Red Sox's Chaim Bloom Fleeced Multiple Teams At Last Season's Trade Deadline
Recent events regarding some other Boston sports teams may have changed the narrative, few have received more criticism in the city than Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom in recent years.
While it blows my mind that Bloom is willing to stake his career on keeping Ryan Brasier on the big-league roster, the executive's overall body of work continues to look better by the day.
Let's take a quick look at his deals from last season's Major League Baseball trade deadline:
Traded left-handed reliever Jake Diekman to the Chicago White Sox for catcher Reese McGuire and right-handed reliever Taylor Broadway
This concept to look back was spawned from the White Sox's release of Jake Diekman on Tuesday, which solidified Bloom's first fleecing of the deadline.
While Diekman was unable to make it a full season in Chicago, McGuire has hit .333 with 13 extra-base hits, 18 RBIs and a .839 OPS in 54 games since joining the Red Sox.
Even if he does come back down to reality, he certainly outplayed the player he was traded for. Defensively, McGuire has left something to be desired but he's formed a fantastic and unexpectedly valuable pairing with Connor Wong behind the plate.
Broadway is an enticing throw-in that Bloom was able to acquire. He closed out last season by allowing just one run in six innings with the Portland Sea Dogs but has battled injury and struggled out of the gate this season. The 26-year-old can only add value to a phenomenal trade by Bloom.
Traded catcher Christian Vázquez to the Houston Astros for infielder Enmanuel Valdez outfielder Wilyer Abreu
Vázquez's departure was hard to swallow for die-hard Red Sox fans but turned out to be another fantastic trade. For two months of Vázquez, Boston was able to acquire two top-30 prospects to their farm system.
Valdez is the No. 17 Red Sox prospect according to MLB Pipeline and Abreu is No. 22.
While defensive struggles have been present throughout his career, Valdez flat-out rakes and has been an impactful bat in the Red Sox's lineup following the injury to Yu Chang.
The 24-year-old slugger is hitting .333 (8-for-24) with four extra-base hits including a go-ahead home run late in Monday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays. He's opened the season with a .917 OPS and looks more than comfortable against MLB pitching.
Abreu sustained a hamstring injury in spring training that derailed the beginning of his season but he's another promising prospect that is off to a strong start in Triple-A Worcester.
Traded left-handed pitching prospect Jay Groome to the San Diego Padres for first baseman Eric Hosmer, infielder Max Ferguson, outfielder Corey Rosier, and cash
This trade is an odd one but still has still been a confident win for Bloom.
Hosmer was designated for assignment this winter after just 14 games in Boston last season but sits as a rather irrelevant part of the deal despite being the most notable player in the trade.
Any executive, analyst or fan that has watched modern-day Groom pitch will tell you he's not who he once was or was expected to be. Groome had Henry Owens written all over him -- a player who had great prospect status but hasn't passed the eye test in a long time.
It's not surprising that the 24-year-old has a 9.13 ERA, 19-to-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a whopping .357 batting average against through five games with the Padres Triple-A affiliate.
As for the Red Sox? They added the two enticing speedsters while making a move for Hosmer that gave them a chance to make a run last season -- though it was quickly apparent that would not happen.
Ferguson has not shown an ability to hit big-league pitching -- he has a career .214 batting average but has 86 steals on 94 attempts in his 168 career minor-league outings.
Rosier, however, could have a real future. The 23-year-old is hitting .310 with six extra-base hits including a home run, eight RBIs and a .810 OPS through 17 games for Double-A Portland. He's also swiped 10 bags on 11 attempts and is coming off a 40-steal season in only 45 attempts.
I'd take Rosier for Groome one-for-one, making this deal a win for Bloom as well, though not as obvious as the others.
Traded utility infielder Nicholas Northcut to the Cincinnati Reds for outfielder Tommy Pham
Bloom trading the guy who led the minor leagues in home runs sounds shocking but it's pretty clear he's not a big-league hitter.
Northcut has been injured this season and has yet to make his season debut. Last season he hit 30 home runs but hit just .219 between High-A and Double-A. That left plenty to be desired and made him expendable.
The trade cleared a path for Matthew Lugo -- Boston's No. 13 prospect -- to be promoted to Double-A this season. Lugo's off to a .283 start with 10 extra-base hits and a .818 OPS in 13 games.
As for Pham, he was a solid contributor for Boston but that doesn't really mean much as the Red Sox fell well short of contention. Overall, this trade was a wash but at least it has had a positive impact on the farm system.
Bloom took a ton of heat for the trades he made at the deadline -- and the ones he didn't. It's atypical to attempt to buy and sell but he did a great job with the moves he actually made.
Looking back it sounds obvious that Bloom should have dealt Xander Bogaerts, Nathan Eovaldi and J.D. Martinez but the club was only a couple of games back of a playoff spot when the deadline started. Alex Cora would have gone into the front office with his fists up if they went with a full-blown firesale.
Bloom's time has been tumultuous but his moves are starting to look better by the day. But again, he needs to get rid of Brasier. His place alone on the roster is a borderline fireable offense.
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