The Cardinals may have taken a meaningful step in 2026, but Chaim Bloom made it clear the gap to Milwaukee is still wide.
That’s the reality facing St. Louis after a season in which the club flashed a young core, finished 77 games, and still spent most of the year looking up at the standard set by the Brewers.
Milwaukee has claimed four straight National League Central titles and is headed to the World Series this fall, with most of its roster already locked in beyond the 2026 season. Add in an elite farm system headlined by baseball’s No. 1 prospect, Jesus Made, and the Cardinals are staring at a much taller climb than a single good year can erase.
Bloom, who joined The Morning After STL, said the organization wanted this season to reveal the nucleus of what comes next, and he believes that happened.
"The biggest thing we wanted to have come front and center this year was that core coming into focus - the center of a group you could see standing on a podium someday," Bloom said. "We wanted to feel like that was something that was closer, and I do think that happened.
We can look at it today and say you can see this group coming together. But, at the same time, when you zoom out, we won 77 games and it was abundantly clear that while we were exciting and fun to watch, we're still not anywhere close to where we need to be."
That’s a fair summary of where the Cardinals stand. There’s a vision beginning to take shape, and it’s centered on players such as JJ Wetherholt, Jordan Walker, Alec Burleson, Leo Bernal, Masyn Winn and Joshua Baez.
In different ways, each of them showed something in 2026. Andre Pallante and Kyle Leahy also produced for St.
Louis.
The Cardinals also have a major card to play in the system. While Milwaukee boasts the game’s top prospect, St. Louis sits with the No. 2 overall farm system in baseball, according to Baseball America.
But rankings alone won’t close the distance. The Cardinals need those prospects to reach the majors and deliver real value if they’re going to challenge a Brewers group built almost entirely on homegrown talent.
Milwaukee did not reach this point overnight. It took years of stacking pieces, and that’s the road St.
Louis is on now.
For the Cardinals, the message is simple: no shortcuts. If they want to build something that lasts and eventually stand toe-to-toe with Milwaukee, patience and development have to drive the plan.
And from the sound of it, that remains the approach in St. Louis.
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