ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - A day following the end of the St. Louis Cardinals 2024 season, which saw the Cardinals miss the postseason for the second consecutive season, the Cardinals held a press conference Monday at Busch Stadium, where they announced a series of moves with an emphasis for 2025 and beyond.
Cardinals President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak will, as expected, remain with the club in 2025, with 2025 set to be Mozeliak's final year, Cardinals owner Bill Dewitt Jr. announced Monday.
"Since taking over in this role in 2008, the Cardinals have won six division titles, appear in four Wild Card appearances and won 2 National League Pennant, and won one World Series," said Dewitt Jr. "All of that with only one losing season."
Former Boston Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom will see a far more prominent role in the future, becoming Mozeliak's successor as president of baseball operations following the 2025 season, with Bloom having already agreed to a five-year contract beginning next year.
"As you know I joined the St. Louis Cardinals in January, as fresh eyes for our entire operation, with an emphasis this year on player development," said Bloom. "More than anything, the remarkable success the organization enjoyed for much of the past two-plus decades was fueled by it's talent pipeline."
"The competition in this area of our industry has been absolutely relentless over the last decade. It takes boldness and humility to get on top and to stay there. If you stand still rest your laurels for even a moment, you will be beat."
In addition, the Cardinals announced the club's baseball decisions going forward will focus on developing their pipeline of players and given the club's young core every opportunity to succeed at the major league level, which includes significant investments to the Cardinals' facilities in Jupiter, Florida.
"We will be making significant investments in staffing, programs and infrastructure beginning immediately and continuing in the years to come," said Dewitt Jr. "One of these investments is in our Jupiter complex where we will be breaking ground on the new facility in April 2025 after our next Spring Training."
Mozeliak says with the Cardinals putting significant investment into player development, they do anticipate a reduction of the payroll.
Alongside naming Bloom as Mozeliak's successor, the Cardinals also announced that General Manager Mike Girsch has been reassigned and will now assume the role of Vice President of Special Projects, effective immediately.
"Girsch has been a tremendous partner to me and a tremendous asset to the organization," said Mozeliak. "I look forward to working with him in his new role."
Prior to joining the Cardinals, Bloom was Chief Baseball Office for the Red Sox in Oct. 25, 2019, replacing World Series-winning exec Dave Dombrowski. During his four-year tenure with the Red Sox, while the team did reach an improbable ALCS run in 2021, Bloom faced a little bit of tumultuous time in Boston, with criticism aimed at how he handled the likes of trading away Mookie Betts and letting shortstop Xander Bogaerts walk in free agency.
Bloom was fired in September 2023 before a doubleheader against rivals New York Yankees as the club was set to finish last for the third time in four seasons.
During Bloom's tenure with the Red Sox, the team was essentially a .500 team with the Red Sox record being 272-262 during his time in Boston, with only one winning season.
Before joining the Red Sox, Bloom was a exec with the analytically-driven Tampa Bays Rays for 14 years. Bloom served a variety of roles, including as Director of Baseball Operations and Vice President of Baseball Operations. Some of his roles included negotiating deals, overseeing player development, and managing their baseball performance science department.
Bloom's greatest strength has been player development, particularly, developing starting pitching, with Bloom being credited for writing "Rays Way" player development handbook all the way back in 2008.