Cardinals don’t call it a ‘rebuild,’ but the build is on nonetheless toward Chaim Bloom era
Before the Cardinals “turn the keys†of baseball operations over to a new leader they’ve already signed to a five-year contract, the organization is detouring down an unfamiliar avenue for this ownership group, one that means a reduced payroll, increased youth and selling fans on a new brand after a generation of measuring success in Octobers rather than the futures market.
“The message is: We’re going young,†chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said after a news conference Monday to announce changes in direction. “That’s the message.â€
A day after a second consecutive season ended without a playoff berth, the Cardinals detailed what DeWitt introduced as a “major announcement†for the direction of the club. In John Mozeliak’s final year as president of baseball operations, the Cardinals will focus inward with investments in their player development infrastructure that could limit spending on the big league club to contend in 2025.
Former Boston and Tampa Bay executive Chaim Bloom will oversee this overhaul of the minor league programs and then, next fall, take over as president of baseball operations when Mozeliak’s contract expires.
Bloom’s five-year deal in that role begins next offseason through 2030.
DeWitt said the Cardinals are “entering a period of transition.â€
Just as noteworthy was what the Cardinals did not say Monday.
They avoided that charged word that starts with “R†and signals a certain slip in the standings.
They repeatedly used the little cousin of “rebuild.â€
“Yes, this is a reset,†Mozeliak said after the televised news conference. “Yes, this is going to be where we’re not focusing on necessarily building the best possible roster we can. We’re also excited about the roster. We do have a bunch of young players. We also have some emerging stars at the minor league level. How we could augment that over the next few months, time will tell.â€
Mozeliak, in his third decade with the Cardinals, could actually see some of his day-to-day responsibilities increase in 2025. Michael Girsch, the team’s general manager since 2017, will remain a vice president but in charge of “special projects.†Mozeliak said he’ll take on more of the GM duties while that position remains open for Bloom to eventually hire. Mozeliak said he did not want to create any “roadblocks†during a yearlong transition of power.
Mozeliak said Bloom will have input on major-league decisions that involve the future of the organization and the roster he'll inherit.
After Monday’s news conference, the Cardinals confirmed the Post-Dispatch’s report that Oliver Marmol would return as manager for a fourth season. In the coming days, he and Mozeliak will discuss the major league staff. Some changes are expected, especially as a few contracts expire.
The Cardinals finished the season 83-71, 12 wins better than 2023 but out of the playoffs and thus just as close to winning a National League pennant. That could explain why the response was more dramatic this year than last, especially after spending more than $200 million on major league payroll for the first time in club history. The spending tradeoffs the Cardinals made that did not result in big-league success had cost them in player development — a slow erosion over the past decade that has become a glaring gulch between them and advanced clubs.
“I’d like to set us on a course to get back to consistent winning,†said Mozeliak, whose rosters have won one playoff series since 2014. “Focus on the buildup of our baseball operations, invest in new infrastructure and technologies. See the groundbreaking (of improved facilities) in Jupiter, Florida. You may ask yourself two simple questions: What is this? And what is it not? What it is a multi-year strategy, a focus on player procurement and development. It’s a long-term investment in the organization’s future.
“What is it not?†Mozeliak continued. “It’s not a Band-Aid solution. And this is not an excuse. Focus on the word ‘change.’ Change. We need to make change to realize our ultimate goal.â€
What that means for players who came to the Cardinals believing contending for a championship was their current goal is to be determined in the coming weeks.
Two former All-Stars, Nolan Arenado and Sonny Gray, have no-trade clauses, but they also sought a move to the Cardinals because of their promise to be perennial contenders. Gray’s salary rockets to $30 million in 2025. Arenado escaped Colorado and agreed to a complex trade to the Cardinals when the Rockies' spending shriveled and a playoff-worthy roster came apart. Mozeliak said conversations with them are ahead and decisions must be “a two-way street.â€
The Post-Dispatch asked DeWitt what the shift says to those franchise players.
“Obviously, they’re veterans and they will be great assets for us on the team,†he said.
The Cardinals can shed a chunk of salary swiftly in the coming weeks. They have $12 million options on pitchers Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn and a $6 million option on Keynan Middleton. It will cost $3 million to buy those out.
Andrew Kittredge and Paul Goldschmidt are free agents, and if the Cardinals want to hasten their “reset,†they could field prospect-rich offers on closer Ryan Helsley before his arbitration jackpot.
The Cardinals do not expect to chase free agents this winter who will cost them a draft pick, preferring instead to accumulate picks and young talent. As they did for Masyn Winn at shortstop, they want to clear routes for prospects Michael McGreevy, Thomas Saggese and Quinn Mathews to contribute in 2025. That too would create a cheaper, cost-controlled roster.
As part of the news conference, club President Bill DeWitt III outlined the uncertainties the club is facing for revenue. Top among them is the cratering cable model, which remains in bankruptcy court. The Cardinals do not yet know if they’ll receive their full rights fee from their broadcast partner’s parent company, Diamond ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ, for 2025. Club president DeWitt said the team hopes a direct-to-consumer model where fans can buy a subscription to games and stream them through an app is on the horizon.
Another factor was the message sent by fans this past season with fewer than 3 million tickets sold for the first time in Busch Stadium III history. Historically, Cardinals have tied their payroll spending to ticket revenue, and fan support has allowed them to punch above their market size.
And then there is the planned diversion of spending from the major league product to the minor league system. Bloom said ownership “gave the green light to make real investments,†some of which has already started.
Mozeliak estimated an 8%-12% increase in spending on player development to expand the staff and outfit the organization with modern technology.
“There are some fundamental things we want to do differently in the organization, and then as we have continued success at the minor league level, at the player-procurement level, then we can time it right and try to reinvest at the major-league level,†Mozeliak said. “You can’t put a dollar amount on it yet because I don’t know exactly what our revenues are going to look like. Ownership is committed to letting us take the first step to make that investment in the player development.â€
The regression in player development was not overnight.
Mozeliak expressed concerns in 2017 and then encountered a variety of obstacles, from construction delays to coaches who ignored purchased tech, through the years. Staff cutbacks that left vital positions vacant put the Cardinals further behind their rivals. Before this past year, they were slow to respond to rapid advancements in pitching development.
“In the past few years — not a ton of years — teams have beefed-up and gotten more analytical,†chairman DeWitt said. “I think we were at the forefront a number of years ago and stayed there, went along, and kept improving. The industry saw the value of going all-in on player procurement and player development and we were doing fine. We were winning and having a good team. We didn’t quite catch up.â€
Enter Bloom.
Hired a year ago as an adviser, Bloom spent the past season observing and auditing the Cardinals, mostly at the player-development level. He visited every affiliate and spent some time at the Cardinals’ academy in the Dominican Republic. At the end of his survey, he had suggested changes — and ownership empowered him to make them. He will also play a leading role in ownership’s hiring of a new assistant general manager-level farm director and other leadership positions for farm system.
Bloom joined Mozeliak and the DeWitts on the podium for the presser and delivered his first public comments on the Cardinals since joining the Cardinals.
“Our staff has the hunger to learn, to grow, to get better, to change,†Bloom said of meeting Cardinals minor-league coaches and officials. “That’s a good thing because that’s what we need. That’s what this game demands. The competition is this area of our industry has been absolutely relentless over the past decade. It takes boldness and humility to get on top and stay there. If you stand still and rest on your laurels even for a moment, you get beat.â€
That could be why the Cardinals avoided using “rebuild.â€
Bloom is not tasked with a rebuild.
His job is to build a renewed, better and modern foundation for player development upon which will grow the Cardinals’ major league team he will run.
“Find out how we get back out in front (because) that is part of the tradition of this organization — is innovation,†Bloom said. “Catching up is important. We want to be able to set the tone. We’re not just going to be looking at copying everybody else. We want to find our own way.â€
Hochman: Just what are the Cardinals selling the fans for 2025?
On Aug. 13, 2025, in likely a day game, the perpetually wretched Rockies will play the Cardinals that Wednesday at Busch Stadium.
Will anyone go?
In 2024, Cardinals attendance dropped drastically, stunningly and tellingly in August and September. The fans were fed up.
In 2025, the fans will suffer even more because of a mess the organization made.
On Monday, the Cardinals announced that payroll will likely go down in 2025. The team is undergoing a “reset,†per John Mozeliak, who’s back as president of baseball operations for one final year (even though he oversaw the making of the mess that the franchise is now trying to clean up). The Cardinals will invest heavily in revamping their minor league system. That means the major league payroll will take a financial hit, which implies trades of proven, standout players.
In other words, the young guys are going to play in 2025.
We might’ve seen the last of Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras in a Cardinals uniform.
Oh, and as seen on social media and in comment sections on articles, the fans are furious that Mozeliak is back (Chaim Bloom, the former Red Sox and Rays executive working with St. Louis, will take over after the 2025 season).
So not only will the 2025 team, likely, be worse — but the fans are also already irate, six months before the home opener. Heck, January’s Winter Warm-up might be chillier inside than outside.
Now, a reset makes sense in many regards (again, though, they put themselves in this position to begin with). The Cards have missed the playoffs in five of past eight full seasons, including the past two years. The minor league organization needs a major investment in resources (notably, coaches and technology) to make up for lost ground. But things like these aren’t quick fixes.The 2025 major league team will suffer.
And sure, some Cards fans understand this has to happen. Many of those fans understand that, say, the 2027 Cardinals could be significantly better because of it. But man, if the losing starts early in 2025, one has to think the stadium will be emptier than ever before in May, June and July.
So just what are the Cardinals selling their fans?
“This is going to be where we’re not focusing on necessarily, like, building the best possible roster we can — but we’re also excited about the roster,†Mozeliak said Monday following the team’s news conference at Busch. “We do have a bunch of young players. We also have some emerging stars at the minor league level. And then it’s how we potentially could augment that over the course of the next few months. Time will tell.â€
No question, there are some talented youngsters. Masyn Winn very well could earn a Gold Glove Award for his 2024 rookie campaign. Andre Pallante had a 3.56 ERA in his 20 starts. And Jordan Walker still has the promise to become, well, the Jordan Walker we thought he’d be.
“We’ve got a really nice core of young players,†team President Bill DeWitt III said, “so I don’t think we’re going to be short of marketing messages to our fans in terms of what to look for and what to be excited about.â€
OK, sure. But let’s be real. Nothing about the 83-win Cards trading away top veterans makes me think the 2025 Cards will be better. The Cardinals will take a step back in 2025, even if the likes of Walker, Winn, Nolan Gorman and Alec Burleson all become standout hitters. And who the heck is going to start these games on the mound? Probably a lot of Michael McGreevey and Gordon Graceffo.
The St. Louis Cardinals, this great franchise and heirloom passed down in families across this city, are on hiatus. Who knows exactly who we’ll watch and what we’ll watch next season (if St. Louis even watches at all), but it won’t have the luster and allure of a jewel of the National League.
Then again, and I’ve written this often in the past years (even after 2022), the Cards have already lost a lot of luster. The whole goal is to build a team that annually contends for a pennant — well, they haven’t won one since 2013. And since the start of 2015, the Cardinals have won one playoff round. So yeah, the “reset†could help the franchise get back on track.
But at what cost?
The Cardinals are losing fans in real time.
And fans who are sticking with the Cardinals are losing faith.
And the Cardinals are losing fans they would’ve made — especially young kids — if the team had actually been good the past two years.
And the losing in 2025 might take its toll on everyone.
There is little, at this point, for the Cardinals to sell to their fans for next season.
Perhaps the best selling point would be that Bloom is here to revive the franchise. But even he won’t be the main boss until after this season.
We will inevitably see some of the emptiest Cards games in decades. Who can blame the fans? The price of attending the games is high.
And the organization is paying the price with this reset.
BenFred: By prioritizing sendoff season for John Mozeliak, Cardinals cloud message of change
Fans of the Cardinals have heard it countless times from longtime president of baseball operations John Mozeliak, most often when a player has been let go, traded away or sent back down to the minors following an all-too-often major league stall.
At the end of the day, Mozeliak reminds, it’s about performance.
Easy for him to say.
“Perhaps to your chagrin,†Mozeliak said Monday, “you’re stuck with me for another year.â€
On Monday, the strength of Mozeliak’s grip on his role as king of Cardinals baseball operations was on full display again as the organization announced what it’s referring to as a philosophy shift that aims to lead the Cardinals back to — well, what the Cardinals used to do best, which was draft and develop players who became internally produced answers for annually competitive and often contending teams.
And who will be leading the start of that overhaul?
Mozeliak, of course, the same entrenched leader most directly responsible for his historically successful organization’s continued backslide. Yes, in the final season of his current contract, Mozeliak will be trusted by Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr., and his ownership group to start the repairs Mozeliak not only allowed but punished some for speaking out about.
When former Cardinals manager Mike Shildt got mad about the Cardinals losing their way, for example, he was fired by Mozeliak in brutal fashion. Now he’s in the postseason with San Diego, and the Cardinals, instead of pointing to “philosophical differences†with Shildt, are saying their philosophy needs calibration. Go figure.
Saying what the Cardinals are saying about change while letting Mozeliak stay in the point position for his sendoff season is the equivalent of hiring a lawn service that kills your grass, then asking the same company to come back and install your irrigation system. It’s like asking the surgeon who left his scalpel in you during an operation to schedule another surgery to remove it.
And while it’s hard to understand, it’s still totally unsurprising for this team.
Also unsurprising: Cardinals fans questioning this logic are expected to believe Mozeliak is doing this as some sort of a selfless act, something that sets up pending replacement Chaim Bloom for success when he takes over on a new five-year contract as president of baseball operations starting in 2026.
“I could have been fired today, right?†Mozeliak said during Monday’s Bally ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ Midwest interview. “Ultimately, they would have come in and someone would have to reassess where we are. We would just be wasting time.â€
Bloom has a big year ahead of him, no doubt. He’s been tasked with overhauling the Cardinals’ derailed development system. He will have some say in major league roster decisions, too, DeWitt Jr. confirmed Monday, but what happened after Monday’s news conference ended sure said a lot more.
Mozeliak remained on the stage to detail plans for the Cardinals’ scaling back of payroll and contention for the sake of player development in 2025.
Bloom? He was hustled from the room.
Earlier, when a question about payroll came up, DeWitt Jr. passed on it. Mozeliak stepped in, saying fans should expect the amount of the budget dedicated to major league salaries to decline.
Make no mistake about it, folks. This is still very much the “Mo Show.†One final tour.
I’m not sure how some convinced themselves Mozeliak was going to be fired with one year left on his deal. Under DeWitt Jr., Mozeliak has the safest job in St. Louis. It’s somehow as strong as it ever was, even after more postseason misses than makes since 2016.
And the Cardinals are not just receding at the top of their organizational structure. There’s rust and rot at the bottom. Hence the need for revamping player development after Bloom spent the past season assessing it with a view from the outside.
The shift led to a retirement for longtime player development executive Gary LaRocque with one season left on his contract. Some convinced themselves Mozeliak would face the same fate.
No chance.
It was reasonable to wonder if the Cardinals would read the room — and swaths of empty seats at Busch Stadium lately — and have Mozeliak step back from the spotlight a bit during his final year. It would have been good for the sake of optics, if nothing else.
No chance.
DeWitt continuing to seem truly baffled by those who question Mozeliak comes with a cost. Fans know the need for change described Monday and Mozeliak’s 2025 retirement tour don’t really mesh. Not when the Cardinals have dropped out of baseball’s most relevant bunch. Not when they are struggling at the top and bottom of their system. Not when players and coaches who leave the organization, some by their own choice but plenty by Mozeliak’s, have developed a proven record of thriving elsewhere.
The Athletic recently published a collection of glaring quotes from anonymous Cardinals employees who sounded concerned and distraught about the organization’s direction.
“I don’t know how this was (expletive) up so bad over the last few years,†one read.
“We are no longer developing winning players,†read another.
“Our system is broken in a way,†read another. “How it got here, I don’t know.â€
The Cardinals are stuck between failing and accepting failure, and it continues to show. They’re calling a rebuild a reset. They’re promoting their youth but being shy about admitting it’s time to sell off the high-priced veterans to expedite how quickly they can regain relevance.
Rolling out what they want to be viewed positively as a big shift while still prioritizing Mozeliak as the lead voice is not going to sit well with many who will be asked to support the baseball product with their paychecks in 2025.
And please, don’t be fooled about Bloom, who in a short amount of time, right or wrong, seemed to zoom by scouting director Randy Flores in becoming Mozeliak’s replacement. This man doesn’t need a transition or more seasoning. He ran Tampa Bay and the Red Sox.
In fact, if the Cardinals are indeed going to flip the roster’s expensive vets, he’s the among best equipped to do it because he’s done it before.
Bloom’s more than familiar with baseball’s big chair. Mozeliak’s just not ready to make his available. Not yet.
“This partnership and this relationship over the next 12 months, it might make a few of you unhappy, but I am certainly willing to do the walk because I feel like we are going to position ourselves really well and ultimately, if you think about your own legacy and how you want to leave something, I certainly am hopeful it will be left in a really solid place when I do step down,†Mozeliak said.
Monday reminded me of another one of Mozeliak’s favorite sayings, one usually offered when he decides it’s time for a roster change. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results.
Chaim Bloom will take over as Cardinals’ president of baseball operations after 2025
After overseeing a "reset" of the Cardinals' player development pipeline through 2025, Chaim Bloom will take over as president of baseball operations ahead of the 2026 season.
Bloom signed a five-year contract with the Cardinals as he transitions from an advisor role to eventually take over for John Mozeliak, chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. announced in a press conference Monday at Busch Stadium.
Entering his third decade with the organization, Mozeliak will lead baseball operations through the 2025 season, and he will take on some additional responsibilities previously handled by the general manager. The coming season is the final year of his contract, and there is now a plan in place for who replaces him and how Bloom will be involved in guiding the Cardinals through the months until he takes over the lead.Â
His first focus will be acting upon suggestions and ideas he has had after a year spent auditing a minor-league and development system that has slipped behind while rivals have become cutting edge.
"To catalyze that change, ownership has given us the green light to make investments (throughout the minor league system)," Bloom said. "There is a lot of work ahead of us. These days, the bar for excellence in this area keeps getting higher. The St. Louis Cardinals are the one that set the bar for everyone else, and we can again."
MLB payroll to dropÂ
The planned investment in player development will have a trickle-up impact on the major-league roster. Mozeliak said the big-league payroll is likely to go down for 2025 after surpassing $200 million this season for the first time in club history.
The exact payroll number has not yet been set but in past years it has been tied to ticket revenue, and that too softened this year.
Ownership has increased the budget for operations costs to make investment in the minor-league system possible, and some of that will shift the payroll budget, Mozeliak said. The Cardinals have an instant hunk of salary they can clear if they wish by not bringing back Kyle Gibson ($12 million option for 2025), Lance Lynn ($12 million option for 2025), Keynan Middleton ($6 million option for 2025), and free agents Paul Goldschmidt and Andrew Kittredge.Â
The three options will cost a total of $3 million in buyouts.
GM Girsch reassigned to new role
The Cardinals also announced that general manager Michael Girsch will move into a "special projects" role at the senior vice president level.
The specific projects are not yet identified. Girsch has overseen the team's growing analytics department. The Cardinals also have a multi-million renovation on their player development and spring training complex in Jupiter, Florida, set to start with groundbreaking in April. That is more than two years later than initially planned.
'Not a Band-Aid solution'
The construction delays in Jupiter were just a few of the hiccups that have stalled or cost the Cardinals' player development in recent years.
Mozeliak, in his opening comments, acknowledged how the farm system has slipped and how significant strides need to be made to keep up with their peers in the industry.
"It is not a Band-Aid solution, and it is not an excuse," "We need to make changes to reach our stated goal. We are committed to seeing this through."
He added: "When you think about your legacy, I do hope (the organization) is a better place when I step down next year."
-- Derrick Goold
Cardinals call this a 'reset'
Bloom's current title as advisor to the president of baseball operations remains the same for now. Cardinals chairman and CEO Bill DeWitt Jr. said Bloom's five-year contract begins after this coming season, and it does not include his time as an advisor.
Mozeliak said he'll assume the general manager duties vacated by Girsch's move to a "special projects role."
Mozeliak pushed back against the suggestion that the Cardinals are entering a rebuild.
"I don't see this as just a pure rebuild," Mozeliak said. "I see it as a reset. There are some fundamental things we want to do differently in the organization. Then, ultimately, as we continue to have success at the minor league level, at the player procurement level, then we can time it right to then try and reinvest at the major-league level."
Mozeliak said he did not have a set number of additions slated on the player development staff. The first priority will be to add to the leadership positions in player development and then have those individuals play a part in what the player development staff will look like.
Despite the announced emphasis on bringing the player development system up to speed, DeWitt Jr. quibbled with the characterization of the Cardinals player development system having been a concern for years.
"I'm not sure that I would agree with the assessment there's been a concern for years," DeWitt Jr. said. "We've done pretty well in drafting and developing players, historically. I think the bar has risen, as Chaim would say. There's much more analytics now attached to it."
--ÌýLynn Worthy
***
Follow updates from the St. Louis Cardinals press conference about the "shift in direction" that will restructure the team's operations. The press conference begins at 2 p.m.
Adjustments are planned within the front office and organization to include investment in player development and technology, expanding staff and increased influence for executive Chaim Bloom among other moves. As Mozeliak said in a phone interview Sunday with the Post-Dispatch: “Changes are coming.â€
“We’re shifting to a heavy emphasis that puts it back on scouting and player development,†Mozeliak said. “I would say that over the past 10 years or so we’ve run a lean operation, and part of that was to allow us to maximize success at the major league level. But over time, you learn that machine can wear down. It’s just not producing at the level it once did. That’s not to say our minor leagues are in disarray. But an emphasis on infrastructure is something we have been taking a very serious look at.
“It’s obviously going to be a shift in philosophy,†he added. “Instead of looking for short-term answers, we’re going to try to take more of a long view.â€
Refresh this page to get updates to the article; the tweets below will update automatically.
“It’s obviously going to be a shift in philosophy ... a heavy emphasis that puts it back on scouting and player development,†Mozeliak told the Post-Dispatch.
Hochman: Payroll down. Cardinals to take unprecedented path under Bill DeWitt Jr., John Mozeliak
This is the point we’ve reached. The St. Louis Cardinals have deteriorated in so many regards, the best plan of action is to potentially trade big-money players for 2025.
See video excerpts from the press conference announcing Chaim Bloom as the new Cardinals president after the 2025 season.
“Yes, I would anticipate seeing payroll go down because of these investments (in minor league development growth),†said John Mozeliak, the Cardinals president of baseball operations.
Right away, for some fans, Mozeliak’s title might catch them off-guard. He’s still the president of baseball operations? Yep. Even though he oversaw the slipping (after, to his credit, some great years in the early 2010s), Mozeliak is back for 2025. At a press conference Monday at Busch Stadium, it was announced that “Mo†will remain the baseball boss for this season (his last) and Chaim Bloom will take over after 2025. Yet, the Cardinals plan on making seismic shifts to their thinking and strategy … and the guy put them in this mess, so it seems, gets to guide them out of it.
But, yes, the Cardinals payroll is expected to go down. This is a huge development, something we haven’t seen under this current ownership.
“Putting a lot of resources towards player development is a key part of us being competitive year-in, year-out as the years go on,†said Cards chairman Bill DeWitt Jr., who took over after the 1995 season. “It's an allocation of resources to a degree and we'll determine the financial ramification of it and go from there.â€
Mozeliak wouldn’t get into specifics on trades just yet. But if payroll is going to go down — and younger players are going to get more at-bats and innings — then this implies some pretty big trades. Starting pitcher Sonny Gray will earn $25 million next year, per . Third baseman Nolan Arenado will earn $21 million. Catcher Willson Contreras will earn $18 million. Starter Miles Mikolas will earn $17.6 million.
“I'm not anticipating any big contracts going yet — we need to get a little guidance on what our revenues are going to look like,†Mozeliak said. “Ultimately, when you think about the trading market in general, that starts as we enter post-World Series. Ultimately, there are some players that I still think have some value here, from a leadership standpoint and also from a competitive standpoint. And so that is something that we'll focus on.â€
I cannot overstate how big of a deal this is in Cardinals history — the proud franchise likely trading valuable players, which would in essence make the Cardinals a worse team.
Mozeliak kept calling it a “reset.â€
But it’s simple as this — if you thought 2024 was bad, imagine 2025 without, say, Gray and Contreras?
It’s a long-term plan, of course.
Invest in the minors and new coaches and technology. That will likely produce better young (and cost-controlled) major-league players. And at that point, the Cards could then pounce on free agents to bolster the club. But when is the “then� Well, it’s not 2025.
“Catching up is (to the top teams in player development) is important,†Bloom said, “but we want to be able to set the tone, so we're not just going to be looking at copying everybody else. We want to find our own (way).â€
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