St. Louis Cardinals' Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom addressed financial disparities in the sport on Saturday at the team's "Winter Warm Up," saying that financial disparities do exist between teams, but that he will never allow it to be an excuse for how the Cardinals operate and build their team.

"As it relates to us, this is really important. Yes, the landscape is different team-to-team. That's a reality. We do have different parameters from what the Dodgers have. Therefore, if we want to win, we are going to have to go about it a little differently. But we also can never, ever, allow that to be an excuse within our baseball operation. It can't be. I just don't think that's a winning mindset and we're going to stamp out that mindset, even as we know it's a different landscape... we cannot be more focused on the obstacle than the goal. So does that mean we need to go about it a little differently, be a little more resourceful? Sure, but that's our challenge, and we're going to get after it and I have every confidence that we're going to be able to do it."

The Dodgers continue to be the talk of baseball after signing Kyle Tucker to a massive four-year, $240 million deal last week. The two-time defending champions also added elite closer Edwin Diaz earlier this offseason. They operate in a different financial stratosphere than most other teams, and the use of contract deferrals is also a big thing that they are willing to do that some others aren't.

As for the Cardinals, spending won't be an issue for them this season. At the beginning of a rebuild, the Cardinals have already unloaded high-priced veterans like Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras and Nolan Arenado. St. Louis will run a bottom-10 payroll this year, but the hope is that those savings will be reinvested when the team is ready to compete, hopefully within the next three years.

Until then, expect the Cardinals to operate modestly when it comes to player acquisition. They've signed Dustin May and Ryne Stanek to one-year deals (with options) and are reportedly interested in rehabbing starting pitcher Griffin Canning.

They are still expected to trade versatile All-Star Brendan Donovan and top reliever JoJo Romero at some point before the end of 2026, with Donovan generating significant trade interest throughout the offseason from several teams, including the Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants.

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