Photo credit:Taka Yanagimoto/St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals’ front office has a lot of work to do this off-season in regard to the organization’s player development. The team’s commitment to get their farm system back in shape was long overdue. Hopefully, the new President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom will be able to fix the situation outgoing President John Mozeliak has created.
Cardinals Hire Three New Directors
The Cardinals have added three new directors to their player development staff. They have added a new Director of Player Development, Director of Performance and Director of Pitching. These positions are of utmost importance in regard to turning around their weak farm system. Additionally, they need to revamp an outdated approach to player development.
New Leadership in Player Development
Earlier in the off-season, the team hired Rob Cerfolio to be the new assistant general manager. Cerfolio spent nearly a decade in player development positions within the Cleveland Guardians organization. The new directors will report directly to him. Hopefully, he has the leadership capabilities to help right the ship.
One of the most important positions the team needed to fill was the Director of Player Development. The organization’s longtime Director Gary LaRocque retired after the 2024 season. Replacing him will be Larry Day. Day is also from the Cleveland organization. His most recent position was assistant field coordinator. Normally, an assistant field coordinators’ responsibilities include player development, evaluating player performance, and coordinating with other coaching staff across all levels of the minor leagues. Additionally, they have many other duties that involve all aspects of operations. The experience should serve him well in his new position with the Cardinals.
Cardinals Add Directors of Pitching and Performance
The Cardinals have also named Matt Pierpont as the Director of Pitching and Carl Kochen as the Director of Performance.
Pierpont spent the past four years as a minor league pitching coordinator in the Seattle Mariners organization. An organization that has developed several quality arms the past few years. His responsibilities will likely include overseeing the development of pitchers across the minor league system and coordinating with the pitching coaches at each affiliate to ensure consistency.
Kochan spent the past six seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. He specialized in minor-length strength and conditioning. The Director of Player Performance typically oversees the overall performance development of all minor league players. Managing aspects like strength and conditioning, injury prevention nutrition, and data analysis.
Bloom Has a Tough Road Ahead
The President of Baseball Operations Bloom has quite the mess to clean up. Fortunately, he has the experience to accomplish the task at hand. His experience in the Rays’ organization is key. They seemingly have a never-ending supply of top performing prospects. The Rays’ organization has done much more in regard to player development with a smaller budget than St. Louis. Additionally, in his time with the Red Sox, he completely overhauled and turned around their farm system. Turning their minor league system from one of the worst to one of the best. This is the type of leadership the Cardinals’ organization needs right now. Hopefully, he can turn things around quickly, and the Cardinals can get back to their winning ways.
