Apr 21, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A St. Louis Cardinals hat and glove in the dugout against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Cardinals Criticized For Lack Of Direction In 2025

Originally posted on St. Louis Cardinals on SI
By Curt Bishop | Last updated Sep 21, 2025 4:00 PM ET

The St. Louis Cardinals entered play on Sunday 75-80 and well out of postseason contention. They had shown signs of life at various points this season, even moving to nine games above the .500 mark on June 29. However, it has been downhill from there, and the Cardinals are likely to miss the postseason for a third consecutive year. That last happened for St. Louis from 2016-18.

John Mozeliak will soon step down as president of baseball operations and hand the reins over to Chaim Bloom at the end of the season. The Cardinals were hoping to balance letting young players receive opportunities and competing for a postseason spot.

Bradford Doolittle of ESPN recently called them out for not picking a clear direction at the beginning of the season.

Cardinals Catch Stray For Approach To 2025 Season

Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

"Nothing about St. Louis baseball has made much sense for about a year. If the Cardinals had truly reset, that at least would have been a clear direction. As it stands, it's still completely unclear why the Cardinals didn't just try to build the best possible roster they could for the 2025 season. After this finally ends, the baton will pass to Chaim Bloom and perhaps he can paint a more coherent portrait. Let the Ray-ification of the Redbirds begin," Doolittle wrote.

Bloom will obviously do things differently from Mozeliak, but they will finally be entering a rebuild period and will take a step back from contention to focus on the future.

But had the Cardinals chosen this path at the beginning of the year instead of staying stuck in the middle and not making moves in either direction, there might be a little less frustration from the fanbase. It might be another painful offseason for Cardinals fans, but the truth is that they must rebuild.

Fans will hope that Bloom has a plan to execute this rebuild and ultimately get the Cardinals back to where they once were. After likely missing the postseason in 2025, another October without playoff baseball in 2026 is also a strong possibility.

It will be interesting to see how Bloom goes about his first offseason as president of baseball operations, but the approach the Cardinals took to 2025 was simply baffling, and it caused further frustration among the fanbase.

The Cardinals should be an interesting team over the winter.

This article first appeared on St. Louis Cardinals on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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