Cardinals announce multiple front-office hires

The St. Louis Cardinals have made a couple of additions in the front office, reports John Denton of MLB.com. Joe Douglas has been brought aboard as the director of pro acquisition. Jacob Buffa will serve as the senior director of international scouting. President of baseball operations Chaim Bloom has made adding to the scouting department a point of emphasis this offseason, adds Denton.

Douglas has spent the past eight years in the Pirates organization. He will work under assistant GM and director of scouting Randy Flores, per Denton.

Buffa has been with Houston for nearly seven years. He’s been the senior director of player development and performance science for the past two seasons. Buffa will report to assistant GM, international scouting Moises Rodriguez, per Denton.

Bloom is entering his first offseason at the helm of the Cardinals. He spent a couple of seasons with the team in preparation for taking over from John Mozeliak. Bloom has said he likes the current structure of the front office and doesn’t anticipate widespread changes. 

“I have a lot of respect for the people who have been here,” Bloom told Denton. “I would like, hope and expect [that] our senior folks will all go forward with us. I do anticipate that we will have some additions to the front-office group.”

The new front office members are attempting to turn around a team that’s missed the postseason the past three years. St. Louis hasn’t won a playoff series since 2019. The organization did a solid job adding and developing impact prospects this season. The Cardinals’ farm system improved from 20th to 12th in MLB.com’s midseason rankings update. Lefty Liam Doyle was the fifth overall pick in the most recent draft and immediately became the top arm in the system. Shortstop JJ Wetherholt, their first-rounder from 2024, hit the ground running in his first full season of pro ball.