The St. Louis Cardinals players are at home, on a beach, or in a gym watching another exciting postseason, but that does not mean there is a lack of activity surrounding the franchise. The offseason in St. Louis kicked off with a farewell to John Mozeliak, who officially left the organization he has been with since 1995, and the next day we got the chance to welcome in the new leader for the future of the Cardinals in Chaim Bloom.

After a third consecutive season where the team missed the playoffs and teased the idea of a rebuild, there is no question that is the way things will be going in Bloom’s inaugural season at the helm. Bloom has already met with Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray, and Willson Contreras to discuss their no-trade clauses, and Katie Woo believes that the new POBO will be saying farewell to at least two of the team’s lefty bats. So, let’s take a look at what Bloom needs to accomplish in his first offseason.

Chaim Blooms Offseason Checklist

This spot was originally going to be used for making a decision on the manager, but Bloom made it clear that Oliver Marmol will be returning for another season. In my opinion, this was the best option as Marmol still has a year remaining on his contract and can be a source of consistency is an otherwise changing offseason. Since Marmol is back, that makes priority number one:

Deal Nolan Arenado

Last offseason, Mozeliak said that trading the potential Hall of Fame third baseman was “priority one, two, and three”, yet Arenado spent the entire season with the Cardinals after vetoing a deal to Houston and underperforming enough to remove other potential suitors. Along with a lengthy absence due to a shoulder injury, Arenado’s value is far below what it was at this time last offseason.

Finding a trade partner will be difficult again, but this time, Arenado has said he understands he will have to widen his list of preferred destinations in order to find a fit. If the Cardinals do not find a deal to their liking, in both prospect capital and cost savings, Bloom already said the team would be happy to have him back. That is what the organization cannot have happen again, unless there was an explicit understanding of his role being a mentor/bench player as the team needs to figure out what they have in their young prospects.

A trade of Arenado not only gets him playing for a contender, it also opens up a spot at third base and in the middle of the order for whoever the Cardinals want to see take the position. In what could be a full on competition, the team will likely have all of Nolan Gorman, Thomas Saggese, and JJ Wetherholt taking reps at the hot corner and see which lefty can stake claim of the vacancy.

Commit to the bit

For years, the Cardinals have toed the line of being “cheap” and competitive while relying on their trademark Devil Magic to lead them to the postseason with a team full of over-performing nobodies. Now, other teams have taken advantage of that complacency and become more aggressive on both the free agent and trade fronts. The Cardinals, though, have stayed true to the “Cardinal Way” and continued to trot out a roster with middle-of-the-road payroll numbers and pitchers whose best asset was eating innings.

We heard last year that things would look different but the organization trotted out much of the same cast they employed in 2023 and 2024. This year, they need to commit to their words and truly change their ways. This is where fans can have their disagreements but, in regards to Woo’s article about lefty trade pieces, I am on board with the Cardinals seriously considering trades of Brendan Donovan and Lars Nootbaar. Every time I say this, it always comes with the disclaimer: “This does not mean I dislike either player or think they are bad players.”

This thought and belief comes from understanding that the Cardinals are not just one or two players away from contending and dealing two players who may have hit or are close to their ceiling with minimal team control relative to their peers could help to streamline the roster retool. Both players are 28-years-old and will be free agents at the end of the 2027 season. These are the two I have personally chosen rather than including Alec Burleson and/or Nolan Gorman in trade talks. To me, Donovan has maxed out his value with the Cardinals as a superb utility man who can run into a dozen homers but that is not the type of player that a team needs to build around. That type of production is a supplemental, luxury piece on any contending team, not a cornerstone. In Nootbaar’s sake, the injury questions lingers yet again and I have not seen enough sustained success to warrant him taking up a spot in the outfield on a near-full-time basis again in 2026. Noot has enough value to be intriguing among other teams, but may not have the potential to bite the organization in the butt like Adolis Garcia or Randy Arozarena have done since their deals.

That means I am planning on keeping Burleson, who is under team control through 2028 and is a year younger, and Gorman, who is on the same timeline but only 25 years old, as mainstays for next year’s roster. Burleson has turned into a quality major league hitter and continued to improve this season after his second-half downturn in 2024. His defensive ceiling is extremely low, but he at least improved in the corner outfield and plays serviceable defense at first. Gorman is a huge question as he has also not taken advantage of his playing time, but I am still positive about his 30-homer potential and ability to play both second and third.

Solve the pitching problem ASAP

Unfortunately, dealing Sonny Gray only makes one of the weakest points of the 2025 Cardinals roster even worse. For the season, St. Louis pitchers combined to put up the 20th best fWAR in the majors (10th in NL), and it gets even worse when you look at just the starting rotation who had the 5th-worst mark in baseball after their starters went 47-60 with a 4.67 ERA. Of course, those bad numbers look worse when you look at the fact that Andre Pallante, Miles Mikolas, and Erick Fedde combined to go 17-36 and Mikolas’ 4.84 ERA was the best of the trio.

With Mikolas and Fedde gone, along with Gray being willing to accept a trade, the current rotation only has Matthew Liberatore and Michael McGreevy penciled in for two of the five spots. Kyle Leahy, who had a great year out of the bullpen, received a spot start in the season finale along with some extended relief appearances and figures to get a crack at the rotation. In the upper minors, there is no clear “next man up” but it is possible Quinn Mathews, who was a top-100 prospect at the start of last season but struggled with command and health in 2025, could get an extended look this spring. Even with those two, that brings the group to maybe four arms. The fifth spot, as of right now, will probably be Pallante’s unless the team decides they can upgrade his spot as well.

What I want Bloom to do is go out early and fill at least one spot quickly in the offseason. I will be more convinced that his era will be different if the organization does not try to outsmart the market and wait for the cheapest deal. I will be even more encouraged if this signing is a higher velocity/strikeout-type starter who may have dealt with command or injury issues and could take a short-term, prove-it deal. With the Cardinals not looking to compete this year, I think they could be seen as a positive stepping stone for pitchers looking to revive their career or pitch their way into a Trade Deadline deal.

Don’t be afraid to spend

This one is tricky as Bill DeWitt Jr. claims that he has not yet spoken about payroll with Bloom, despite Bloom being with the organization since 2023. While I think it makes sense to not put a set number on payroll, I find it hard to believe that the two did not at least discuss a budget for the season, which includes payroll, player development, and staff costs. A specific payroll could be fluid, especially early in the offseason as the team figures out how much money they will have to include in any trades around Arenado or Gray.

Even without that clarity, the team is going into the offseason sitting below $100 million and that includes the handful of players that will see an uptick in salary after the arbitration process. A $100 million payroll (money specifically allocated to players) would be 25th in baseball, just below the Cleveland Guardians and ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays. Assuming the Cardinals eat half of the salaries of the two veterans, they would go into the offseason with a massive cushion to any number that DeWitt puts on the organization.

Now, as I ask for them to spend, I am also being realistic and know they will not be in the bidding war for high-priced free agents like Kyle Tucker or potentially Dylan Cease or Zac Gallen to a point. However, I do want them to spend more than the $2 million they invested in Phil Maton this offseason and sign a starting pitcher early. If they can fill one spot in the rotation, they can see what additional holes they need to fill and can set their sights on specific positions in trade talks.

Offensively, there is no clear spot where the team will have to invest financial resources into the big league roster so there could potentially even be more room to throw money at the pitching problem. Two starting pitchers in addition to a couple of bullpen arms would be a positive step, especially as we saw that bullpen volatility with inexperienced arms is a real thing. If they spend well, the 2026 season may not be as painful as anticipated. The offense may not be able to slug their way to victory, but a solid pitching staff could at least keep the games watchable past the fifth inning.