Can a former Ray pierce the Cardinals' clouded forecast?

Best Podcast in Baseball

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Sports, Baseball

4.8 • 673 Ratings

🗓️ 24 August 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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During a lengthy rain delay before the finale of the Cardinals' visit to Tampa Bay, St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derrick Goold and Tampa Bay Rays baseball writer Marc Topkin discuss transfers of power on their beats and how they contribute to a clouded forecast. In St. Louis, former Rays executive Chaim Bloom is positioned to take over as president of baseball operations in the coming month, and Topkin offers insight about the role Bloom had with the Rays, where to find his fingerprints on player development, and why he just might have the best resume possible to lead the Cardinals' front office. In Tampa Bay, the Rays are paying rent at the Yankees' spring training ballpark, George Steinbrenner Field, due to hurricana damage at Tropicana Park. The Rays feel like they're perpetually on the precipice teetertottering between having strong established roots in Tampa Bay or packing up and going to another city. New ownership may change that -- but they'll need a ballpark. They appear to have a fan base, one that owes some of its interest in baseball to the Cardinals and all the decades they spent calling St. Petersburg, Florida, home for spring training.

The Best Podcast in Baseball, sponsored weekly by Closets by Design of St. Louis, is its 13th season. BPIB is a production of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, StlToday.com, and Derrick Goold.

Transcript

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1:00.0	It's a brand new best podcast in baseball. I'm joined during rain delay theater by the great Mark Tompkin.
1:06.2	We're going to talk about what Cardinals fans can expect from a front office run by Haim Bloom, who was here in Tampa Bay for a long time.
1:12.8	But also, we'll get into a whole lot more, including, well, we're at a minor league ballpark.
1:18.2	And I don't know anyone else who has been to both minor league ballparks who's willing to go on the podcast.
1:23.1	So I'm going to talk to Mark about that.
1:25.2	Here we go.
1:25.8	Cue the music.
1:40.3	Hello, ready, and welcome to the best podcast in baseball, brought to you by Closit by Design of St. Louis.
1:44.3	I'm St. Louis Post-Dispatch baseball writer Derek Gould joined this week by the great and what perpetually writing, constantly reporting Mark Tompkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
1:53.8	Mark, you've been doing this a long time. Ever had a year where like this one at this
1:58.0	ballpark covering the race?
2:04.1	No, I think this is going to be, I mean,
	...

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