After he was fired with just days to go in the 2023 season, former Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom joined the St. Louis Cardinals organization.
Bloom was Boston's scapegoat after its second-straight playoff miss and losing season, but he's still held in high regard among some Red Sox fans for one aspect of his tenure — his eye for prospects. St. Louis is in the throes of a rebuild, and as the soon-to-be president of baseball operations, Bloom hopes to flood its system with as many top-tier young players he brought to Boston.
From April 4-6, Bloom was forced to watch some of his former acquisitions in action as the Red Sox swept the Cardinals in their first home series of the 2025 slate. The most dominant among them was Wilyer Abreu.
Abreu has been one of the best hitters in baseball early this season. The right fielder is batting .483/.595/.897 with a staggering, league-leading 1.492 OPS. He played the hero against the Cardinals with five hits, one homer, three RBI and a walk-off single in the first game of the April 6 doubleheader.
Chaim Bloom trade acquisition Wilyer Abreu continues early season dominance against Cardinals
Alex Bregman and Wilyer Abreu each drive two-run doubles and the @RedSox are up big early on #SundayNightBaseball. pic.twitter.com/EuAEfryW1a
— MLB (@MLB) April 6, 2025
Abreu's excellent defense was also on show against St. Louis. Willson Contreras tapped a single into the right field grass, and as Lars Nootbaar charged into third base, Abreu fired a flawless throw to cut down the lead runner. Alex Bregman received the throw without moving his glove and placed a perfect tag to get an out the Red Sox had no business taking. ESPN later revealed on the Sunday Night Baseball broadcast that Abreu's throw clocked at just under 91 miles per hour on the radar gun.
The Red Sox acquired Abreu in 2022 as part of their return in the Christian Vázquez trade with the Astros. Boston also netted Enmanuel Valdez in the exchange, who was billed as the better of the two prospects, but he couldn't cut it in the Sox's infield. He batted just .235/.286/.400 over 125 games with the Red Sox and contributed 13 errors over two seasons.
At first, Red Sox fans weren't thrilled with the Vázquez trade. He was an above-average defender and batted .262/.311/.389 over his eight seasons in Boston. Since he left, though, he hasn't been the same player, and he's slashing just .220/.263/.319 in 199 games since he joined the Twins. It's safe to say he was traded at the right time and that Bloom secured a solid return.
St. Louis' early-season production has been unexpected, especially after its most recent offseason with no trades and no signings. The Cards have mustered a 4-5 record and collected at least 10 hits in eight of their nine games so far. The Cardinals organization got a good look at the caliber of talent Bloom is used to drafting, but in the opposite dugout. If Abreu's early work is any indication, St. Louis' rebuild should go just fine.