4 ways Craig Breslow can avoid repeating Chaim Bloom's Red Sox mistakes
By Rick McNair
2. Be willing to trade prospects
Was Bloom a collector? Was Bloom a hoarder? Bloom supposedly improved the farm system since the party line was it was decimated by Dombrowski -- a point I do not subscribe to.
Boston had no trouble dealing high-profile prospects such as Hanley Ramírez, Yoán Moncada, Casey Fossum, Michael Kopech, and others in this century. Without such moves, World Series flags would not be flying.
Prospects are an unproven commodity, and no matter what the scouting reports may say or what fans wish, it is just hogwash until they do it at the MLB level. I recently wrote about a few on the fast track for Red Sox immortality. How did that work out?
Bloom was a collector reluctant to part with any in his collection. No doubt somewhere was the memories of Jeff Bagwell, but a CBO has to be risk-oriented and not risk-averse.
With the stash Bloom handed over to Breslow, especially on the position development aspect, I expect some packaging, especially making deals with teams willing to look long-term for controllable talent. Where the make or break will come for Breslow is the future if the prospect he deals ends up with a 15-year MLB career and Boston gets a contract albatross.