Chaim Bloom isn’t pretending the Cardinals are closer than they are.
St. Louis may have spent much of the season hanging around the wild-card picture, but Bloom’s message to fans was clear: that doesn’t mean the rebuild is finished, or even close. The Cardinals still have work to do before they can call themselves real World Series contenders again.
“I am pleased with a lot of the things that we've done,” Bloom said. “We just need to do a hell of a lot more things to get where we want to go.
The World Series is [happening]. We're not in it.
And it's not because, ‘Hey, we got unlucky.’ We're not in it because we're just not there yet.
So we have to do a lot more.”
That honesty carried through the rest of his comments. Bloom said there’s a natural temptation to look at the foundation the Cardinals have started building and assume the toughest part is behind them. He pushed back hard on that idea.
“There’s a temptation to say, ‘We’ve done the hard part’ by starting to build the foundation. "But the hard part is just starting.
This is a hard game. The competition never ends.
We can't stop focusing on those fundamental things that make good organizations. Over time, sure, that can include some things that are more, quote unquote, ‘win now.’
But we can never neglect that foundation, because ultimately, again, just point to the two teams in the World Series."
The Cardinals have not won a World Series since 2011 and have not reached one since 2013, and Bloom’s point was that those gaps don’t get closed by rushing. The organization may be on the right track, and a return to contention could be coming in a few years, but 2027 is likely not the moment.
For now, Bloom is keeping the Cardinals pointed at the long view. He wants this rebuild to produce something lasting, not just a quick fix to get back in the race for a season or two. That approach may not be the glamorous answer, but it’s the one he’s sticking to.
In Other News...
Matthew Liberatore Put The Cardinals In A Tough Offseason Spot
Matthew Liberatore gave the Cardinals a heavy workload in 2026, taking the ball for 31 starts and logging 155 innings, but the season did not leave St. Louis with an easy read on where he fits next. His run prevention slipped, his opponent OPS climbed and the numbers pointed to a pitcher who had a harder time as games went deeper, especially when hitters saw him multiple times.
The bigger concern is what happened when his secondary pitches lost their bite, because that opened the door for right-handed hitters and made the rest of his profile look far less stable. St. Louis now has to decide whether that means a move to the bullpen, a trade possibility or simply a different role inside the organization, even though Liberatore is expected to be around next season in some capacity. [Read more 🡒]
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For a club that needs a veteran starting pitcher, the fit is obvious enough to keep the idea alive. St. Louis has already seen enough of May to know what he can bring, and with the winter market taking shape, a reunion would give the Cardinals a familiar route to stabilizing the rotation without having to start entirely from scratch. [Read more 🡒]
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Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom confirmed Rodriguez has taken reps there, which is enough to show this is more than idle speculation. The appeal is obvious: if Rodriguez can handle a new position, the Cardinals may be able to keep his offensive momentum moving while removing some of the traffic jam that often slows a young catchers climb. The real question is whether the organization pushes that experiment far enough to change his long-term path. [Read more 🡒]