With Chaim Bloom now operating as president of baseball operations, the St. Louis Cardinals have entered a full scale rebuild. No one in the organization is shying away from where St. Louis currently stands.
At the same time, that doesn't mean the Cardinals aren't committed to future success. Manager Oli Marmol spoke on the mentality each player must have when competing at spring training, via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
“The reality of it is we’re stepping into a new chapter of Cardinals baseball,” Marmol said. “The people in that room — and I mean everybody — gets to play a part in defining that. It was interesting to see certain chapters that have already been written standing in the room like Ozzie (Smith) and Izzy (Jason Isringhausen) and Yadi (Molina). But then to — not even challenge the group but set the expectations for how we’re going to do that moving forward. You get to shape the culture inside that clubhouse and also the style of play outside of it, between the lines. That’s exciting.”
Shortstop Masyn Winn understands the Cardinals are in the middle of a culture shift. He also knows he'll play a major role in how far St. Louis goes and is ready to do whatever is necessary for success.
“The big thing they talked about was the future and how, in this clubhouse, we have a lot of guys who are going to be the future here,” Winn said. “I think that was the main message. I liked it a lot. It’s weird not having some of the older guys around. I think it opens the door for a lot of these young guys to get opportunities and maybe not walk on eggshells as much. We’re kind of all rookies.”
The Cardinals have missed the playoffs the past three seasons, bottoming out at 78-84 in 2025. With an aging roster, it seemed as if a rebuild was inevitable.
That time has now come, as St. Louis tries to breathe new life into their organization. It may take time before the Cardinals are competing again. But they remained focused on bringing a much brighter future to Busch Stadium.
