Red Sox fire CBO Bloom, hire Breslow
The Boston Red Sox fired Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023, after four seasons of unpredictability. The team replaced Bloom with former player and executive Craig Breslow, to run their baseball operations department, on Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.
Immediately after his hiring in October 2019, Chaim Bloom set out to do exactly what the owners told him to do, which was to get under the Competitive Balance Tax (CBT) threshold while rebuilding the farm system. The Red Sox weren’t competitive with Bloom at the helm, as spending little money and fostering a successful future at the same time while also trying to make the playoffs is nearly impossible.
Bloom was able to take the Red Sox farm system from dead last to top five in his four-year tenure with the franchise. He revamped their whole analytics department and brought them up to speed after his nearly 15-year career with the Tampa Bay Rays. With this expansion, he was able to pick out prospects to sign, draft, and trade for.
The prospects already in the system benefited greatly from the new program, as fans saw players such as first basemen Triston Casas and outfielder Jarren Duran make large jumps skill-wise in a short period of time. Prospects that came into the system, including third baseman Enmanuel Valdez and outfielder Wilyer Abreu whom Bloom got in return when he traded away catcher Christian Vásquez, have made their debuts in recent seasons and have been nothing short of great.
Coming from the Rays, Bloom’s eye for analytics not only worked to improve the Red Sox minor-league system but also the major-league squad as well. He signed third baseman Rafael Devers to an 11-year contract extension to keep him in Boston. Along with Devers, Bloom signed Japanese star outfielder Masataka Yoshida last offseason, who is now looking to be a future star with a full year under his belt. Bloom also revamped the bullpen in recent years as he added future hall-of-fame closer Kenley Jansen and all-star snub Chris Martin.
Although there were positives, Bloom had some major drawbacks including not possessing the necessary courage to execute major trades to improve the team. The ones he did make were of little help to the team, including deals for outfielder Kyle Schwarber, who led the team to the playoffs in 2021 but elected not to return the following season, and first baseman Eric Hosmer who ended up only playing a few games due to an injury in 2022.
Chaim’s free agency decisions were also largely subpar, whether it be players he added or ones he let go to other teams. For example, he signed all-star second baseman Trevor Story away from the Colorado Rockies in 2022, but he’s been injured for the majority of his career with Boston. The Red Sox also have no clear starting shortstop after they let their homegrown talent, Xander Bogaerts, sign with the San Diego Padres this past offseason (even if he is somehow making it look as if the Red Sox dodged a bullet).
Arguably, the move most fans will remember Bloom for the most was sending future Hall of Famer and perennial MVP-candidate Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020. The team was able to dump the rest of pitcher David Price's profitable contract onto the Dodgers in the process, but their return was simply not enough.
The Red Sox claimed shortstop Jeter Downs, catcher Connor Wong, and outfielder Alex Verdugo. Downs never panned out, was designated for assignment, and is currently signed to the Washington Nationals. Wong, on the other hand, looks like he will become their starting catcher for the foreseeable future and has a very promising career. Verdugo also saw a massive improvement this season and is a potential trade candidate for Boston in the near future. While the team did get some solid players in return, Betts was a homegrown star and will go down as one of the best players of all time.
As for Craig Breslow, fans should be excited, to say the least. He’s a former pitcher and World Series champion who won with the Red Sox in 2013, and is coming over after spending four years in the Chicago Cubs’ front office. Breslow will aim to install his pitching department for the Red Sox farm system, especially after his success with the Cubs’ pitching development. With a few promising Red Sox pitching talents in their farm system, the thought of them going through Breslow’s program is exciting. At the big league level, the Red Sox are in a position to make a run for another championship in 2024. Breslow will most likely be given the green light to wheel and deal, as the franchise is under the CBT and has a loaded farm system that can be unloaded to bring in some major talent this off-season.