Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. and president of baseball operations John Mozeliak wanted to take action to restore the organization’s player-development machine.
This once heralded foundation of St. Louis baseball had fallen into decline, so the Cardinals recruited Chaim Bloom and gave him a generous budget to modernize a deplorably outdated operation.
In turn, Bloom recruited talented, up-and-coming executives to join the restoration project. The curative Bloom Effect initiated a change in draft philosophy, and aligned the major-league leadership with the minor-league initiatives so everyone would work together in a shared objective.
“They included the big-league staff to what’s going on down below” in player development, Cards manager Oli Marmol said. “The continuity has been energizing.”
The perception of the Cardinals’ player-development system is changing. Maybe it’s because of Bloom’s stellar reputation in the field of talent evaluation. Maybe it’s because he brought in so many talented people, including Rob Cerfolio, Larry Day and Matt Pierpont.
Maybe it’s because DeWitt invested a large amount of money in Bloom’s reconstruction. Maybe it’s because Mozeliak had some good people already in place including the talented director of scouting, Randy Flores.
Maybe it’s because of the addition of two top-seven overall selections in the last two MLB Drafts – infielder JJ Wetherholt, and pitcher Liam Doyle. Maybe it's all of the above … and more.
The Cardinals’ sudden talent infusion and the freshness that comes in with it has gained attention within the industry. And the independent evaluators are elevating the Cardinals in their farm-system rankings.
I tracked a few of the respected sites to gauge the changing trends.
MLB PIPELINE: The Cards’ system was ranked 23rd overall before the 2024 season, moved up to 20th before the start of 2025, and recently moved up to No. 12 in the midseason rankings.
BASEBALL AMERICA: Ranked 20th overall at the start of 2024, slipped to No. 21 at midseason (2024), improved to 18th at the start of 2025, and moved to No. 14 in the recent midseason rankings.
FANGRAPHS: 20th before the 2024 season, 21st at midseason (2024), No. 15 at the start of 2025 – and then all the way up to No. 6 in the recent midseason update. The organizations in front of the Cardinals (in order) were the Guardians, Dodgers, Rays, Brewers and Tigers.
ESPN: The Cardinals’ farm system was ranked 18th at the start of 2024, moved up to No. 15 at midseason, was listed at 19th before the start of 2025, and zoomed all the way to No. 9 in the recent update.
* Here’s what ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel had to say about the Cardinals’ quick movement and progress in the rankings:
“As Chaim Bloom takes the reins from John Mozeliak as president of baseball operations after this season, the Cards' system is in the best shape it has been in years. JJ Wetherholt and Liam Doyle are the most recent first-round picks and are also potentially impactful rookies for the 2026 club.
“There are more questions regarding the other top prospects. Quinn Mathews and Tink Hence had up-and-down seasons, Cooper Hjerpe and Tekoah Roby had/have serious arm injuries, and (catcher) Rainiel Rodriguez and outfielder) Joshua Baez came out of nowhere.
“Overall, there is solid depth in the system and with the young talent in the big leagues, so I'm intrigued to see how Bloom handles the team-building challenge.”
* Here’s a short summary from Baseball America: “High-end talent up top with plenty of depth to follow.”
* This, from MLB Pipeline: “The Draft and Trade Deadline certainly helped St. Louis deepen its farm with nine members of its Top 30 arriving since the start of July, headlined by fifth overall pick Doyle, who brings a ton of fire to the pitching corps. But don’t overlook some of the internal development here too.
“Wetherholt has met the hype as a borderline plus-plus hitter with impressive pop in his first full season, (Rainiel) Rodriguez has built on his 2024 breakout by reaching Single-A in his age-18 season and catcher (Leonardo) Bernal has hit enough at Double-A to be considered a well-rounded backstop in a group loaded behind the plate. Various pitching injuries to Quinn Mathews, Tekoah Roby and Cooper Hjerpe have been the biggest hit to the organization in the Minors.”
Here are some updates on a few Cardinals’ prospects:
– JJ Wetherholt: Independent evaluators love his plate discipline, swing decisions and extra-high contact rate but have questioned the infielder’s power-hitting upside. Wetherholt has responded by blasting to a .648 slugging percentage and 20 extra-base hits in 31 games for Memphis.
JJ has a .413 on-base percentage against Triple A pitching. His last 10 games have produced a .386 average, .449 OBP and .705 slug. In case you were wondering, this month Wetherholt has started seven games at third base, six games at shortstop, and two games at second base. (He was the DH in two other games.) He recently went 2 for 2 with a double against 2024 NL Cy Young winner Chris Sale, who was rehabbing from an injury at Triple A.
– Catcher Rainiel Rodriguez: In 254 at-bats (total) in the Florida Complex League and Class A Palm Beach, the 18-year-old catcher has boomed 17 home runs, 19 doubles, walked 52 times, and driven home 48 runs.
Speaking of the teenage Rodriguez, Palm Beach manager Gary Kendall offered this assessment to Rob Rains, the dean of St. Louis baseball writers:
“What I see first of all is a guy who is very meticulous about everything he does and is very mature for his age. He’s very focused, he’s very driven. He’s loaded with strength and is very athletic. For a young player to be in this league and be battling and competitive in the way that he is, it’s very special.”
– LH starting pitcher Quinn Mathews: the talented lefty continues to sharpen and show encouraging fastball velocity after enduring early-season shoulder trouble, a loss of command, and inconsistent velo. In his last eight starts at Triple A Memphis, Mathews has a 2.61 ERA with a 29.7 percent strikeout rate and has yielded a .222 average and .654 OPS.
– Catcher Jimmy Crooks: In 146 plate appearances for Memphis since July 3, the left-swinging Crooks has a .323 average, 10.2 percent walk rate, a .397 on-base percentage and is slugging .469. His lively hitting during this stretch includes 10 doubles, three homers and 22 runs batted in.
– LH pitcher Braden Davis: a fifth-round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, Davis has a 35 percent strikeout rate and 2.20 ERA in his first six starts since moving up to High Class A Peoria. Midwest League hitters have batted .137 against Davis so far, and he’s pitched to 115 opponents without giving up a home run.
– LH pitcher Ixan Henderson has created buzz in his first season with Double A Springfield, pitching to a 2.44 ERA with a 26.4 percent strikeout rate in 22 starts. Henderson, 23, was an 8th round selection in the 2023 MLB Draft.
BERNIE BYTES
1. Willson Contreras went too far in Monday’s brouhaha, and no one needs to tell him that. His spontaneous combustion led to an irresponsible bat-flinging act that popped team batting coach Brant Brown. I respect Contreras and admire his passion and intensity. And I do not understand why so many Cardinals fans seem to hate him for reasons that only they can explain. But there’s no excuse for his recklessness on Monday.
2. Shortstop Masyn Winn saved Monday’s game for the Cardinals with his remarkably alert, heads-up play in racing behind third base to be in place for an errant throw by reliever Kyle Leahy in the seventh inning. “It would have been a disaster,” Marmol said Tuesday when I asked him what would have happened without Winn’s intervention. What a great, great defensive player.
3. Gotta love Alec Burleson. First, he helped clean up the area in front of the Cardinals dugout by retrieving stray pieces from a box of candy that a steamed Contreras tossed onto the field. Next, having completed his shift on litter patrol, Burleson made sure to reach down and grab a candy or two for later consumption. (Veteran move). Then, a short time later, he clubbed the game-winning walkoff homer in the bottom of the 9th to seal a 7-6 win for the Redbirds. All of this fun as part of Burly’s four-hit night that lifted his average to .291 on the season. Burleson had a 105 OPS+ last season but is 20 points better than that so far in 2025.
4. Burly Ball II: Burleson’s .291 batting average is tied for 5th among qualifying National League hitters. It’s easy to forget now, but Burleson got off to a slow start in 2025; at the end of May 4, he had a .315 slugging percentage, with a .621 OPS. Not good. But in 88 games since May 5, Burleson ranks 2nd among NL hitters with a .302 average, is 8th with a .505 slugging percentage, ranks 10th in OPS (.857) and his wRC+ plus is 39 percent above league average offensively and eighth-best in the NL over that time.
5. Among National League hitters that have at least 190 plate appearances since June 1, the Cardinals have three top 20 hitters in the NL based on wRC+. Contreras ranks 7th at 47 percent above league average offensively, and Burleson and Nolan Gorman are tied for 18th at 35 percent above league average.
6. According to the giggles-unlimited TV booth, Nolan Gorman is having a “nice August.” Well, yeah, I guess you could say that. Gorman was 42 percent above league average offensively in June, 10 percent above average league offensively in July, and is 37 percent above league average offensively in August. At least the Chuckle Hut boys knew about the August part! Progress!
7. That’s a winner: The Cardinals are 7-3 when Michael McGreevy starts a game for them in 2025. And since McGreevy made his MLB debut for the Cardinals last summer, the team is 10-3 when he starts a game.
8. I’m confused by something. Looking at the social-media hive, I see many references about how disgraceful it is for the Cardinals to have such a hard time defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates.
* Records since May 30: Pirates 36-39, Cardinals 33-43.
* Records since June 30: Pirates 22-25, Cardinals 18-29.
* Records since the All-Star break: Pirates 18-17, Cardinals 14-21.
Pay attention much?
Wanna jump off the high horse for a couple of minutes?
Since Don Kelly took over as Pirates manager on May 9, the Bucs have a record of 45-49, which is only one game worse than the Cardinals’ 46-48.
But since May 20, the Pirates are a .500 team at 42-42, and the Cardinals are 38-46 for a .452 winning percentage.
The Pirates have been outplaying the Cardinals for several months now. So why would anyone be surprised to see the Cardinals struggle against Pittsburgh?
You know … the same St. Louis team that ranks 22nd in the majors in winning percentage since the start of 2023?
The Glory Days are over, friends. You should know this because (a) the Cardinals are averaging the lowest number of tickets sold to home games since 1984 (b) you want everyone fired and (c) you want Bill DeWitt Jr. to sell the franchise. Given all of that angst, why would you look down on the Pirates?
9. I think what these folks meant to say was something like this: what a disgrace it was, for the Dodgers and Phillies to both lose the season series to the Cardinals. Actually, what I think they should say is this: yes, it’s truly a disgrace to see the Cardinals falling behind the Pirates. And it’s true. It’s also sad. But at least the Cardinals have an eight-game lead on the Pirates for the entire season. So there.
9a. For two or so years now, I’ve heard some (understandably) frustrated Cardinals fans talk about how the Cards are turning into the Pirates of the Midwest. Maybe they’re onto something. At least since May 20.
10. Well, at least the BFIB still have some braggin’ rights. Unlike the Pirates, the Cards have made the postseason more than 3 times in the last 31 seasons, and they’ve made the playoffs more than six times in the last 46 seasons. So there’s that.
OK, I’m out of salt.
Thanks for reading …
–Bernie
Bernie was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2023. During a St. Louis sports-media career that goes back to 1985, he’s won multiple national awards for column writing and sports-talk hosting – and was the lead sports columnist at the Post-Dispatch from 1989 through 2015.
You can access his columns, videos and the podcast version of the videos here on STLSportsCentral, catch him weekdays on the “Gashouse Gang” or “Redbird Rush Hour” on KMOX, and Bernie does a weekly “Seeing Red” podcast on the Cardinals with his longtime pal Will Leitch. Bernie joins Katie Woo on the “Cardinal Territory” video-podcast each week, and you can catch a weekly “reunion” segment here at STL Sports with Bernie’s appearance on the Randy Karraker Show every Friday morning at 10:30 am.