The St. Louis Cardinals may be coming back down to earth a little bit after starting the season 8-5. The bats have gone silent and they have lost their last three games, falling to 8-8 on the season.
Last offseason, they made sure to finally pick a direction after years of indecision. The rebuild began with the trades of Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras, Nolan Arenado and Brendan Donovan.
It may ultimately be a long year for St. Louis as they focus on the future rather than trying to contend in the present. Chaim Bloom’s vision is at the very least finally coming to life as the Cardinals give opportunities to their younger players such as Jordan Walker and JJ Wetherholt, who are the main building blocks for the future.
On Foul Territory, Ken Rosenthal discussed Bloom’s plan and explained why it’s the right move and why they are on the right track for the first time in several years.
“They’re not in that kind of middle ground anymore, and that was a very healthy thing for the organization,” Rosenthal said. “When Chaim Bloom took over as president of baseball operations for John Mozeliak, he made it clear by his actions and by his words that they are going to transition. And frankly, that transition, whatever you want to call it, it was overdue. Cardinals fans would have been happy, I believe if this had happened maybe a year or two ago, if they kind of accelerated this. They didn’t and maybe tried to compete last year when they really weren’t in position to. But now they’ve started the process and there are a lot of things to like here.”
Glass Half Full for St. Louis Cardinals Fans
The Cardinals would have been wise to start their rebuild a few years ago, as it did not make sense for them to try to contend last season. However, they have finally started it, and so far, there are a lot of things to like, as Rosenthal said.
Walker has become a better player and has gone on an impressive power surge at the plate. Wetherholt has shown some promise as well. But the Cardinals also have players such as Masyn Winn, Alec Burleson and Ivan Herrera who will be key parts of the rebuild as well while they decide what their future core will look like.
Chaim Bloom’s Vision Coming to Life for Cardinals
Now is the perfect time for the Cardinals to execute Chaim Bloom’s plan and get on with their rebuild. The focus is solely on the future rather than trying to build a contending team in 2026, and that is what should be front and center for the next several years as the Cardinals navigate these rough waters.
The time had come for change, and Bloom’s vision and strategy align with what the Cardinals need to accomplish. Once everything starts to take shape, then the Cardinals will have a clear map towards potentially returning to postseason contention in a few short years.
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