Let’s face it, watching the Boston Red Sox has been difficult this year. The pitching woes that sabotaged their title-defense in 2019 have only gotten worse with Chris Sale out for Tommy John surgery, Eduardo Rodriguez lost to Covid complications and David Price shipped off in the Mookie Betts deal. The team is 9-18 and dead last in the AL East by 3.5 games. Things are only going to get worse from here too. Last night, the Sox traded relievers Brandon Workman- a playoff hero twice over- and Heath Hembree to the Phillies for righty Nick Pivetta and right-handed prospect Connor Seabold. It is the true beginning of a rebuild from the Dombroski-era and the start of Chaim Bloom’s vision for how that rebuild will work.
Sure, Bloom has already made the biggest move of the rebuild and possibly the biggest trade he will ever make. He traded 2018 MVP Mookie Betts along with David Price in February, breaking my heart and ending what little hope there was for this season before it began (and even before the pandemic threatened to destroy it entirely). But while Bloom is responsible for the package that trade brought back, the decision to deal Betts was made before Bloom was even hired. Ownership had decided that getting under the luxury tax was their top priority and Bloom was hired with that objective in mind. Coming from Tampa Bay, Bloom was a natural choice for a team looking to shed money and get quality players back.
And while their is nothing that will ever make me stop hating the team trading Mookie Betts instead of just paying the man his money, Bloom appears to have done well with the lousy hand he was dealt. Alex Verdugo has been one of the few bright spots for the Red Sox this season and the two prospects he netted in that deal, Jeter Downs and Conor Wong, still look promising. The Rays managed to stay competitive in Bloom’s time as Senoir VP of Baseball Operations while having to make deals like the Betts trade every time their stars got close to the end of their rookie deals by getting good overall value back in those deals. Bloom seems to have managed that, even if there is really no value that would match locking Betts in for the next decade-plus.
The trade Bloom made last night really begins his tenure at the helm. Nothing other than the Red Sox horrible performance on the field has forced his hand in making this deal. It is a fairly obvious move to make but the return is intriguing. Nothing will make Bloom successful quicker than being able to turn decent relievers into quality starters and there is reason to believe he has managed to do that here. Righty Nick Pavetta looked like a breakout candidate in 2018, outpitching his ERA in the advanced metrics and striking out more than a batter per inning. Seabold fits that profile in the minors so far as well. Both players have struggled more recently and that is why they can be had for two relievers, but the potential is definitely worth this modest risk.
Getting strong pitching on the trade market has been the Rays’ calling card and Bloom seems to be attempting to bring that approach to Boston with this deal. It won’t be the last one he will have to make before the trade deadline but it does mark the true beginning of his reign over Fenway. This the type of deal he was hired to make and deal like this may well define his tenure in the long run, even more than that first awful trade they made him make.
Spaceman's Pancakes 