How Red Sox Fans Should Really Feel About Blaze Jordan-Cardinals Trade

Here's the honest truth

Jun 13, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Blaze Jordan (33) celebrates his run against the Minnesota Twins in the second inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images | Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox's poor season has led to a lot of second-guessing, and that theme continued on Saturday thanks to Blaze Jordan.

Originally known as a viral sensation thanks to his 500-foot home run in a showcase as a 13-year-old, Jordan became the Red Sox's third-round pick out of high school in Mississippi in 2020. After some ups and downs in the farm system, he got traded to the St. Louis Cardinals at last year's deadline for left-handed pitcher Steven Matz.

Jordan hit his first major league home run on Saturday, and Matz pitches for the Tampa Bay Rays now. That's causing some jaded Red Sox fans to re-litigate the trade, but there are numerous reasons not to waste energy on feeling upset about this one.

Jordan deal was more than just defensible

Jun 13, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Blaze Jordan (33) celebrates his first mlb triple against the Minnesota Twins in the second inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images | Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

One hardly had to explain the logic of trading Jordan at the time of the deal last July. The Red Sox were in a playoff push, and every team making that push can use more bullpen help. Then, Matz went on to put up a 2.08 ERA in 21 2/3 innings with the Red Sox, not counting his two scoreless postseason outings.

Every team with championship aspirations has to trade for rentals from time to time. And among Red Sox position player prospects, Jordan didn't rank all that highly in terms of future playing time considerations. Even now, it's not as though he'd be pushing Willson Contreras for playing time at first base, so he'd have to prove he could stick at third long-term.

But the only real evidence we needed to prove that trading Jordan wasn't a mistake was that he would have been exposed to the Rule 5 Draft had he stayed. It was either get two good months of a veteran reliever for him, or risk another team grabbing him for a minuscule fee in December.

The Cardinals are one of the success stories of the baseball season so far, while the Red Sox are one of the biggest failures. But that doesn't mean Jordan should have been Boston's third baseman of the future, and one good swing doesn't mean much anyway in the long run.