Ex-Red Sox GM’s Fingerprints All Over Steven Matz Trade With Cardinals
It’s rare that a front office member gets to be on both sides of a trade, but that’s essentially what happened with Chaim Bloom this week.
Late Wednesday night, the Boston Red Sox bolstered their bullpen by trading infield prospect Blaze Jordan to the St. Louis Cardinals for left-handed pitcher Steven Matz.
Jordan was the Red Sox’s third-round pick in the 2020 MLB Draft — Bloom’s first as Boston’s chief baseball officer. He drafted Jordan out of high school and oversaw his development before being dismissed by the Red Sox during the 2023 season.
Bloom now works for the Cardinals as an adviser to their president of baseball operations, John Mozeliak, whom he will replace after this season.
Now, Bloom is reuniting with one of his first draft picks, whom he apparently is still fond of. The 22-year-old infielder has progressed nicely through Boston’s farm system, batting .308/.377/.495 with 22 doubles, 12 home runs and 62 RBI in 88 games across Double-A and Triple-A this season.
With Jordan poised to reach the Major Leagues soon, it makes sense that St. Louis targeted him. Bloom knows Jordan’s profile extremely well and likely recommended him during trade discussions.
Bloom emphasized building up the farm system during his Red Sox tenure (occasionally at the expense of the big-league roster), so acquiring Jordan fits with his track record. Some of his best moves involved trading veterans for prospects, such as Christian Vázquez for Wilyer Abreu and Enmanuel Valdez.
Interestingly, Bloom previously pursued Matz in free agency when he was with Boston after the 2021 season. Matz ended up signing with the Cardinals on a four-year, $44 million deal.
A starting pitcher at the time, Matz has since moved to the bullpen. In 55 innings this year, the 34-year-old lefty is 5-2 with a 3.44 ERA and a 5.2 K/BB ratio.
If Matz helps the Red Sox make the playoffs and Blaze blossoms with St. Louis, this could be the type of move that benefits both sides. Either way, Bloom’s fingerprints are all over it.