Chaim Bloom, the President of Baseball Operations (or whatever he was called) was fired by the Boston Red Sox yesterday. An unfortunate firing for Yankees fans. Chaim Bloom entrenched the Red Sox as a perennial last place team. One less team in the AL East for the Yankees to have to worry about during the yearly playoff push.
I was giddy today after seeing the notification that Chaim Bloom was fired. Luke asked a fair question, why would I be so happy Bloom was fired if I thought he was so bad at his job. Luke wouldn’t be happy if Brian Cashman was fired considering, much like Chaim Bloom, Brian Cashman is very bad at running a baseball team.
Honestly, I am happy that Chaim Bloom was fired because I spent the last four years having to listen to Luke go on about what a “genius” this idiot was.
Four years of Chaim Bloom is so smart because he wants to build from within. Ok, that’s great but has he shown anything to prove that he can actually build a team from within?
The guy finished in last place nearly every year of his tenure. Does that sound like someone who knows what they are doing?
Most people forget, since it was so forgettable, the Red Sox actually made it to the ALCS in 2021. For a moment, I thought “oh no, maybe this guy isn’t as dumb as I thought”. For a moment, I thought maybe Bloom can build the Red Sox into a contender.
The Bloom traded one of the key cogs of that 2021 team, Hunter Renfroe, away for nothing. Dismantling a team that went to the ALCS for no apparent reason. I have never, ever heard a legitimate reason as to why Chaim Bloom didn’t build on that core.
Bloom repeatedly whiffed on trades and player assessment. I don’t know if there is a single trade he made where the general consensus was that he “won” the trade.
With the exception of the Bloominati, everyone recognizes that Bloom got completely taken for a ride in the Mookie Betts trade. Bloom misjudged the talent of Jeter Downs, who played like 4 innings for the Red Sox in his entire career. He took on a bad teammate, the malcontent Alex Verdugo. He got a backup catcher in Connor Wong.
The Benintendi trade was even worse. Andrew Benintendi was traded for Josh Winckowkski and a bunch of failed prospects. In a sense, Winckowski was a failure too considering he was originally acquired to be a starter. Andrew Benintendi, a guy that just signed a 5 year deal worth $75mil. Bloom traded a guy worth $15mil a year for a middle reliever.
Chaim Bloom could not have cared less about building a defensively solid team. This year’s Red Sox team is unquestionably the worst fielding Red Sox team I have seen in the past 20 years. The Red Sox, much to my chagrin, have played fundamentally solid baseball since they went on this run. This year, the team has taken a nosedive in its fielding with Casas and Devers butchering the corners while Yoshida plays below average in the miniscule Fenway left field.
Starting pitching was another blind spot to Chaim Bloom. I warned the Bleacher Brawls Red Sox crew that converting Whitlock to a starter was going to be a mistake. That they needed real starting pitching depth. Of the nine starting pitchers the Red Sox had on the roster going into spring training, did anyone outperform expectations? What did he expect when he went shopping for starting pitching in the clearance bin? It’s not depth when the pool is that shallow.
The firing of Chaim Bloom is bad news for Yankees fans. He was a dolt struggling to build a winner. I saw it instantaneously. I knew the moment Bloom was brought on to the Red Sox, their 20 year run of good luck was over.
The firing of Chaim Bloom is unfortunate for Yankees fans but for me, it’s a win.
It’s like the great Scott Hall would say, I love to say I told you so.
