Cardinals Baseball: A New Era | St. Louis Cardinals

Cardinals Baseball: A New Era | St. Louis Cardinals

and the world champion for 2011. In St. Louis, baseball is about tradition and Hall of Fame players, but most importantly, it’s about winning. It’s time to win the time. A new world record of 17 strikeouts in one game. A swing and a miss. And that’s the winner. That’s the winner. Go crazy, folks. Go crazy. Swing along. We are going to game number seven to run home run Yan Marina. We will see you tomorrow night. The tradition of Cardinals baseball continues, but with a new voice. Him Bloom takes over as president of baseball operations. To those who love this team, if you could see that work ethic, that care factor that I get to see every day, you’d be fired up. And yet, we are not where we want to be. Our goal is to feel the team every year that can compete for this division and for a World Series championship. To me, it’s simple. This organization at its best sets the standard for the rest of baseball. That’s what set this organization apart for 100 years. While the changes are in place, the outgoing president of baseball ops was one of the best the organization has ever seen in John Mosa. I’m going to miss you. Thank you. No, that’s real talk. I mean, I’ve known you from day one. Here we go. Here at the ballpark and it’s our final home game of the year and the final home game for the president of baseball operations, John Mo. You know, that’s the hardest part for me is is being in one place for so long. Um, a lot of times in this industry, people move around. Very nomadic type of industry. And but for me, it’s it’s it’s it’s hard to like think about being a part of another organization cuz I’ve been a part of this one for so long. And um, you know, right now I look at myself as a Cardinal and and uh probably will die as a cardinal. I know right now I’m I’m not the most popular person in in this city, but I I hope over time they realize what we were able to accomplish. It will look people will look back on it fondly and with pride. And if that happens, you know, I’ll always have a smile on my face. Coming up, Heim Bloom is in control. But what does that look like? I wanted to lay out a guidepost. I wanted to lay out a road map so that our fans can hold us accountable to that to understand what’s going to be behind moves that we make. That’s next on Cardinal Baseball, a new era. A transition is in place. John Mosa moves on and Heim Bloom takes over as Cardinals president of baseball operations. We have really smart fans and you know I wanted to lay out a guidepost. I wanted to lay out a road map so that our fans can hold us accountable to that to understand what’s going to be behind moves that we make. The great thing about this game is that people can like things we do. They can dislike them. They can disagree. But I at least want them to know why we’re doing the things that we’re doing. It’s not everywhere that you have the type of fan base that I think wants, craves, can handle, uh, you know, that type of cander. I want to keep providing that uh because I know our fans are in it with us. This is not an optional thing for Cardinals fans. They’re going to live and die with this. So, I want to make sure uh that they’re getting as much cander from me as I possibly can give. Part of that cander is understanding what the St. Louis Cardinals mean to a city that craves winning and a staff who understands that as well. Assistant GM for player development and performance Rob Surfolio is helping the organization implement that mindset at every level. First of the winning tradition speaks for itself. One of the things that I’ve always loved about this organization, going back to names like George Kle, is we’re going to teach fundamentals. We’re going to teach team defense. We’re going to know how to do quote the little things, the basebally things that allow you to win a game at 7:00 in the major leagues. I have appreciated this organization from afar and it just is aligned with my identity of there are no little things. There’s just things and we’re going to coach towards all of those things whether it’s in the big leagues or whether it’s a guy in rookie ball. U we’re going to ensure that we are helping that player get better at the skills he needs to be a great major leager. you have to like actually teach um and spend time on all those things that you know I think a lot a lot of organizations sometimes just pour pour less resources into. We’re only going to be as good as we can be if we’re all working together. Now look with that uh in this seat comes responsibility comes authority. You make decisions. It’s your job to lay out for people what that target is and to hold them accountable for hitting it. But it ultimately is about the team because we can’t achieve what we’re trying to achieve without a lot of great people working together towards it. Straight ahead, what’s new is also familiar as him and the Cardinals double down on player development. When you do achieve something really great and you get the chance to take a breath, to step back and say, “Look at what we did together.” That’s really satisfying. That’s next on Cardinals baseball, a new era. Historically, this this franchise has had its best and most success with players they developed. The minor league system is where the Cardinals have historically made their name in the game of baseball. From Branch Ricky to George Kle to Bing Divine to Whitey Herszog to Walt Joy to John Mosa, Hall of Fame players have been developed in the Cardinals system. That tradition looks to continue in player development and changes are already underway and the club has a new voice to lead that direction. One of the cool things about what I get to do, what I’ve gotten to do my whole career, is you have this chance to do something honestly really difficult and to build something really great and to do it with people that you’re invested in. And the combination of those two things is really kind of a sweet spot for me. It’s really something that is energizing. And so there’s going to be uh ups and downs with that. But when you do achieve something really great and you get the chance to take a breath to step back and say, “Look at what we did together.” That’s really satisfying and it’s even more so when you get to do it in a place where not only does it mean a lot to the people inside of these walls, but it means so much to so many people outside of the walls and and that’s also very special and something I look forward to experiencing. I really want to be around leaders that just model excellence in all phases of their life and I I think he’s a great example of that and it’s been really fun and and developmental for me to continue to be around him over the last 365. I think it’s really the chance to have an impact on so many people. Obviously, you do that by winning, right? And that’s kind of the easy answer to this question. It’s cool when you find out that the things you did to try to help bring people along, try to help them be the best version of themselves, whether it’s staff or players, that you find out one day that that was really meaningful to them. It’s cool to know that uh when we win, when we get a product on this field uh that’s able to compete for the division every year, that’s able to compete for championships, that it that this place is going to be packed and rocking and it’s going to mean a lot to people literally everywhere in the United States and really in the world because Cardinals fans are everywhere. He has already been a part of the organization auditing and revamping the minor league system. So, he has a firm view of the changes he wants to implement. The role that I’ve had the last couple years in some sense it was really two roles. You know I came here really as a consultant almost just to assess the state of things within the system the farm system and player development and performance groups and then that sort of developed into this transition plan uh to be able to start implementing some changes in those areas and then getting to know the rest of the organization on the way to taking on this role. I tried to just lean into all the advantages that it gives and I think probably the biggest one of them was really just the ability to kind of get on the ground and see this place through the eyes of the people who are in the trenches doing the work. Now I was also going to come to some of my own judgments, have my own opinions on some things that I saw and at the end of the day regardless of all that feedback I needed to, you know, set a direction and set a course. But having all that input and really building all those relationships I think was super helpful cuz it is going to be a little uncomfortable when you have change and that will continue um you know in this next role. A lot of my job a lot of the job of our leaders is to identify all the great things about this place that we need to sustain and feed and nurture and then figure out where there are opportunities to move us forward. And that should feel a little uncomfortable cuz that’s how we make progress. This is a really competitive business and so if we want to win, we should be pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones. He’s the right man at the right time. But what prepared him to begin this new segment of club history. He took me under his wing and what was remarkable about that when I started there as an intern was he very easily could have been threatened by me cuz he was part of the quote unquote old regime. That’s next on Cardinals baseball, a new era. For Him Bloom, there’s been formative stops along his journey in Boston and in particular Tampa Bay. His mentors have been giants in the game. Time well spent in the Rays organization, namely with Andrew Freriedman, now of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He gets a lot of credit for the moves he makes, rightly so, but you know, I think the way that he deals with the people around him and the way that he makes everybody feel a part of what we’re doing is something I really took a lot of lessons from. And then someone else who not as many people might know, uh Mitch Luc was the Ray’s farm director uh for 14 years and he took me under his wing. And what was remarkable about that when I started there as an intern was he very easily could have been threatened by me cuz he was part of the quote unquote old regime. Instead of uh holding me at arms length, Mitch really uh took me under his wing and and tried to help me out and became a great mentor to me. He gave me such a wonderful grassroots education in this game and particularly in player development. Those previous stops built a resume that fits Cardinals baseball. from my time with the Rays. What a special experience that was. Uh, and special in some ways because of how unique the organization is. What it built was this special culture within the organization where we were just all in it together. It really fundamentally built within me this belief that I have that yeah, sure, we’re trying to information is important. We’re trying to have all those advantages. We need to have all those advantages, but at the end of the day, people and culture are what drive lasting success. That’s the biggest lesson I take from my time there. And that alignment uh from ownership to front office to the clubhouse, you can really achieve some great things and you can achieve more than you probably should. It’s off to the Cardinals for Heim Bloom, an organization with history and winning, a responsibility that he doesn’t take lightly. Just that willingness to grind with an eye on the target regardless of the obstacles, I think is going to serve us really well. That’s next on Cardinals Baseball, a new era. As Heim Bloom takes over the reigns of the Cardinals, the stakes are certainly high, but it’s a challenge both he and his staff are embracing. This past season, Heim got to take stock of what the organization is and what it certainly can be again as it looks to return to past glory. organizationally. It’ll be a learning experience along the way. One thing that stood out to me that I do not take for granted, and I especially don’t take it for granted in kind of a big boy flagship organization, which this is, is that the people here uh really just have this approach of just wanting to get the job done. Uh they are not overfocused on the obstacles, they’re focused on what they’re trying to accomplish. And that’s really important in our business. It’s really important in life. Life isn’t perfect. This game isn’t perfect. And especially when you’re competing, it’s probably never going to line up exactly the way you want. And you still got to execute and you still got to find a way to have success. That is very much in the water in the culture here. That is something that I I see our people do. Uh just that willingness to grind with an eye on the target regardless of the obstacles I think is going to serve us really well. I hope it’s an organization that from top to bottom is about playing winning team baseball and developing players internally, finding ways to acquire guys that help us do that. Um, and through great hiring and having the best teachers on earth, whether it’s, like I said, the major leagues or the minor leagues, we have teachers first that are pouring time, resources, energy into helping all of our players find what the next best version of them is. And that takes guesswork sometimes. That takes a lot of smart people in the room to sift through data to make sure that we’re evidence-based in everything that we do. Uh but ultimately it’s just that mindset in unity of all of our people, players, and staff that we are going to attack this day and we are going to win the day. That doesn’t mean necessarily we’re going to win every time on the scoreboard, but we are going to win our process between the hours of 1 to 10 p.m. And that process is getting better and finding a way to learn from what happened, whether we won or lost the game. Winning games in the regular season, that means division titles, the NLCS, and the ultimate prize of a world championship. So, the future is something on the minds of the Cardinals front office on a daily basis, and that means winning. I really wonder if people don’t think about those things, then what do they think about? That should be such a big reason why we all want to do this, why we signed up, uh, you know, to be in this business. Um, absolutely. Like, I’ve I’ve gotten to taste that in some other places and understand what that feels like. Um, I don’t know, but I can imagine what it might feel like here. So, yeah, absolutely. Coming up, the Heim Bloom era is off and running and prioritizing innovation is on deck. Hear more about it when we return on Cardinals baseball, a new era. As the club embarks on a new era of Cardinals baseball under Heim Bloom, it means a different look to the organization and how it develops players. Innovation will play a critical role. The great thing about this business is the answer to that is always changing. The industry has become very good at figuring out whenever anybody does something well, your competition figures that out pretty quickly and tries to copy it. Uh I think you know as I’ve talked about the importance of people and culture that really is number one because you can have the best ideas but if you don’t have people willing to work together to implement them and able to work together you’re just never going to be as good as you want to be. So ultimately having good people and having a great culture which is really about how your people are working together. That’s the foundation that all this other stuff happens on. And from there it involves uh making sure you are relentless in pursuing the best methods to get the most talent out of your players. Making sure you’re really disciplined in how you are measuring what works. Um we can have opinions. It doesn’t all have to be numbers based. It can be subjective as well. But if you don’t have some kind of target, if we don’t have some kind of agreement around how do we know if what we’re doing is working and how are we really going to assess that, it’s really hard to get better. And then you need to really communicate well. Uh you’re going to get better faster if you have good communication, if you have great feedback, if you have people willing to share ideas, so that when you come up with an idea, usually the first draft of that idea is not going to be what wins the day. But if you have a culture where you can iterate on that idea really effectively because people are giving feedback, people are engaged in it, they’re willing to offer suggestions, they’re willing to give constructive criticism, all of a sudden very rapidly you get to the point where that idea is pretty refined. And now it becomes a process that when you roll it out, people are like, “Wow, this is great.” Uh, and you just got to do that across a lot of areas, whether it’s on the field with our, uh, player development staff, uh, or whether it’s in the gym, uh, or in the training room with our performance staff, uh, or in the front office with with the information we provide or in so many other areas of the organization. If we’re doing all those things really well, we’re going to very quickly figure out uh best practices and potentially beat other teams to that objective of just trying to help our players a little more and a little better than those other teams are able to do. One of those practices is inviting prospects to Bush Stadium, giving them a taste of what it might be like one day if they get that call to the big leagues. Our big goals were to one, let them feel this stadium. Let them pitchers feel the mound. Hitters step in the box, take a couple at bats, park where you would park, walk through the halls of a clubhouse so that when they do make their first debut that they have a little bit of comfort, they know where to go. There’s no first day at school vibes that they have to also manage on top of the challenging uh task they have at 7:00. So, that was a big part of it. The other key thing is like we talked about at the beginning, investing in these guys as people um and really leveraging this this critical window in the off season. I think a lot of times people think that in order to get better at baseball, you have to play more baseball. And that’s just so far from true. And the only way we accomplish that or leverage the offseason to the degree that we need is we take time to calibrate with our players what went well this past year. forget about the onfield performance like your statline side of it. Just what can we take from the last 365 and how do we use that information to help set you up for a great 2026. So, it was really in-depth conversations and I deserve very little credit for the work that all of our coordinators and directors put into coming up with a plan, making sure that the player has a huge voice and what that plan is and then making sure that we align with them. We partner with our players on how we’re going to accomplish that. No guesswork. We want our guys walking out of here with like crystal clear intentions and thoughts and how they’re actually going to pull off the things that we all decided to accomplish over the next 4 months before we see these guys in spring training. So, in the future, I hope a lot of that training happens with us and our own staff in Jupiter. But given the nature of the construction this year, we’re going to be doing a lot of remote coaching with our players from afar. As Heim Bloom puts his stamp on the organization, it’s an ode to the past and a look to the future. A role that means doing what’s best for the organization and its fan base. Well, it’s really exciting. I mean, this is a privilege and it’s uh not something I take lightly. Really cool uh to be in this seat, have this opportunity. Uh but also in some ways it’s it’s it’s more of a continuation uh really like I’ve been able to be here for a couple of years. So, I come into this having had the chance to already get to know a lot of our staff, a lot of our players, a lot of the people who work in this organization. And it’s neat to be able to uh really buckle down and focus on the work. Not that those relationships aren’t things that I’m going to continue to grow. Of course, I will, but um just to be able to uh already have gotten to know a lot of people and tackle to work with them is exciting. It’s one of the most historic franchises in sports and now it forges ahead with a new voice. This has been Cardinals baseball, a new era. [Music]

New baseball leadership brings a new era for the St. Louis Cardinals. Hear from new President of Baseball Operations, Chaim Bloom, in this Cardinals Originals special. Step inside the Busch Stadium boardroom, and hear from executives as they lay out their vision for building a consistent winner.