For the first time in nearly two decades, there will be a change of leadership in the St. Louis Cardinals' front office. Out is John Mozeliak, and replacing him is former Boston Red Sox executive Chaim Bloom. Bloom's Red Sox tenure had its ups and downs, but Cardinals fans have been sick of Mozeliak for quite some time, and understandably so. How Bloom will begin his Cardinals tenure remains to be seen, but he just got reason to completely tear the team down thanks to ESPN's in-season ranking of the top 50 MLB players.
From a quick scan, you'll notice one glaring fact - the Cardinals do not have a single player on this list. They're one of just seven teams to not have a single top-50 player this season. Obviously, the list is only taking this season into account, but that fact is glaring.
If the Cardinals don't have a single high-end player, is this really a team worth building around right now? The answer to that question might very well be no.
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Cardinals lack high-end talent worth building around
Who on this team really sticks out as a high-level star? I mean, the Cardinals' only All-Star this season was Brendan Donovan, a really solid player who, with all due respect, is not a star. Their leader in home runs is Willson Contreras, a really good player who, again, is not really a star. Their leader in OPS is Ivan Herrera, who isn't even really a catcher anymore. Nolan Arenado was once an MVP-caliber player, but he's nothing more than a league-average hitter in 2025. Guys like Masyn Winn, Victor Scott II and Jordan Walker have some upside, but are any of these players budding stars? Not really.
On the pitching front, there's even less to get excited about. Sonny Gray is good, but a low-end ace at best, and he's 35 years old. Guys like Michael McGreevy and Matthew Liberatore have some upside, but they don't project to be aces or even really mid-rotation arms.
There are some prospects to take stock in like JJ Wetherholt, Quinn Mathews, Rainiel Rodriguez and Liam Doyle, but do any of these players outside of maybe Wetherholt have anything close to a superstar ceiling?
There are players to like, and with the right additions, this Cardinals team can conceivably make the playoffs as soon as next season, but should that be the goal? The goal should be to win the World Series, and it's hard to envision this core accomplishing that as constructed without an unrealistic amount of money being spent. It feels like a teardown is needed to get the Cardinals back in the World Series conversation anytime soon. Fortunately, they have the perfect man in charge to operate a rebuild.
Chaim Bloom is an ideal fit for a Cardinals teardown
Nobody wants to witness a rebuild, but if one has to happen, who is better-equipped to handle one than Bloom? Yes, the Mookie Betts trade was a disaster, but part of the blame for that debacle is on ownership who not only was unwilling to pay Betts, but forced Bloom to dump David Price's contract as well, which lessened the return. Other than the Betts failure, it feels like Bloom's Red Sox tenure was rock-solid.
Bloom traded what wound up being next to nothing for Nick Pivetta, a decent innings-eating starter during his time in Boston. He traded Aldo Ramirez for Kyle Schwarber - a key piece in their run to the 2021 ALCS. He traded a couple of months of Christian Vazquez in exchange for Wilyer Abreu. Additionally, Bloom was the man in charge when the Red Sox drafted and developed Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony and Kristian Campbell. Bloom was the man in charge when the Red Sox drafted Kyle Teel - the centerpiece of the Garrett Crochet trade. Much of Boston's farm system, which is seen by many as above-average, has Bloom's fingerprints all over it.
He might not have been as aggressive as Red Sox fans had hoped, and, again, the Betts trade was bad, but for the most part, especially when it came to player development and building the farm, Bloom was excellent. Who's to say Bloom can't tear this things down and build it up organically? Had the Red Sox had a bit more patience with Bloom, they might've been better equipped to win now and in the future than they are without him.
There's no telling as to whether Bloom will pursue the route of tearing it down and entering a rebuild, but if he does, Cardinals fans should trust him to do a good job and have this team back in true World Series contention at some point in the not too incredibly distant future.