The Rafael Devers fiasco is a reminder of what Chaim Bloom dealt with in Boston

It's also a reminder of how we should think of the Cardinals' next lead executive

This, as you have probably noticed before, is a newsletter devoted to the St. Louis Cardinals. In this episode, however, I would like to talk about the Boston Red Sox.

As you’re no doubt aware, the Red Sox over the weekend executed a blockbuster trade with the Giants that sent star slugger Rafael Devers to San Fran for old friend Jordan Hicks, lefty Kyle Harrison, and a pair of prospects. From our standpoint, what’s notable about this trade – beyond the fact that it significantly improves the outlook of the Giants, one of the Cardinals’ theoretical wild-card competitors – is that it’s the latest example of how the Boston front office remains shot through with dysfunction. That matters to us because of Chaim Bloom and what his Boston tenure tells us about his future as the Cardinals’ lead decision-maker. Much of this will be familiar ground, but the latest unforced error by Red Sox execs is a reminder that you shouldn’t think of Bloom as a retread or failed exec for whom the Cardinals settled. He was fired by Boston, yes, but, much like the trade of Devers, it says more about the organization than it does the departing contributor.