What If Bloom Says No?

Bernie asked the question. I decided to look at some options.

Legendary St. Louis media personality Bernie Miklasz (who will join us on Musial next winter, to update my last missive) has really embraced the YouTube option, bringing a video show out at least once a day. This morning, his show was titled “What If Chaim Bloom Says No?” It’s a very interesting topic, because the assumption among most fans is that Bloom is going to take John Mozeliak’s seat as soon as he gets up from it.

It’s a reasonable assumption, of course. Bringing in a man of Bloom’s pedigree to do some “what would you suggest” work kinda seems to be laying the groundwork for him implementing those suggestions. However, Bernie highlighted some things that have stood out to me since the hire. The biggest one is that Bloom’s family is still in Boston and that, from what I understand, he only spent visits to St. Louis (and perhaps some of the affiliates) rather than spending the whole season under the Arch. I could easily be wrong on that, of course, but the hesitancy to fully commit made me wonder, even if the job was offered to him, if that’s not really where he wanted to make his full-time return to baseball.

In other words, it takes two to tango. The Cards might be really interested in having Bloom take a full-time role like President of Baseball Operations but he might not want to for a number of reasons. Bernie noted that it would look bad for the organization if someone like Bloom turned them down and I agree in some respects, though if he truly did want to keep his options open for something closer to home that’s less indicting.

Anyway, let’s say Bloom is out of the picture (and doesn’t, as Bernie also speculated, recommend any options). Who might be a good choice for president of baseball operations?

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I would like to preface this by saying I don’t typically keep up with executives. You hear some names over and over, though you can’t ever be sure what kind of fit they are for some of these roles. The Athletic ran a story last year (subscription required) on baseball names on the rise, though many of them seemed to be for managerial or even general manager slots more than taking over the whole enchilada.

Still, there are some intriguing names that might be in play, depending on contract statuses. All of these would find POBO in St. Louis a step up from their current position, though there’s no telling if they would find it more attractive or be interested.

Let’s start with one that would be real fun: Kim Ng. When she declined her option to return for the 2024 season, it was seen as a massive shot at the Marlins organization and not at all a slight on her. She’s got the Dodgers background, which is always a plus, and has worked with the Yankees so she has a feel for what it is like to be in a crown jewel organization. She also knows what it is like to deal with payroll constraints, though they would be lesser in St. Louis than Florida.

Her trade history was pretty solid and she made a great hire in Skip Schmaker to be manager of the club. She’s a well-respected person in baseball circles who has a varied background that can bring a different perspective to an organization that has been long criticized as being insular.

As a bonus, the hiring of Ng would bring a real buzz to the organization, a clear signal that things are not going to be the same as they have been in the past.

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I wish I could remember who it was on Twitter that brought up this name, but once I saw it I haven’t been able to get it out of my head: Sig Mejdal.

For those that don’t know (and here’s another chance to plug Howard Megdal’s excellent book The Cardinals Way), Mejdal was a NASA scientist that was drafted into the Cardinals organization by Jeff Luhnow. His analytical approach served the draft process well and it led to St. Louis drafting more major leaguers than any other team. Mejdal was part of the “brain drain” that went to Houston with Luhnow’s departure, something the organization hasn’t completely recovered from.

We know Houston’s success, of course, with or without extralegal methods. Mejdal then moved to Baltimore, where he is the Assistant General Manager of Analytics. Baltimore’s rise over the last two years has been pretty incredible to watch and Mejdal’s fingerprints are all over it. Being that he hasn’t had the GM title yet, jumping up to POBO might be unexpected, but I think his analytical approach would serve best at looking at the larger picture, something that John Mozeliak intended the POBO slot to be when it was created for him.

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In all honesty, those were the only two names I really had in mind, but I did a look to see who might be an interesting option that was serving as a GM under a POBO in a different organization. Take these names as you will.

Brandon Gomes is currently a GM under Andrew Friedman, which is basically all you need to know right there. A former major league pitcher, Gomes has taken on more and more responsibility in an organization that is considered the class of MLB. He was the one that got Tommy Edman to LA, for instance. Would he be ready for a jump? It’s at least interesting to think about.

When the Cardinals were looking for a replacement for Walt Jocketty, by all accounts it came down to John Mozeliak and Chris Antonetti. Antonetti stayed in Cleveland and moved from assistant GM to GM to POBO. His GM currently is Mike Chernoff. Chernoff has been with Cleveland his entire career as well, declining an interview with San Diego in 2014. It’s unlikely that he’s looking to move on but if the Cards are wondering what might have been, Chernoff would be an interesting possibility.

Thad Levine is GM in Minnesota under Derek Falvey. The Twins have been successful with more market limitations than the Cardinals have. Levine also started with the Dodgers, then moved on to Colorado and Texas before settling in Minnesota. He was in the running for the Boston POBO job last year before the Red Sox settled on Craig Breslow.

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Of course, there are the internal options as well. There’s no doubt that the fan base might react with a groan if Michael Girsch or Randy Flores were promoted internally to take that spot, but that doesn’t mean that things couldn’t have the change that the organization needed with them in charge. For one, it’s unlikely that they’ve agreed with Mozeliak on everything or have marched lockstep the entire time. There would be some difference in philosophy and approach, even if those differences wouldn’t be as stark most likely as an outside hire’s would be.

There’s also a chance here to reorient the organization the way it was originally intended. When John Mozeliak took on the job, he expected to start shifting to big-picture issues while leaving more of the detail work to Girsch. COVID-19 threw a wrench in those plans, especially when it ransacked the Cardinals. Mozeliak didn’t feel like leaving that sort of thing on anyone else’s plate, which is understandable, and while the pandemic passed, the job didn’t.

I think there’s an argument that if you have someone like Michael Girsch in your POBO role, a person who knows the organization and its history, has a good connection (I assume) with ownership, but then bring in a dynamic GM who can really put his/her stamp on things, getting buy-in from POBO and ownership, that it would be a best of both world blending. I’m not sure I want to make that argument but I’d definitely understand it.

All of this could be moot, of course. If John Mozeliak is going to stay in his role through 2025 with no changes, many of these names may not be available when the position opens. It’s also very possible that Chaim Bloom will be glad to take a job if it is offered and start implementing the changes he’s suggested. If he doesn’t, and if Mo finds another way to serve the organization during his last year, these could be names to keep in mind.

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I am hopeful to do a mailbag post at the end of the season, so if you have questions put them in the comments here. I usually don’t wind up with enough questions when I put out a call like this so I very well may not do the post, but if I get 2-3 we’ll see what we can do.