Despite finishing last season with a 77-85 record, the St. Louis Cardinals appear to be ahead of schedule in their rebuild.

Chaim Bloom's first season as the Cardinals' president of baseball operations went pretty well, though the team missed the playoffs. Bloom's tenure in St. Louis got off to a quick start, as the team traded away stars including Brendan Donovan, Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray and Nolan Arenado last offseason.

The Cardinals prioritized developing some of their talented young players this season, which paid off. JJ Wetherholt, Jordan Walker and Alec Burleson all had breakout years, and the team's future looks brighter than it did this time last year. What's even better is that the Cardinals have more young players ready to make a big impact next season.

Joshua Báez and Leo Bernal made a splash with their debuts this season, and top prospects Rainiel Rodriguez and Liam Doyle are expected to be impact players soon, according to Bloom.

The Cardinals' top prospects will get their chance

“There's a couple different angles that we can look at. One is making sure -- whether they’re players that have already debuted with us or players that hopefully that debut is in the relatively near future -- making sure we have lanes for them,” Bloom said on Tuesday, per MLB.com's Brent Maguire. “We don't want to hand them anything, but we want to make sure we have lanes for them to break in, and if they have broken in, to be able to thrive."

Just because the Cardinals' top prospects will have opportunities to make an impact next season doesn't mean the team won't explore outside options to improve this offseason as well.

“There's also looking outside the organization from a trade standpoint as to whether there are players who might be able to join that core for the long haul, whether in a front-and-center role or a supporting role,” Bloom said, per Maguire. “That's really important, too. That we don't stop looking for those players to be a part of this as we build.”

This is a big offseason for the Cardinals. St. Louis has a few key areas to address this offseason: third base, the bullpen and the starting rotation. While the Cardinals could look outside the organization to bolster their roster, it's good to know another wave of talented young players is ready to make a big impact next year.