photo: John Mozeliak (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
The St. Louis Cardinals added an experienced advisor as the president of baseball ops affirms his future plans. Our weekly history feature highlights prior team transactions and notable events that occurred during the January 8-14 period.
Chaim Bloom hired for front office role
On Monday, January 8, the St. Louis Cardinals announced the hire of Chaim Bloom, former Chief of Baseball Operations of the Boston Red Sox, as an advisor to President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak. The addition of Bloom came as no surprise, as the organization had been hinting at a move for months.
Mozeliak commented during the GM Meetings in November about the possibility of the hiring of an outside resource. Rumors of Bloom’s move to the Cardinals began then. Bloom’s prior employment before the Red Sox had been in the front office of the Tampa Bay Rays in various positions including Senior VP of Baseball Ops. Offseason moves made by the Cardinals included acquisition of players who had been with the Red Sox or Rays, leading to the speculation that Bloom was already advising the Cardinals’ front office. Mozeliak confirmed that he ran ideas by Bloom.
Bloom will not relocate to St. Louis, and his role will be more of a part-time advisor. Bloom will be present at Spring Training and will also join the team for some home and road games during the season.
Cardinals’ annual Winter Warm-Up kicks off
The Cardinals annual fan event known as Winter Warm-Up began on Saturday, January 13 at Busch Stadium and Ballpark Village in St. Louis. This event features interviews with current players as well as Cardinals front office personnel. Other events include autograph sessions for fans with hplayers, present and past.
Several notable players were absent from this event, including Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, and Miles Mikolas. All three players reportedly had prior commitments which kept them from attending.
Saturday began with a question and answer session with POBO John Mozeliak. Some of the topics discussed are set out below.
- On the future of first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, whose contract expires at the end of the 2024 season: Mozeliak stated that the Cardinals are interested in extending Goldschmidt’s contract, but any discussion will be put off until after the start of the season. Reasons for the delay could include waiting to see how the season unfolds and how the player performs as well as financial issues relating to the bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group. Diamond is the parent company of Bally Sports Midwest, which televises most of the Cardinals games.
- On the future of Mozeliak himself: He confirmed his intent to step back from his operational duties when his current contract expires at the end of the 2025 season. Mozeliak commented on the organization’s preference to have a succession plan in place which may or may not include Bloom.
- Regarding the payroll for the 2024 season, Mozeliak left open the possibility of future additions to the roster. These comments follow a recent report by John Denton of MLB.com that Cardinals Chairman Bill DeWitt told him the team is not likely to make additional moves this offseason.
The events conclude on Monday. For more details on the Winter Warm-Up, see the expansive coverage by Brian Walton here at The Cardinal Nation.
News and Notes for the Cardinals offseason
This section features offseason news items each week that do not require extensive coverage.
- The Cardinals and five arbitration eligible players reached an agreement prior to the January 11 deadline. The players and their 2024 salaries are Dylan Carlson ($2.35 million), Ryan Helsley ($3.8 million), Andrew Kittredge ($2.635 million) John King ($1.005 million) and JoJo Romero ($860,00). The Cardinals failed to reach agreement with Tommy Edman and will go to an arbitration hearing unless a last-minute deal on an extension is reached.
- The Cardinals’ annual Winter Warm-Up wraps up on Monday, January 15. Player interviews with the media continue, as well as other events, including autograph sessions and the annual St. Louis BBWAA dinner on Sunday night.
- Cardinals 2024 spring training begins with pitchers and catchers reporting on February 13. First workouts for pitchers and catchers will be on February 14. Position players will hold their first workout on February 19.
The Cardinals announced their list of non-roster invitees. Twenty-seven players were invited, including 14 pitchers, seven catchers, four infielders, and two outfielders. The complete NRI roster is included below in this report.
Trade and Acquisition Rumors
- As stated earlier in this report, POBO John Mozeliak stated in a media session at the Winter Warm-Up this weekend that the door isn’t closed on adding additional players to the roster. An additional relief pitcher may be most likely.
The Cardinals’ most recent acquisition was reliever Andrew Kittredge in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Cardinals have been linked loosely with other relievers, including Phil Maton, Hector Neris, and Ryan Brasier.
Transactions
- 1/10 The Cardinals invited the following 27 non-roster players to spring training:
- RHPs Michael McGreevy, Gordon Graceffo, Tink Hence, Kyle Leahy, Ryan Loutos, Logan Sawyer, Victor Santos, Wilking Rodriguez, Andre Granillo, Max Rajcic and Tekoah Roby
- LHPs Connor Thomas, Packy Naughton, and Cooper Hjerpe
- Catchers Aaron Antonini, Wade Stauss, Jimmy Crooks, Nick Raposo, Leonardo Bernal, Sammy Hernandez, and Carlos Linarez
- INFs Arquimedes Gamboa, Cesar Prieto, Jeremy Rivas, and Thomas Saggese
- OFs Matt Koperniak and Victor Scott.
Injury Report
- IF/OF Tommy Edman had arthroscopic surgery on his right wrist in October. The surgery was not publicly announced by the Cardinals, and its occurrence was revealed in several reports on X (formerly Twitter) on January 4. The team and Edman are hopeful that he will be ready to go for Spring Training.
- During this weekend’s Winter Warm-Up, POBO John Mozeliak provided updates on Brendan Donovan and Dylan Carlson, both of whom ended the season on the injured list. Mozeliak stated that both Donovan (elbow) and Carlson (ankle) are expected to be ready to go for Spring Training.
Looking Ahead
2024 has begun and spring training is just around the corner in mid-February. The Cardinals Spring Training schedule can be found here.
The deadline for submitting arbitration figures has passed. The Cardinals and five players reached agreement on salaries for the 2024 season. Those players and their salaries are Dylan Carlson ($2.35 million), Ryan Helsley ($3.8 million), Andrew Kittredge ($2.635 million), John King ($1.005 million) and JoJo Romero ($860,00).
The Cardinals failed to reach agreement with Tommy Edman and will go to arbitration with him barring a last-minute agreement on a multi-year contract. Arbitration hearings run from January 29 through February 16.
The 2024 international signing period begins on January 15.
The 2024 Baseball Hall of Fame class will be announced on January 23 on MLB Network at 5 p.m. CT.
Blast from the Past
Blast from the Past continues the look at notable trades and/or signings that occurred during the offseason each week of December and January.
In line with the previous week’s Blast, we review player transactions and other notable events from the week of January 8 through January 14.
Player transactions:
January 10, 2007 – The Cardinals signed Rick Ankiel as a free agent. He was drafted by the Cardinals in the second round of the 1997 draft as a pitcher. The left-hander was a highly touted prospect and made his debut on the mound with the Cardinals on August 23, 1999. Ankiel began having control issues in 2000 and those issues continued for several seasons, culminating in his decision to stop pitching and switch to the outfield. He spent time in the Cardinals minor league system as an outfielder and returned to the major leagues on August 9, 2007.
January 14, 2008 – The Cardinals traded 3B Scott Rolen to the Toronto Blue Jays for 3B Troy Glaus. Future Hall of Famer Rolen clashed with manager Tony LaRussa.
Other notable events:
January 8, 2002 – Ozzie Smith is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
January 8, 2016– Former Cardinals Scouting Director Chris Correa pleads guilty to five federal charges of unauthorized access of a protected computer. Correa had been charged with hacking into the Houston Astros database on multiple occasions during 2013 and 2014.
January 10, 1885 – The St. Louis Browns were formally admitted into the National League. This Browns team, owned by Chris von der Ahe, would become the St. Louis Cardinals in 1900.
January 12, 1999 – Mark McGwire’s 70th home run ball was purchased at auction for $3 million.
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