The 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.
Yawn…
Two things:
1) I’m pretty sure Joe Douglas works for the Eagles, not the Pirates.
2) What would anyone with the Pirates know about pro acquisitions?
All jokes aside, it’s really hard to judge how effective the front office staff are on a team owned by a cheapskate. It’s really tough to put together a competitive team when the owner hands you a thimbleful of dimes and says “build me a team.”
Also worth noting, the Pirates have actually acquired some decent young talent over the last number of years. That the talent hasn’t fully developed as hoped isn’t really the fault of the guys who brought in the talent, but rather the guys responsible for developing it.
Douglas might actually be a good get. Time will tell.
Ollie and Dustup must gooooooo . Go get Dom Mattingly
Marmol is a joke.
Marmol should be out a here! Mr Bloom don’t be afraid to change you mind. Thanks for reading!
What’s the point of bringing in a new coach right before you go into a rebuild? Let Marmol eat a couple bad seasons, then bring in a good new manager when you’re ready to compete again,
What’s the old joke? More people in a leaky boat just means more people bailing water but the boat is still sinking.
No one knows, we will see if anything changes.