Inside The Red Sox

Chaim Bloom Reportedly Helped Cardinals Poach Pair Of Red Sox Hurlers

Boston will have to monitor St. Louis moving forward
Scott Neville|
Chaim Bloom Reportedly Helped Cardinals Poach Pair Of Red Sox Hurlers
Chaim Bloom Reportedly Helped Cardinals Poach Pair Of Red Sox Hurlers

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Boston Red SoxSt. Louis Cardinals

The Boston Red Sox ushered in a new wave of leadership when they hired chief baseball officer Craig Breslow following back-to-back last-place finishes in the American League East.

While everyone is focused on what moves the new guy will make -- so far, nothing to write home about -- his predecessor is working with a new team to poach players from Boston.

"Partially on the advice of new advisor Chaim Bloom, formerly the baseball boss in Boston, the Cards plucked Ryan Fernandez out of the Rule 5 Draft and then landed Nick Robertson and Victor Santos in a trade for Tyler O’Neill -- all of them coming over from the Red Sox," MLB.com's John Denton wrote Monday.

Bloom officially joined St. Louis on Jan. 8 but according to Denton, his work as the Cardinals advisor to the president of baseball operations started months earlier.

Fernandez's loss could be the biggest hit, as the Red Sox received nothing in return, unlike the additions of Robertson and Santos. 

The 25-year-old posted a 1.77 ERA in 20 1/3 innings for Double-A Portland while showing an upper-90s fastball and strong overall pitch mix. Things unraveled upon his promotion to Triple-A Worcester, where he struggled immensely. 

The right-hander posted a 6.16 ERA in 30 2/3 innings for the WooSox due to inflated contact rates and an overall drastic increase in baserunners allowed. 

Bloom was wise to take a shot on a reliever that carries such potential but he's likely to return to the Red Sox organization as he appears far from ready to contribute at the big-league level -- which he would need to do for the Cardinals to retain him. 

Robertson and Santos are both Bloom guys who were brought into the Red Sox organization via trade during his tenure. The former has the highest potential and could become an established big leaguer but the acquisition of O'Neill was worth the risk given Boston's need for a right-handed outfielder at the time.

More MLB: Red Sox Reportedly Interested In Veteran To Bolster Positional Player Depth

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Scott Neville
SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer.  His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu

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