Fruits of Chaim Bloom’s labor helping Red Sox, but one move still haunting team

The Boston Red Sox front office hasn't necessarily been a favorite of the fan base over the last severl years. Whether that was former Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom from 2019-23 or even Craig Breslow in his first year on the job, fans have wanted more aggressiveness, more spending, and more investment in the players and product on the field.

However, now that Bloom was ousted in late 2023 to eventually make way for Breslow, the Red Sox are starting to reap a bit of what he sowed through various trades, specifically several that were unpopular at the time, most notably sending out Mookie Betts to the Dodgers. But with some of the prospects acquired in various trades now showing up big for Boston, some are quick to give Bloom his flowers.

Katie Manginelli of BoSox Injection recently highlighted three Chaim Bloom additions and projects who have been huge for the 2024 iteration of the Red Sox. And without question, that assessment of what Rob Refsnyder, Wilyer Abreu and David Hamilton have brought to Boston this year is a huge reason that the Sox are in serious contention for a playoff spot.

Bloom deserves his credit for that; anyone denying that is out of their mind. However, in giving him credit, we also have to dole out blame where its due. And one of Bloom's highest-profile moves has been absolutely crippling for the Red Sox in recent years.

Chaim Bloom's mistake with Trevor Story haunting Red Sox

Just prior to the 2022 season, the Red Sox signed veteran shortstop Trevor Story to a six-year, $140 million deal, good for an average annual value of $23.33 million per year. And three years into the contract, it looks like one of the worst contracts in baseball.

By the time the 2024 campaign concludes, Story will still not have played a full season's worth of games as his season has already ended due to a fracture in his shoulder that required surgery. All told, in three seasons, Story has never played more than 94 games in a single season and has been on the field for only a total of 145 games with Boston.

To make matters worse, when Story has been on the field, he's been nowhere close to the hitter he was over the first six years of his career with the Colorado Rockies. In those 145 games, the shortstop is slashing a measly .227/.288/.394 with an 86 OPS+. Now, this could be a chicken-or-the-egg situation as Story hasn't been healthy enough to get into his peak form. At the same time, though, the Red Sox quite simply aren't getting what they paid for in this deal.

All of this puts the Red Sox in a terrible position. Story will be 32 years old at the start of next season with a laundry list of injuries piling up yet three full years still left (worth a cool $70 million) on the contract Bloom signed him to. That stretches the payroll, which is likely a reason why Breslow and owner John Henry have been reluctant to spend to this point. It also leaves a hole in the lineup that they were expecting to have an All-Star-caliber player occupying.

Spending was almost the antithesis of Bloom's tenure in Boston. However, the one time he did truly spend big in free agency, it's turned out to be an unmitigated disaster. It would be great if Story could show back up to the Red Sox in 2025 and be his old self and stay healthy. The problem is that nothing we've seen to this point would indicate as much. And what's worse, it's the Red Sox in a post-Bloom era who are paying the consequences of this contract.