The book very much remains out on whether the Boston Red Sox made the right decision when they replaced Chaim Bloom with Craig Breslow as the team's top baseball executive. Breslow did himself no favors with the awkward way he handled the Rafael Devers' drama earlier this season, but he seems to have made some stealthy additions at the trade deadline last month. As Bloom found out, winning in October will certainly be the ultimate measuring test for Breslow.
Meanwhile, October is when Bloom will take over as the Cardinals' President of Baseball Operations. There was once a time when the Cardinals' front office was the model of success for Major League Baseball, but the team has since become an afterthought in its own division. Cardinals fans are seemingly ready for a change after the franchise hit an attendance low earlier this week.
Short of a miraculous run between now and the end of the season, the Cardinals won't be making the playoffs. Once their season closes, Bloom likely will be tasked with taking a wrecking ball to the Cardinals' core of veteran players who have underwhelmed in recent seasons.
Cardinals dramatic rebuild now has Chaim Bloom right in the middle of it
As Katie Woo alluded to during a recent mailbag for The Athletic, the impression is that Bloom's first act will be setting the stage for a full rebuild for the Cardinals.
"When chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. signed Bloom to be the next president of baseball operations, he extended a fairly lengthy contract. Bloom is under tenure for five years, through the 2031 system. That leads me to believe ownership knows this won’t be a quick fix and will allow Bloom enough time to truly rebuild the organization — not just patch it and hope something sticks."
In other words, don't expect the Cardinals to be an immediate contender upon Bloom taking over the team's front office.
Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras, and Sonny Gray are likely the three veterans that Bloom will look to move this offseason. Over the last year, all three players seemed to have voiced their objection to a potential trade, but with a rebuild all but confirmed, chances are they will have a change of heart once Bloom approaches them with the idea. Perhaps that is where Bloom takes a page out of Breslow's book in not being afraid to move a player embedded with the team's culture.
Nonetheless, it's a reminder for Red Sox fans that their former shot caller will be taking over in a position of power with one of the league's most historic franchises in just a few weeks.