A regular-season series between the Cardinals and Red Sox should feel like a potential World Series preview.
Does anyone feel that way about these two editions of the Cardinals and Red Sox?
Me either.
So let’s talk about the future instead.
Two proud and accomplished organizations known for postseason success are, for the first time in major league history, coming off seasons in which they both finished last in their divisions. The Cardinals are still there. The Red Sox, who on Thursday were wrapping up a series in Tampa Bay, are hovering around .500.
The future, the Cardinals, the Red Sox and the Rays could have a common connection: Chaim Bloom.
The former chief baseball officer in Boston has since January been quietly working as an adviser for the Cardinals front office. Bloom’s been mostly in the background, but don’t let his behind-the-scenes role fool you about what he’s doing now and what he could be doing down the road.
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Hints of his fingerprints were on Cardinals’ offseason moves connected to players he had a sense of from his time in Boston and Tampa Bay. He made the rounds at spring training. He took in the Cardinals home opener at Busch Stadium. He’s familiarizing himself with the Cardinals at all levels, from the top to the bottom rungs of the farm system.
It doesn’t seem like the kind of onboarding process enacted for someone ownership expects to be a short-timer.
The Cardinals have not attempted to hide the fact they are preparing for a front-office transition in the foreseeable future. Longtime President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak, who recently seemed to suggest he could be the one moving on sooner than expected if this season doesn’t get salvaged, has suggested publicly that he will be ready to pass the baton of top baseball operations duties to someone else after his current contract expires following the 2025 season. Mozeliak indicated before this season began that evaluations of internal options are underway, and he made it clear Bloom is indeed one of those options.
And let’s not forget how Cardinals Chairman Bill Dewitt Jr., heaped praise upon Bloom at Cardinals Winter Warm-Up following Bloom’s hire.
“It’s interesting, because when I saw that Chaim had been let go in Boston, and Mo saw it as well, I immediately thought we can probably use someone like that, who has been with the small market, big market, smart guy,†DeWitt said back in January. “To kind of help see what’s going on with our organization. Interestingly, Mo thought the same thing. He called me like two days later, and I said, ‘That’s interesting, because I had the same thought.’ We are on the same page there, which is great. I think he can be very helpful. Our team has been together a long time, and you never know what else is out there that maybe our guys have not been in touch with. The world changes. It’s helpful to get the perspective of someone who has been with different organizations.â€
No one can debate how greatly Bloom navigated small-payroll challenges to create success with the Rays. He was just 36 when Boston, suffering from a bloated payroll, poached from within their division an architect who overachieved in Tampa by beating bigger-spending competition in the margins. Bloom’s Rays smartly saw value other teams missed, made creative and winning trades, and correctly projected internal and external talent. Cardinals fans will say, with enthusiasm, to sign them up for that, right?
Bloom’s Boston flop is a trickier topic.
He arrived there after the 2019 season preaching a sustained-success plan that sounded appealing to a Red Sox ownership group that wanted a steadier pace and smaller payroll investment. It didn’t work. Some blame Bloom. Some blame ownership.
Boston fans turned on Bloom as roster stars departed, replaced by cost-conscious contracts and a blend of young and old players who shared a common crossover: affordability. Rosters churned more than usual, causing fans to lose connections to players. The Red Sox finished last in two of Bloom’s full seasons, and they were in last place again when he was fired in September 2023. Fenway Park attendance suffered as payrolls dropped but ticket prices didn’t. For many in Boston (and elsewhere), Bloom’s name will forever be attached to trading superstar Mookie Betts and getting little in return in the deal. And while that Betts trade was the headliner, it wasn’t the only trade that underwhelmed.
Now, the other side of the argument.
Bloom was hired by Boston to cut costs and improve a farm system, so why crush him for doing what he was hired to do there? Despite a cost-cutting mandate, he helped the 2021 team win 92 games, finish second in a brutal division and reach the American League Championship Series — before that team was dismantled. He was told to trade Betts, salary-dump style, which cut into the return. He is credited even by his critics for vastly improving Boston’s player development, research department and farm system. Baseball America ranked Boston’s farm system No. 5 shortly before he was fired. Bloom can fairly get some of the credit for Boston’s improved pitching.
Don’t forget, Bloom became the third baseball operations boss in Boston to last less than four years, and that organization has since publicly announced an audit of its baseball operations department by an outside consulting firm. Add it all up and there’s a good body of evidence that says Bloom may not have been what was wrong with the Red Sox. Even if, like me, you think he should have handed in his letter of resignation the day he was told to pull the trigger on a trade of Betts.
As the Cardinals try to get back on track to lead the National League Central while foreshadowing a front-office transition and the Red Sox seek to find success without breaking their bank every season, a regular-season series that should feel a lot bigger than it is arrives without much present-day suspense. Two iconic teams are searching.
If Bloom is destined to be part of the effort that gets the Cardinals back to the World Series before the Red Sox, one thing is certain: His supporters will dismiss his flop in Boston. His critics will cling to it. The truth is almost always somewhere in the middle.
Another truth: In terms of front-office pressure felt to produce winning results that can be measured in the standings, ºüÀêÊÓƵ is a lot more like Boston than Tampa Bay.