Chaim Bloom has an interesting start to his tenure as Boston's Chief of Baseball operations since he accepted the job back in December to replace Dave Dombrowski. Bloom was tasked with to rebuild the Red Sox farm system while keeping the big league club competitive and relevant. Well, it didnt start off great when he had to sit with ownership about the cheating scandal and the departure of Manager Alex Cora due to his role in the Astros sign-stealing scandal.
Just weeks later, he pulled off a big blockbuster trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers and sent superstar outfielder Mookie Betts and star pitcher David Price to LA in exchange for outfielder Alex Verdugo, and minor league prospects Jeter Downs an Connor Wong. Fair to say it has been a fair trade so far on both ends as Betts signed an extension with the Dodgers prior to the start of the 60-game season and Verdugo is quickly making a case to potentially become a fan favorite in Red Sox nation.
As for the competitive balance, not so much in 2020. The bullpen has been awful, the rotation has been opener after opener, and recently the only reliable starter the Red Sox could rely on in Nathon Eovaldi, has been placed on the injured list. That has lead to the Red Sox to make decisions for not only the remainder of this season, but for the 2021 season and beyond.
It started on August 21st when the Red Sox traded relievers Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for relievers Nick Pivetta and Connor Seabold. At the time, it put field manager Ron Roenicke in a tough spot bullpen wise as he was suddenly short two relievers in a close game against the Orioles that the Red Sox ended up winning.
On Sunday August 30th, the Red Sox traded first baseman and Game Four World Series hero Mitch Moreland to the San Diego Padres for a pair prospects. Moreland at the time was the Red Sox triple crown leader as he lead the team in batting average, home runs and RBI's.
Monday August 31st: Trade Deadline Day. It has been rumored that the Red Sox would be willing to not only take calls on big name players but also would potentially pull the trigger. Take a deep sigh of relief Red Sox fans; the names of Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez and Jackie Bradley Jr. are all still members of the Red Sox. However, today Boston did send relief pitcher Josh Osch to the Chicago Cubs and off-season acquisition Kevan Pillar to the Colorado Rockies in moves today.
Did Bloom get rid of the big money, long-term commitments. No he did not. He got rid of short-term, low cost players that helped the club acquire players that will either blossom the farm system next season or make an impact of the rest of this season and heading into next.
Surprisingly, Bloom and the Red Sox did not trade JBJ at the deadline, considering he is on a one-year deal being payed less than his original $11 million he signed back in February. This could potentially lead to another possible one-year contract from the Red Sox in the off-season in the hopes of trading him then, or risk losing him in free agency and get nothing in return.
The Red Sox currently sit with a record of 12-22, which is last in the AL East, second to last in the American League and 28th in all of baseball. 2020 is clearly not the year for the Red Sox, as with the loss of Chris Sale back in March and the loss of Edquardo Rodriquez fior the season due to complications he suffered after his bout with COVID-19, the pitching staff took a sever hit and frankly was destined to fail at the beginning of the season.
Can Chaim Bloom fix the Red Sox farm system issues while also maintaining a competitive team that will fight for a playoff spot? Or will he focus more on restocking the farm system and allow the major league team to become irrelevant for a few years? Only time will tell.
26 games remain in the 2020 60-game season. It's abundantly clear that the Red Sox will not be in the playoffs in 2020.
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