Armchair GM: Inside Chaim Bloom’s Head, and the Next Big Move

The Cardinal Chronicle
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

Armchair GM: Inside Bloom’s Head, the Next Big Move 

If we try to get inside Chaim Bloom’s head, the next true strategic move seems fairly obvious: at some point, the Cardinals will need to convert part of their surplus of young position-player depth into controllable starting pitching.

That does not mean chasing the most expensive rental on the market. That does not mean emptying the farm for a two-month name. And it certainly does not mean abandoning the long-term plan because the first half of 2026 has gone better than expected.

But it does mean the plan has changed.

Bloom entered his first full season running baseball operations with a clear assignment: reset the roster, clear payroll, build around youth, and give the organization room to breathe again. The winter moves made that plain. Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras, and Brendan Donovan were all moved as part of a significant roster reshaping. Bloom has already shown he is not afraid to make a deal when he believes value is there.

Then the young Cardinals complicated everything by winning.

The so-called “Yungry Redbirds” were not supposed to force this conversation so soon. This was supposed to be a development year, maybe even a transitional year, with the focus more on 2027 and beyond than on October 2026. Instead, the Cardinals have played their way into relevance, and that changes the front office equation. Winning does not erase patience, but it does put a clock on it.

That is where Bloom’s test begins.

The Cardinals have enough young position-player talent to build with, but also enough overlap to create difficult decisions. Not everyone can play. Not everyone can be protected forever. Not every promising bat has a clear path to regular at-bats in St. Louis. At some point, surplus stops being depth and starts becoming currency.

And the obvious target is starting pitching.

The current rotation has performed admirably, but it is not constructed like a finished postseason staff. Matthew Liberatore has recently shown signs of improvement, including better underlying numbers over his recent outings. Andre Pallante delivered a strong start Wednesday night against Texas, allowing one run over 5 2/3 innings in a 5-3 win. Kyle Leahy has earned a chance as a starter. The club opened the season with a rotation of Liberatore, Michael McGreevy, Dustin May, Leahy, and Pallante.

That group is not without value. In fact, part of the Cardinals’ surprise success comes from the fact that several of those arms have held the line better than expected.

But holding the line in June and carrying a club through September are two different chores.

The Cardinals need a starter who fits the next window, not just the next series. A high-upside, controllable arm would serve both missions at once. It would help the 2026 club without turning the front office into deadline-day gamblers. It would also support the larger rebuild, because the one thing every serious contender eventually needs is starting pitching it can trust.

That is why Bloom’s likely move is not a rental splash. It is a targeted trade.
The name on the back of the jersey matters less than the profile: young enough to fit, talented enough to grow, controllable enough to justify the prospect cost, and ideally with enough present ability to help this year. That kind of pitcher will not be cheap—it never is. But the Cardinals are better positioned than most clubs to deal from young position-player depth without jeopardizing their foundation.

Before anything big happens, though, the first move is probably much smaller.
Lars Nootbaar is expected to rejoin the Cardinals for Friday’s series opener against Cincinnati after finishing his rehab assignment, and he recently homered for Triple-A Memphis during that rehab stint. His return will force a 26-man roster move, and that decision may tell us something about how Bloom and the Cardinals view the next layer of the roster.

That is the paper move.

The real move comes later.

When Nootbaar returns, someone loses a spot. When Ramón Urías and Nathan Church get closer, the math gets tighter. When the young bats keep pushing, the front office has to decide who is part of the core, who is useful depth, and who is most valuable as trade capital.

That is not cold. That is baseball.

The Cardinals can talk about building from within, and they should. But building from within does not mean keeping every player forever. Sometimes development produces your next everyday player. Sometimes it produces your next trade chip. The best organizations know the difference before the rest of the league does.

Bloom’s background suggests he will not rush into a headline move just to prove the Cardinals are “going for it.” That would be the old trap. He is more likely to wait for a deal that checks both boxes: helping now while protecting the future.

Still, there is a line between patience and paralysis.

The Cardinals have put themselves in a position where doing nothing is also a choice. If this club remains in the race as July approaches, Bloom cannot pretend this is just a nice little development story. The players have earned more than a shrug. The clubhouse deserves a front office that recognizes opportunity when it arrives early.

The trick is not to abandon the plan.

The trick is to update it.

And that is why the next major move, if Bloom is reading the room correctly, should be simple in concept even if difficult in execution: trade from young position-player surplus, acquire controllable starting pitching, and give this surprising club a better chance to turn a rebuilding year into something more.
The future still matters.

But so does the standings page.

And sometimes, when a young team grows up faster than expected, the front office has to grow with it.

The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports
Preserving the Past, Promoting the Present, and Projecting the Future.

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Photo Credit: Chaim Bloom, St. Louis Cardinals, St. Louis Jewish Light