Jacob Buffa, a 32-year-old St. Louis native and lifelong Cardinals fan, has joined the team as senior director of international scouting. The move brings him back home with his family after years with the Houston Astros. Buffa expressed excitement about returning to the franchise he grew up supporting.
Jacob Buffa, originally from Chesterfield, Missouri, accepted the position of senior director of international scouting with the St. Louis Cardinals in late October. This homecoming thrilled his parents, Rich and Lori Buffa, who have relocated to nearby St. Charles, Missouri. Buffa, his wife Shanna, and their two children will now settle in the St. Louis area.
"Once I got the job," Buffa said, "I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is really happening.’ And I will say my wife didn’t wait 30 seconds before she started looking for homes in St. Louis, and that tells you a lot about how excited we were to be a Cardinal. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever gotten to do was telling my parents. They were so very happy."
Buffa's passion for the Cardinals dates back to his childhood in the early 2000s, when the team featured the "MV3" of Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen, and Jim Edmonds. His family attended about a dozen games per season, and Buffa once caught a foul ball off Pujols' bat. He attended high school with children of former Cardinals stars Todd Worrell, Mike Matheny, and Andy Benes, and witnessed key moments like Jim Edmonds' walk-off home run in Game 6 of the 2004 NLCS against the Astros. He also watched Game 6 of the 2011 World Series, where David Freese's heroics tied and eventually won the game for St. Louis.
"I was always able to go to a lot of Opening Days and be around a lot of Cardinals history," Buffa said. "So the Cardinals have been a huge part of my life since I can remember."
Before this role, Buffa built a career in baseball despite majoring in marketing at Missouri State University. He founded Elite Baseball Academy in suburban St. Louis in 2016 and scouted for Prospect Select from 2017 to 2018. Former executive Jeff Luhnow hired him with the Astros as a performance coach, where he advanced to senior director of player development. There, he contributed to Jeremy Peña's development as the 2022 World Series MVP, supported 2025 Cy Young finalist Hunter Brown during his minor league struggles, and helped draft outfielder Zach Cole, who debuted in the majors in 2025.
Buffa will report to new Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom. "I’ve just been impressed with the vision Chaim has set forth, and I'm a big believer in him and what he's building," Buffa said. "As a farm director for a couple years, I used to always think, ‘Man, if I had the chance to acquire players, this is how I would do it. I've been on the other end of it for so long, and now I'm excited about doing that."