The Cardinals’ rebuild has turned enough heads that other clubs are now circling their front office, and assistant general manager Rob Cerfolio is among the names drawing outside interest.
St. Louis expected to take a step back after moving four veterans in blockbuster trades last offseason, but the club still finished 77-85 in 2026 - just one game worse than its 2025 record. That was enough to make year one of the rebuild look like a success, even if the major league results still aren’t where the organization wants them.
Cerfolio has been a big part of that progress. He has helped modernize the Cardinals’ pitching technology and facilities, and much of the club’s work in player development has flowed through the systems he helped build.
The organization is expected to keep him and eventually elevate him to general manager, but his profile has clearly grown beyond St. Louis.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that Cerfolio interviewed for the open general manager job with an American League team. Rosenthal wrote, "St. Louis Cardinals assistant general manager Rob Cerfolio interviewed with the A’s, though he is currently viewed more as a candidate for an internal promotion to be Chaim Bloom’s general manager," Rosenthal wrote.
The A’s appear to be looking at him for the same reason others around the league have: the Cardinals have become one of baseball’s more forward-thinking organizations again. Their farm system is now considered one of the best in the game, and the young core in St.
Louis is already in place. The next phase is adding outside talent around it.
That turnaround has not gone unnoticed. Even with the big-league club still a year or two from true contention, rival teams are studying the Cardinals’ model and trying to replicate it. Cerfolio is one of the clearest examples of that interest.
And he may not be the only Cardinals executive on the radar. Scouting director and former pitcher Randy Flores is also drawing attention from other clubs, raising the possibility that St. Louis could have to replace key people from within its own operation if the poaching continues.
In Other News...
Cardinals Fans Just Got New Fuel In The Jeff Albert Debate
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In the years since Albert left, the Cardinals have overhauled pieces of their hitting staff, and some players have responded with career years, giving fans a fresh reason to revisit the old debate. His exit from New York does not settle anything by itself, but it does reopen a familiar question in St. Louis about what Alberts influence really meant, and whether the organization is better off for moving on. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Front Office Decision May Be Taking Shape Around Rising Executive
The Athletics are in the middle of a front-office reset, and one of the names that has surfaced in their search is a familiar one to Cardinals followers. Brewers assistant general manager Matt Kleine is reportedly a candidate for Oaklands open general manager job after the firing of David Forst, while interim GM Dan Feinstein continues to handle the role for now. Its the kind of opening that can trigger movement around the league, especially when clubs are weighing who might be next to take a bigger seat at the table.
For St. Louis, the more relevant piece may be what happens with Rob Cerfolio. The Cardinals assistant general manager has already interviewed for the Oakland position, but he is expected to stay in St. Louis, where his profile has risen inside the organization. If that holds, it could position Cerfolio for a promotion to general manager under president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom, a move that would signal the Cardinals are preparing their next layer of leadership even as another club searches for its own answer. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Catching Depth Is Forcing A Tough Young Roster Decision
The Cardinals rebuild has brought them a surplus in one of baseballs hardest-to-find spots, and it has created a roster squeeze that is starting to matter. St. Louis has spent the last stretch trading established players and leaning into young talent, and behind the plate that has left the organization with Ivn Herrera, Leo Bernal, Pedro Pags and Jimmy Crooks all in the mix.
Bernal has shown enough promise to look like part of the clubs long-term core, while Crooks season has gone sideways enough that he was sent to Triple-A. That makes the catcher picture more complicated than just sorting out depth charts, because the Cardinals may soon have to decide whether the best way to solve other needs is to use one of their catching prospects as trade currency. [Read more 🡒]