Chaim Bloom was officially introduced as Cardinals president of baseball operations at a pre s conference on Tuesday morning. He takes control at a time when multiple reports have suggested theyre moving to a rebuild thatll put , , and others back in trade rumors. While Bloom pointedly avoided the term rebuild, his meeting with the media did little to dispel the overall notion. We have talent here. We have more talent coming, and we have some of the makings of that core, but we need more. Our top priority will be to build our talent base for the long term, he told reporters ( ). That may mean hard decisions and short-term sacrifices, but to get where we want to go, we cant take shortcuts and we wont. Bloom subsequently added that while theyll hunt moves and decisions that allow (them to win) right now, the focus will be on the long term if they need to choose between short-term gratification and our bigger goal of contending consistently. None of that comes as a surprise. Arenado, Gray and Contreras have all confirmed theyd spoken to Bloom late in the season and understood where the organization was going. Thats the impetus for all three players saying theyre willing to consider waiving their no-trade clauses in the right circumstances (though Contreras said hed still and be a veteran mentor). Oliver Marmol will continue to oversee things in the dugout. Bloom confirmed the manager will be back for a fifth season (relayed by ). Marmol is under contract through the end of next season. Bloom indicated there havent been any extension talks to date but didnt dismi s the po sibility of having those conversations at some point. Theres also an uncertain timeline on the clubs GM hire. Former general manager Michael Girsch was rea signed to vice president of special projects last offseason a move that came in conjunction with the teams announcement that Bloom would replace John Mozeliak as baseball operations president going into 2026. Bloom will eventually hire his own top lieutenant with the GM title but indicated Will Warren Jersey that might not happen this offseason (via ). Of course, most of the focus will be on the teams expected roster turnover. The Cardinals will be motivated to try to trade Arenado, who is signed for two more seasons. Theyre on the hook for $22MM of next seasons $27MM salary (though another $6MM of that is deferred) and his entire $15MM deal for 2027. Theyd need to pay down the bulk of the money given Arenados declining offensive production. Bloom spoke of a general openne s to kicking in cash in the right trades but definitively shot down the idea that they might simply release Arenado if no trade presented itself. St. Louis would also need to eat some money on Gray. Thats le s an indictment on the right-handers performance than a reflection of his contract structure. His three-year, $75MM free agent deal was heavily backloaded. Gray will make $35MM next season and is guaranteed a $5MM buyout on a $30MM option for 2027. Its a $40MM commitment for one year, the kind of salary that has been reserved for late-career aces who were still performing at Cy Young levels (e.g. , , ). Gray remains a very good pitcher but isnt at that level. A suming the Cardinals are willing to eat some of the money, thered be plenty of teams intrigued by the idea of adding Gray to the rotation. The three-time All-Star has hes willing to think about waiving his no-trade clause. Bloom said the front office will see whats out there, and if theres something that could make sense for us that furthers our goals that he also wants to do, then well explore trade po sibilities (via Woo). However, he contrasted Grays situation with Arenados and implied that the Cardinals are a little le s motivated to trade the former. With Sonny, the situation is a bit different in that we do have a clear fit for him here, Bloom said. Even in a non-competitive year, the Cardinals will need some level of veteran presence in the rotation. Theyre not going to keep Gray for that reason alone, but theyll already have ample opportunity for pitchers like , and to stake claims to rotation spots. The Cards arent going to be major players in free agency, but Bloom said theyll be in the market for pitching depth in both the starting staff and the bullpen. Trent Grisham Jersey