My in-laws are envisioning a dynasty, and I’m quietly recalling the highs and lows from his Red Sox tenure.
My in‑laws from St. Louis, MO are in town for the holidays, and all they can talk about is Chaim Bloom - yes, that Chaim Bloom - being the new president of baseball operations for the Cardinals.
They’re downright giddy, spinning grand visions of future World Series parades down Market Street, stockpiling premium pitching, and turning the Red Birds into perennial contenders yet again.
It’s infectious enthusiasm - almost enough to make me forget my own skepticism for anything the man touches at the major league level.
Bloom officially took over as the Cardinals’ president of baseball operations after the 2025 season after a long run by John Mozeliak came to an end. While “Mo” helped lead the franchise to four NL pennants and two World Series titles while serving in various roles for the Cardinals - notably as general manager since 2007 - three consecutive mediocre-to-bad seasons had St. Louis fans ready for a change at the top.
Cardinals leadership underscored long‑term goals at Bloom’s introductory press conference, stressing there won’t be short‑term sacrifices in pursuit of sustainable success. And sure, on paper that sounds great to anyone who loves the Cardinals.
But then I remember Bloom’s Boston chapter, and it makes me smirk.
As we know here in Boston, Bloom was once the chief baseball officer of the Red Sox from 2020 to 2023. Red Sox Nation was famously divided in their opinions about his tenure, especially given how few big acquisitions he was able to pull off and how some roster decisions played out on the field.
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While he helped shore up Boston’s farm system and modernize player development (see Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, Kyle Teel), his track record with major league talent evaluation and impactful deadline moves left most fans more than underwhelmed.
Don’t get me wrong, Bloom clearly knows baseball, analytics, and organizational infrastructure.
But major league roster construction? That was often where the critiques hit hardest.
Unfair or not, first impressions leave the biggest mark. And when Bloom, at the behest of Fenway Sports Group, traded Mookie Betts to the Dodgers for a return that included Alex Verdugo, Jeters Downs and Connor Wong, that was always going to be the steepest mountain of all time to climb.
He was never able to overcome this, and only continued making bad decision after bad decision with personnel at the big league over time.
Fans joked/bemoaned that Bloom excelled in prospect development, but struggled to translate that into consistent winning at the MLB level. The jokes were more than founded, as was the belly-aching.
His Cardinals job, essentially, gives him a fresh slate - with shockingly higher expectations from a passionate fanbase who live and breathe every single move the Cardinals make, 365 days a year.
They don’t have the NFL. They don’t have the NBA. The Blues are in the midst of a rebuild. If Cardinals baseball wasn’t already a religion in the midwest, it matter more than ever for a sports-obsessed region starved for professional success from a team that plays in a league people actually care about (no disrespect to the MLS or UFL).
My in‑laws are already mapping out bold future trade targets, dreaming of pitching rotations that will rival the Dodgers after letting Bloom “get his hands on a few drafts,’ and talking like his first year on the job will be the start of building the bones of the next great St. Louis dynasty.
To them, this is the dawn of something special.
To me? I just sit back, quietly chuckling, remembering how fine the line often is between vision and reality in baseball front offices - especially ones where Bloom is the brains of the operation.
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Tom Carroll is a contributor for Roundtable, with boots-on-the-ground coverage of all things Boston sports. He's a senior digital content producer for WEEI.com, and a native of Lincoln, RI.