an allocation of resources."
Bloom, 41, was the Red Sox's chief baseball officer from October 2019 until September 2023, when he was fired following Boston's last-place finish. Before that, he was an executive with the Rays at a time when the franchise excelled at player development.
Bloom, hired by the Cardinals last January, will be tasked with reenergizing the team in that same department.
"Catching up is important," Bloom said. "But we want to be able to set the tone so we're not just going to be looking at copying everyone else. We want to find our own way."