Which Cardinals move will tell you the most about 2027?

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As the reality of no baseball comes closer everyday, I still choose to live a life of ignorance and act like it is business as usual in regards to the current MLB offseason. Until December 1, most of my discussions will remain based on that narrative and a focus on 162 game season in 2027. This means I continue to focus on the spots that Chaim Bloom could take a moderately aggressive approach and see significant improvement in the win column.

At the current juncture of the offseason, I have fear that Chaim will “run it back” because of how much success many of the youngsters had. As mentioned before, I have set a 77-win baseline for Bloom now, even with the understanding that the win total does not tell the whole story of a season. This has caused my tone to be more pessimistic than I truly feel, but my standards have been raised and I expect to see a step forward made not just on the field, but in the front office.

I continue to do my best to explain viewpoints from multiple perspectives: what I would do, what they should/could do, what they will do. Currently, I think they will make decisions that keeps the big league team similar to what we saw in 2026, and if that is the case, I will be slightly disappointed and wish for more out of Bloom.

Cardinals aggressiveness, or lack thereof, will set the tone for 2027

Due to the lack of MLB news during the early winter, the conversation around the Cardinals continues to center around third base, center field, and the pitching staff. After running with the Alec Bohm possibility far longer than palatable, it seems most of the fan consensus is that the team will stick to the status quo and keep a third base platoon with Blaze Jordan leading the way.

If that is the move, I am fine with that due to my belief that Blaze could do enough to hold onto the position for a year and allow the team a longer leash to settle on the position long-term. The thought has been a holding pattern for Jesus Baez, but he has received solid reviews about his play at shortstop… at an interesting time in regards to Masyn Winn’s status with the team.

In my first what I would do, I would pursue Teruaki Sato with the aggressiveness that there is currently no solution at third base in the organization. That means a longer term, higher priced offer than we are used to seeing. Of course, Sato still has the right to choose where he lands, so even this level of contract may not even get it done. And that’s okay. For me, a true aggressive offer that got past the “due diligence” stage and made the Cardinals a true finalist for his services can do enough to show me that the commitment to winning in 2027 is there.

Center field is a spot where I do not have a preference in their action due to the lack of what I see to be realistic options as I believe Sato should be. Besides my continued desire to have Luis Robert at Busch, there is nothing sticking out to me as worth paying for as an upgrade to Nathan Church. I think Church is a fourth outfielder who can succeed in longer spurts of playing time, but for 2027, there is not enough available on the center field market that will turn the team into an immediate contender.

I could be missing something very obvious so feel free to drop that in the comments for center field. Steven Kwan has gained more traction since Jake and Gabe discussed it a few weeks ago. I am personally still out on it just because it will take giving up something of value for an overall minimal upgrade from the current options. Yes, Kwan’s wRC+ was nearly 20 points better than Church, but his baseball card stats showed three homers, 32 RBIs, and 10 stolen bases… all numbers bested (or met) by Church is his rookie season.

Once again, this brings the conversation to the pitching staff as a whole. Spoiler alert for those who still have yet to listen to the 38 minute episode: this is where I will gain or lose confidence in Bloom.

As of November 7, the St. Louis Cardinals already have at least five starting pitchers on their 40-man roster who could be in a major league rotation on most teams. However, those arms would likely slot in near the back end of contending teams which is where we all want the Cardinals to be again sooner than later. This means there is potential for improvement in a major way, and that could be done via trades or buy loosening the purse strings and ponying up for an ace.

With the continued caveat that free agents have the right to choose where they play, the Cardinals have the ability to be serious suitors for some of the upper tier arms by opportunity and financial flexibility. The Tarik Skubal “rumors” where The Athletic’s reports St. Louis being a match for his services just continues to show the news outlet really needs to hire an actual Cardinals reporter again. Below him, the Cardinals could find their version of an ace to lead a rotation and allow the back half of the staff to finish their development in the minors rather than in a major league season of consequence.

I believe the Cardinals should be in on most of the Japanese free agent arms that are available this winter, as well as being serious suitors for Michael King and those in his tier. If and when they fall short, the next tier of free agents have some intrigue, but none have the same ace potential as those above.This is where the Cardinals can still make a splash and I ask for them to target a higher-floor pitcher with more control than Dustin May. If a veteran were to sign on another May-like deal, that would signal to me that the team is once again using them to flip at the deadline and not as a building block of a rotation. That would be a punt on 2027 in my eyes.

What really needs to happen for Bloom to stay in my good graces is to attack the gosh darn bullpen. You will hear it in the episode, but using the $15-20 million some fans have been asking for them to spend on position players could actually go to the relief corps and have a bigger impact than the lineup additions. We all know the bullpen was bad, seemingly on purpose, and it stayed bad due to continued refusal to improve the 11th-13th spot on the pitching staff.

If Bloom truly believes in his guys, he will supplement their talent with proven arms in relief. Of course, bullpens are a flip of the coin, but the coin too often landed on one side last year when most every pitcher was an unproven arm on a rookie deal. To me, being invested in someone like Bryan Abreu and Gregory Soto would give high-priced talent to Oliver Marmol that could help him manage his pitching staff better. This would also give fans a chance to see what Marmol could do when he is not consistently hamstrung by pitching inactivity.

As I have stated multiple times, bullpen arms are some of the lowest risk you can take (assuming you don’t sign them to a Brett Cecil deal) and if it does not work out, no harm done. Those two guys will likely have suitors this offseason and if they end up in St. Louis, they could be easy trade bait at the 2027 deadline. If the Cardinals were to spend that same amount of money on the lineup, that player would be expected to play everyday and be one of the team’s top performers. In the bullpen, all they have to do it cut bait and try something new.

Honestly, that is really all I wanted from Bloom last year.

Let me know if I am being overly pessimistic or dramatic. I do believe the Cardinals have the makings of a .500 team and could take a significant jump if the front office stays committed to winning. I am not asking for payroll to get to $250 million and spend on a second baseman and a catcher. What I am asking for is to supplement the current talent with greater talent that will still not be considered a “shortcut” for Chaim Bloom.

Thanks as always!