The Cardinals introduced that they’ve employed Brant Brown as their new hitting coach. Additionally they introduced the hiring of Jon Jay and a brand new position for Willie McGee, each of which have been reported yesterday. Moreover, they introduced that Robert Cerfolio has been employed as assistant common supervisor, participant growth and efficiency. Cerfolio was beforehand with the Guardians as director of participant growth. Katie Woo of The Athletic reported on Cerfolio’s hiring earlier at this time whereas John Denton of MLB.com recognized Brown on X as a number one candidate for the hitting coach job previous to the official announcement.
It’s been well-known for some time now that 2025 goes to be a transitional 12 months for the Playing cards. President of baseball operations John Mozeliak goes to be giving his job to Chaim Bloom after the upcoming season, with the subsequent 12 months or so serving as a slower-than-usual passing of the torch. The franchise is presumably hoping that this will probably be a smoother transition than the normal route of an abrupt firing and/or resignation adopted by a hasty seek for a alternative.
The membership is planning to have a decrease payroll and a bigger concentrate on its participant growth pipeline, so loads of modifications are positive to come back all through the varied sides of the membership. A kind of modifications would be the addition of Cerfolio. As famous by Jeff Jones of the Belleville Information-Democrat on X, Cerfolio is a Yalie, like Bloom, chairman Invoice DeWitt Jr. and president Invoice DeWitt III.
However his hiring certainly goes past simply his alma mater. As famous by Woo, Cerfolio was employed by the Guardians in 2015, a company that’s recognized for having a robust participant growth pipeline that has allowed it to succeed regardless of persistently low payrolls. That was one thing the Cardinals have been recognized for earlier this century, although that status has light lately. A clearly said objective of this present pivot for the Cardinals is to get again to being that sort of group.
As Mozeliak handles the day-to-day operations of the Playing cards for the subsequent 12 months and Bloom focuses on that participant growth equipment, he has introduced Cerfolio aboard to assist modernize issues for the membership. Woo says Bloom is anticipated to make dozens of hires as a part of this course of, so Cerfolio is only one piece of the puzzle.
Turning to the teaching employees, it was reported earlier this month that hitting coach Turner Ward wouldn’t have his contract renewed for 2025, making a emptiness that Brown is now filling. Now 53, Brown performed within the majors from 1996 to 2000. He then pivoted to teaching, beginning with gigs within the minors. He was employed by the Dodgers going into 2018 and was on that membership’s employees by way of 2022, first as assistant hitting coach after which as hitting strategist.
He spent 2023 because the hitting coach of the Marlins then jumped to the Mariners previous to the 2024 season, getting the title of offensive coordinator in Seattle. Nevertheless, on the finish of Might 2024, the M’s parted methods with Brown despite the fact that he had solely been employed in December. Offensive struggles have been a key a part of the narrative for the Mariners in 2024 and director of hitting technique Jarret DeHart, who had taken on a bigger position when Brown was fired, was additionally dismissed in August.
It’s at all times troublesome to separate participant efficiency from the contributions of a coach. Whereas the Mariners struggled underneath Brown’s transient tenure, in addition they had notable issues the 12 months prior, making it truthful to ask if any coach might have made a significant distinction with the best way the roster was constructed. For what it’s value, the Dodgers carried out nicely throughout Brown’s time there whereas his one season in Miami was their solely full-season playoff berth previously 20 years. The membership had a subpar 92 wRC+ in 2023 however that was nonetheless a bump relative to their 83 in 2022 and 86 in 2024.
Time will inform what sort of membership the Cardinals will discipline in 2025, but it surely’s typically anticipated that their deliberate retooling interval might result in some trades of veterans that aren’t prone to be a part of the subsequent aggressive window. If that involves cross, Brown may very well be tasked with guiding a comparatively younger roster consisting of gamers trying to take steps ahead on the main league degree.
