Other than Bill DeWitt Jr., Bill DeWitt III, John Mozeliak -- and perhaps others in the Cardinals' leadership circle -- know one knows if the Cardinals are planning to offer, or have offered, their top baseball job to Chaim Bloom. And hypothetically speaking, what happens if Bloom politely declines the offer? What if he joined the Cardinals as a special assistant just to study the player-development system and the state of the minor-league operation -- with no commitments about staying on and moving to the top baseball post?

What if Bloom makes recommendations that DeWitt doesn't agree with? I assume that Bloom would expect the owner to buy into the plan to renovate the Cardinals ... but what happens if DeWitt doesn't commit to total support of what Bloom wants to do? In that scenario, I don't know why Bloom would take the job -- especially after his bad experience with Boston's ownership group.

Bloom is only 41. He will have other opportunities because he's highly respected in the industry. He doesn't specifically need the St. Louis job. In addition, Bloom practices Judaism and is seriously devout. He and his wife have two young sons, live in Boston, and Bloom may not want to uproot his family ... or live away from his family.

I've been thinking about these matters. If Bloom rejects the Cardinals, this would be a bad look for DeWitt. We can only wait and see how this all turns out as the Cardinals prepare to go into a critically important offseason.