New St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom is wasting no time applying his signature methods for rebuilding the team that has won more World Series championships than any other club not named the New York Yankees.
After the Cardinals finished at 78-84 and out of the playoffs for the third year in a row, Bloom took over from outgoing president of baseball operations John Mozeliak and quickly began searching for low-cost additions that, he hopes, could yield a high upside.
So far Bloom’s only foray into the free-agent market is a pitcher who came from Bloom’s former employer, the Boston Red Sox. After an uneven season in which he was traded at the deadline from the Los Angeles Dodgers to the Red Sox, going 7-11 with a 4.96 ERA between both clubs in an injury-shortened season, right-hander Dustin May signed a one-year deal with St. Louis for $12.5 million after the Red Sox let the 28-year-old walk as a free agent.
On Tuesday, Bloom made another move, this one at what appears to be a much lower cost for a left-handed reliever who has recorded 89 2/3 big league innings — most recently with the American League champion Toronto Blue Jays — acquiring 28-year-old Justin Bruihl for cash considerations, according to a report by MLB Trade Rumors.
The Blue Jays cut ties with Bruihl on December 16, designating him for assignment to make room for newly signed free agent reliever Tyler Rogers.
Blue Jays Sold Justin Bruihl’s Contract in December
The following day, the Blue Jays sold Bruihl to the Cleveland Guardians, also for cash considerations.
Bruihl is a reliever whose career has basically been that of a journeyman, but he was never supposed to have a big league career to begin with. The Los Angeles Dodgers signed Bruihl in 2017 after the Cal Poly hurler went through the MLB draft without being selected by any team.
Bruihl had already undergone Tommy John surgery when he was a high school junior at Casa Grande High in his hometown of Petaluma, California. But he persevered and signed with the Dodgers even though he had committed to pitch at the University of California.
After a slow start to his pro career in 2018, Bruihl broke out in 2019, throwing 41 2/3 innings between the Single-A and High-A levels with a sparkling 1.30 ERA with 51 strikeouts against just nine walks. But he was unable to break into the Dodgers’ top 30 in the 2019 MLB Pipeline prospect rankings — a year when his new teammate May ranked No. 2 in the Los Angeles system.
Landed With Blue Jays in 2025
But though he finally, perhaps improbably, broke into the major leagues in 2021, Bruihl was never able to carry over his minor league success. Since then, he has pitched for four MLB teams. After spending 2024 in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, getting a brief call-up to throw 5 1/3 innings in seven games during which he posted a 9.53 ERA, he elected free agency and ended up in the Blue Jays organization for 2025, but got into just 13 2/3 innings in 15 games with a 5.27 ERA. He did strike out 18, however.
After being sold to the Guardians, his new team quickly turned around and designated him for assignment again, on December 20. Over the holidays, MLB appeared to have an unofficial moratorium on transactions involving DFA’d players. But on Tuesday, Cleveland was open for business again and sent Bruihl to the Cardinals.
After Blue Jays Cut Ties, Lefty Relief Pitcher Landed by St. Louis Cardinals