Friday, November 22, 2024

Cardinals promoting former Red Sox executive Chaim Bloom as next president of baseball operations in 2026

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Chaim Bloom, who once led the Red Sox, will take over for John Mozeliak after the 2025 campaign. (Winslow Townson/USA Today)

John Mozeliak has one season left running the St. Louis Cardinals.

The organization announced a number of front office changes Monday, one day after their 2024 season officially ended. Among them included Mozeliak stepping down as the team’s president of baseball operations after the 2025 campaign.

Current adviser and former Boston Red Sox top executive Chaim Bloom will then replace Mozeliak. Bloom was hired before the 2024 season, and he will now be tasked with overseeing the team’s player development system before stepping into the top role in St. Louis.

“Effective immediately, Chaim Bloom will oversee a reset of our player development system,” Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt Jr. said. “As part of his assessment this past season, Chaim has developed a plan for improving our player development infrastructure and philosophy.

“We will be making significant new investments in staffing programs and infrastructure beginning immediately and continuing in the years to come … We’re excited about the future and committed to seeing this multi-year plan through.”

Bloom signed a five-year deal that will keep him as the team’s president of baseball operations through the 2030 season.

Mozeliak first took over as the Cardinals’ top executive in 2008. The team won the World Series under his watch in 2011, claimed six division titles and two National League pennants. They’ve posted just one losing season under that span, too.

The Cardinals, however, have struggled in recent years. They went just 83-79 this season and missed the playoffs for a second straight year, and they haven’t won a playoff series since 2019.

“I could’ve been fired today, right?” Mozeliak told Bally Sports Midwest. “And then ultimately they would’ve come in and someone would have to reassess where we are and we would just be wasting time. … When we do hand the keys over to Chaim like this, he can hit the ground running.”

The Cardinals also announced that general manager Michael Girsch had been reassigned to become the team’s new vice president of special projects. Girsch, who was hired in 2006, will not be replaced next season. Manager Oli Marmol will return to the club next summer, too. Marmol just wrapped up his third season with the Cardinals, which marks his first managerial role in Major League Baseball. He holds a 247-239 career record.

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