Red Sox fans might've been too quick to judge Chaim Bloom after recent prospect update

For the past two years, you would be hard-pressed to find a more criticized person in Boston than now-former Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom. Outside of a thrilling 2021 playoff run, the results simply got worse under Bloom's management of the roster and, moreover, it also led to the departures of franchise favorites Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts.

All of this obviously culminated with Bloom being fired in September 2023 and ultimately being replaced by Craig Breslow. And the sentiment around Bloom still hadn't turned out favorable. However, that might be changing based on what Bloom actually was able to accomplish while he was in the Red Sox front office.

Specifically, one of the big things Bloom was tasked with was rebuilding the Red Sox farm system again. While those results might not be seen at the big-league level (yet), they are happening. Case in point, Roman Anthony, the club's 2022 second-round pick (No. 79 overall) under Bloom's direction, is now the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America ($) after Junior Caminero's prospect status expired this week.

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Roman Anthony's promotion to No. 1 prospect should inspire apology from Red Sox fans to Chaim Bloom

At just 20 years old after being drafted out of high school, Anthony's ascension has been massive in the 2024 season. He begn the year in Double-A Portland and, after a slow start to the year, found his groove to slash .269/.367/.489 with 15 home runs, 20 doubles and three triples across 84 games before being promoted to Triple-A Worcester.

With the WooSox in 25 games, he's been lights-out. Anthony already has three home runs, eight doubles, a triple and 14 RBI to his credit while slashing a ridiculous .340/.419/.530 immediately after his elevation to the highest level of the minor leagues. And mind you, he's doing this all before he can legally purchase an alcoholic beverage.

Bloom deserves his flowers for identifying a player in the second round with the tools and upside of Anthony, which the 20-year-old is obviously realizing before our eyes. But it's also not just Anthony. Under Bloom's direction, the Red Sox also drafted Marcelo Mayer, Kyle Teel and Kristian Campbell, all of whom are in the Top 25 of Baseball America's latest prospect rankings. And that also doesn't consider the likes of Mikey Romero and others who have started to come on of late in the minors as well.

Make no mistake, this doesn't make Bloom bulletproof to criticism. Trading Betts still feels like an egregiously short-sighted move, especially with the prospects who came in return from the Dodgers in that trade. Moreover, an ideal world would've been rebuilding the farm system while putting an ever-improving product on the field at Fenway Park, which Bloom failed to do and Breslow is left to now pick up the pieces with.

However, Breslow's job of doing that for the long-term is absolutely going to be easier because of what Bloom did for the organiation with its farm system. The No. 1 prospect in baseball will be on the Red Sox relatively soon, as will likely at least three other Top 25 prospects. That's to Bloom's credit and, for all of the flak that he was given while in Boston, perhaps fans should offer an apology to him for the good work he truly did on that level and what it could mean for the future of the franchise.