A sigh of relief. A glimpse of hope. Reflective gratitude. These are all sentiments that St. Louis Cardinals fans could express at the 2025 season’s close. On paper, it was another mediocre year for St. Louis with a 78-84 record. But fans know that a big change is official — Chaim Bloom is the new president of baseball operations.
For 18 years, John Mozeliak was the top baseball decision-maker for the Cardinals. While many fans are angry with how his tenure in St. Louis ended (missed playoffs three consecutive years and no playoff wins since the shortened 2020 pandemic season), it’s important to give him a proper Cardinals eulogy.
Mozeliak was at the helm for a great era of Cardinals baseball. In Mozeliak’s 18 years, the team finished with a record under .500 in only two seasons. The Cardinals also won one World Series, two National League pennants and nine playoff series in those 18 years. Mozeliak was one of the most successful general managers in Major League Baseball — until he wasn’t.
The decline in St. Louis began in earnest in 2016. After going 100-62 in 2015, the Cardinals missed postseason play in 2016, 2017 and 2018. They bounced back in 2019, making the playoffs and defeating the Atlanta Braves in the National League Division Series (essentially the playoff quarterfinals), but that stands as the team’s only postseason series victory between 2015 and 2025. In 2020, 2021 and 2022, the Cardinals lost in the Wild Card — the first playoff series. And the team missed postseason play in 2023, 2024 and 2025. Change was necessary.
Enter Bloom — officially. It was announced last offseason that Bloom, the former chief baseball officer of the Boston Red Sox, would take over as president of baseball operations in St. Louis after serving as an advisor to Mozeliak in 2024. Bloom brings hope for Cardinals fans. But it may take a while for his vision to blossom.
The Cardinals’ future outlook is murky, making this offseason pivotal. As the roster’s currently constructed, the Cardinals have a mediocre offense at best, and a bottom-half of the league pitching staff that had the 21st worst earned run average in MLB last year. The team’s returning starting pitchers consist of veteran Sonny Gray (who may get traded this offseason), Matthew Liberatore (who started 29 games with a 4.21 ERA), Andre Pallante (who posted a ballooned 5.31 ERA last year) and Michael McGreevy (a rookie who started 16 games with a 4.42 ERA). There’s room for growth in former highly-touted prospects Liberatore and McGreevy, but Pallante is likely not a big league-caliber starter after 2025, and Gray might be traded if the Cardinals plan to rebuild.
The Cardinals’ farm system is also position player-heavy and lacks high-potential arms. Lefty Quinn Mathews showed promise in the 2024 season, posting a 2.76 ERA in 26 starts. But he struggled to the tune of a 3.73 ERA in 2025. The Cardinals’ 2025 first-round draft pick, who went No. 5 overall, Liam Doyle, is an exciting arm with an electric fastball as a lefthander, but he’s a few years away from contributing at the big league level. The state of the Cardinals’ pitching staff is grim and should call for an organizational rebuild, but the young position players arguably have potential to grow in the short term.
Between 2025 Gold Glove finalist Masyn Winn (23 years old), super utility player Brendan Donovan (28 years old), rising slugger Ivan Herrera (25 years old), contact machine Alec Burleson (26 years old) and No. 5 prospect in baseball JJ Wetherholt (23 years old and a step away from the big leagues), the Cardinals have an offensive base to build on. But finishing No. 29 as a team in home runs isn’t going to cut it. There’s potential, but the team is missing a superstar bat to carry it through slumps.
Bloom is at a crossroads, and he has a chance to build the Cardinals in his own vision. With the team needing a new pitching staff, a revamped bullpen and star hitters, there are too many needs for the team to make a run in 2025. And after a few mediocre years, the organization’s best move should be a rebuild. The team should trade its veterans like Gray and contributors approaching free agency like outfielder Lars Nootbaar. Bloom has core pieces he can build around moving forward — Winn, Herrera, Burleson, Wetherholt and Doyle — but it’s time for a new era of Cardinals baseball. And to build up, there has to be some tearing down.
Cardinals fans are already hurting, but the ship is off course. And to get back on course, big changes must be made. Hiring Bloom was the first drastic change, and there will be more to follow. This offseason will be one to watch for the Cardinals, and Cardinals fans should pay attention because more than likely, the decisions made this offseason will determine the future direction of the franchise under Bloom’s shepherding.
