Boston moves into top tier of farm systems
When the Boston Red Sox hired Chaim Bloom as the team’s chief baseball officer in Oct. 2019, the club had a hefty payroll and a gutted farm system. Nearing four years later, the latter issue seems like a problem of yesterday.
In the updated 2019 rankings, Fangraphs ranked the Red Sox as having the worst farm system in all of baseball. Top prospects had either been traded in the chase of a championship or had already reached the major leagues.
In Bloom’s tenure, the Red Sox have built teams to compete while protecting and replenishing the minor leagues.
Boston sits within striking distance of moving into an American League wild card spot in 2023. In addition, Fangraphs highly values Boston’s upgraded farm system which now currently ranks fifth in the updated 2023 rankings. In just four years, the Red Sox moved from 30th to fifth in the rankings with a minor league overhaul that now develops for a bright future.
Chaim Bloom committed to building a future and not sacrificing it for the present throughout his time in Boston. As a result, players such as Nick Yorke, Marcelo Mayer, Ceddanne Rafaela, Shane Drohan, and Roman Anthony are growing into key contributors throughout Boston’s minor league affiliates.
In the updated rankings, only the Pittsburgh Pirates, Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs and Tampa Bay Rays have higher-rated farm systems than the Red Sox.