Examining the Boston trades, signings and drafts of the Cardinals' Chaim Bloom

Trades

Any conversation of the trades orchestrated by Bloom with Boston has to start with Mookie Betts. Red Sox owner John Henry was looking to slash payroll before the 2020 season, and Betts was a casualty of that reduced spending flexibility. Betts, along with David Price, moved on to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Bloom negotiated a return of Alex Verdugo, Connor Wong and Jeter Downs.

Teams who trade for star players rarely regret their decisions, and the Dodgers have so far ended up as no exception, as Betts has amassed a bWAR of 26.0 with his new team. On the Red Sox' side, Wong has broken out in 2024 and is currently hitting .354. Verdugo had a respectable 105 OPS+ in three seasons with Boston, but Downs was a complete bust, with the formerly highly touted prospect failing to reach the Mendoza line of a .200 average with Boston or in Triple-A.

In total, the players acquired by Bloom have a combined bWAR of 22.2, with pitcher Nick Pivetta rating as the most valuable with an 8.4 bWAR. The players Bloom dealt away have a combined bWAR of 29.1, and, unsurprisingly, Betts is by far the main reason for that. The second-largest bWAR after leaving Boston belongs to Jeffrey Springs, whom the Red Sox traded to the Tampa Bay Rays for two minor leaguers. The Rays have turned Springs into an excellent pitcher, and his bWAR stands at 4.8 with Tampa Bay.

The one large move Bloom made at a deadline was in 2021, when he acquired Kyle Schwarber, Hansel Robles and Austin Davis for minor league pitcher Aldo Ramirez. Schwarber, the main piece in that deal, hit .291 with seven home runs while playing outfield, first base and designated hitter as the Red Sox made their way to the ALCS.

A smaller deadline deal that is paying dividends for the Red Sox was the 2022 trade of catcher Christian Vazquez to the Houston Astros for outfielder Wilyer Abreu, who has played his way into early Rookie of the Year conversations, hitting .270 with a 128 OPS+ in his first full season.

A major "what if" moment occurred when the Red Sox opted not to trade shortstop Xander Bogaerts at the 2022 deadline in an attempt to pursue a ring. This backfired when Bogaerts opted out of his contract after the season and signed with the San Diego Padres, preventing the Red Sox from receiving a sizable return.

When it comes to trades, Bloom's lasting legacy will be the move of Betts. The verdict is not quite reached given the emergence of Wong in 2024, and Bloom shouldn't be fully criticized for the trade given the front office's demands to cut spending. His other trades were generally low-risk moves, so he feels tailor-made for the Cardinals in that regard.

Signings and extensions

Bloom's record in free agency has been less than stellar. Before the 2022 season, Bloom signed shortstop Trevor Story to a six-year contract worth $140 million. Story has been a disaster with the Red Sox, playing in only 145 games across three seasons while nursing a number of injuries, including a fractured shoulder early in 2024 that has knocked him out for the entire season. When Story has played, he's hit only .227 with a .681 OPS.

Other free-agent misses include Jake Diekman, whom the Red Sox signed for two years and $8 million in 2022 but who was traded at the deadline for catcher Reese McGuire after a 4.23 ERA in 38.1 innings. Enrique Hernandez was also a disappointment, hitting just .234 in his two and a half seasons with Boston.

Outfielder Masataka Yoshida was a splash out of Japan when the Red Sox signed him to a five-year $90 million contract. After starting his stateside career with promise, Yoshida faded in the second half of 2023 but still held a strong .289 average and a 109 OPS+ at the end of the season. He was playing adequately in 2024 before a thumb injury in late April knocked him out for an extended period.

The Red Sox are in the infancy of Rafael Devers' contract extension. Boston re-signed Devers to an 11-year $331 million deal before the 2023 season, which is the largest contract in Red Sox history by total value. How Devers' time in Boston shakes out will go a long way toward determining Bloom's reputation in Boston a decade from now.

Bloom did make his share of shrewd one-year signings, including Hunter Renfroe (2.4 bWAR), Michael Wacha (3.3 bWAR), Adam Duvall (1.6 bWAR) and Justin Turner (2.1 bWAR). He also signed Kenley Jansen (1.1 bWAR) and Chris Martin (3.3 bWAR) to two-year deals.

Cardinals fans will remember the seemingly endless number of failed pitcher signings the Cardinals have made (Brett Cecil, Greg Holland, Andrew Miller, Mike Leake), and while Bloom might have a slightly better record on the free-agent pitcher side, his signings of big-ticket position players haven't been quite up to snuff.

Drafts and development

Bloom oversaw four drafts with the Red Sox, alternating his yearly strategies in the first round. When the Red Sox picked high in the draft, they grabbed Marcelo Mayer in 2021 at fourth overall and Kyle Teel in 2023 at No. 14, signing them to a full-slot value and slightly below-slot value, respectively. In 2020 and 2022, the Red Sox picked later in the first round and went quite a bit under slot with their signings of Nick Yorke at 17th in 2020 and Mikey Romero at 24th in 2023.

The Red Sox have another promising prospect in Roman Anthony, an outfielder drafted 79th overall in 2022 who hit .272 across three minor league levels in 2023 but has skidded to a .241 average with Triple-A in 2024 because of a lack of pulled fly balls.

Although most of the draft picks under Bloom have not made it to the major leagues yet, his vaunted pitching development history may have helped the Red Sox get the most out of their currently elite rotation, comprising Kutter Crawford, Brayan Bello, Tanner Houck, Cooper Criswell and Nick Pivetta. The Red Sox are second in the major leagues in team ERA and tied for eighth in opposing batting average.

The Red Sox under Bloom also made a strong pick in the 2020 Rule 5 draft, taking right-handed pitcher Garrett Whitlock. Whitlock was a high-leverage reliever for Boston in 2021 and was extended in 2022. Before going down with an injury in April, Whitlock had staked a claim in the rotation, making four starts with a 1.96 ERA. Rule 5 picks usually come with almost zero expectations, so Whitlock could only be considered a success for the Bloom regime.

The main reason the Cardinals signed Bloom to work as an adviser seems to mostly be for development purposes, and as one can see, that appears to be where Bloom shines brightest. But if he is the one to take over when Mozeliak hands the reins to his successor, well... the more things change, the more they stay the same.