3 unforgivable mistakes Chaim Bloom made with the Boston Red Sox
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No. 1 Chaim Bloom mistake with the Red Sox: The Mookie Betts trade
The Mookie Betts trade will go down as one of the biggest fleecings in MLB history. To acquire a future Hall of Famer at 26 years old with an MVP under his belt already, the Dodgers gave up Alex Verdugo Connor Wong and Jeter Downs.
At the time, Verdugo was the No. 35 prospect in baseball and LA's top prospect. Downs was No. 44 and Wong wasn't in the Top 100, ranking No. 28 in the LA farm system.
Verdugo has been a serviceable player for the Red Sox but nothing remotely as special as Betts. The additions of Wong and Downs were useless. The fact that the former has a place in the lineup for the Red Sox in 2023 is an indictment of the front office.
Being unable to hold on to Betts isn't on Bloom. If the owners weren't willing to pay him the contract he was owed, trading him was better than letting him walk (like they'd do for Bogaerts a couple of years later). But getting such a paltry return for a player of Betts category defied belief, then and now. And the deal has only looked worse and worse each year.
When it comes down to it, Blooms legacy is the Mookie Betts trade. It's not a good one.
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