As we are about a month out from the 2024 MLB Draft, its time to take a look at the Chaim Bloom era and the success....or lack thereof, his drafts brought to the table. The 2020 draft was the transition draft as 2019 and previous drafts were 40 rounds but the elimination of rookie league also cut 20 rounds from the draft. Then the pandemic happened and there were only 5 rounds in the 2020 draft. Let's see how Chaim Bloom did four years later even though he's no longer the Boston Red Sox GM.
1st round - INF Nick Yorke
With the 17th overall pick in the 2020 draft, the Red Sox took Archbishop Mitty High School third baseman Nick Yorke. Yorke was considered one of the best high school infield prospects in the draft and although he didn't get to play rookie ball in 2020, he shined in 2021. He hit .323 with 10 home runs and 47 rbis for the Salem Red Sox and .333 with four home runs and 15 rbis for the Greenville Drive. 14 homers and 62 rbis for a 19 year old sounds promising. Unfortunately competition caught up with Nick in 2022 as he hit just .232 albeit with 11 homers and 45 rbis. In 2023 he spent the entire year in Portland where he hit .268 with 13 home runs and 61 rbis. He was hitting just .251 for the Portland Sea Dogs when he got the call to Worcester this year where he's thrived. Currently he's hitting .362 with 2 homers and 9 rbis in 12 games with the WooSox. The 22 year old looks to be right on schedule when Bloom drafted him as a teenager. Now a lot of his contemporaries have already made their MLB debuts, but with the crowded infield the Red Sox have, he's more of a numbers casualty than a lack of talent. He's currently the 17th ranked prospect and the smart move would be to move Rafael Devers to the DH slot while putting Yorke at third base. That might be the end-game in 2025.
3rd round - Blaze Jordan
The Sox had no second round pick as it was forfeited due to the sign stealing accusations. Their third round pick was another teenage phenom, DeSoto Central High School third baseman Blaze Jordan. Jordan went viral as a teenager for hitting tape measure home runs at Arlington Park. Just like Yorke, he had no 2020 rookie ball season and spent 2021 playing just 28 games between Florida Complex and Salem. In 2022 he played 120 games between Salem & Greenville hitting 12 home runs and 68 rbis. In 2023 he was once again Greenville's best player, hitting .324 with 12 homers and 55 rbis before getting promoted to Portland. He hit 6 home runs and knocked in 31 runs in 49 games for a total of 18 home runs and 86 rbis. This year he's hitting .280 for Portland with 4 home runs and 27 rbis. He doesn't turn 22 until December so the Sox are bringing him along slowly. Just like Yorke, its more due to a crowded situation than a talent performance. Bloom drafting nothing but position players for four years led to a log jam. Time will tell if and when Blaze makes the majors.
4th round - LHP Jeremy Wu-Yelland
Fourth round pick Jeremy Wu-Yelland his been marred by injuries almost since day one. He graduated from Hawaii University in 2000 and made his organizational debut going 1-3 in 20 stars with Salem in 2021. Then he had Tommy John surgery in 2022 and made just 3 starts in the Florida Complex in 2023. He's only pitched in 6 games for Greenville this year with a hideous 5.68 ERA. He's already 25 years old and may get cut if he doesn't show improvement pretty soon. Too bad he got hurt.
5th round - LHP Shane Drohan
Fifth and final pick Shane Drohan has had an interesting baseball odyssey. After graduating from Florida State University, Drohan started 2021 like a house of fire going 7-4 in 23 starts with a 3.96 ERA for the Salem Red Sox. In 2022, he went 7-8 between Greenville and Portland in 25 starts. 2023 looked like a breakout season when he started 5-0 with a 1.32 ERA in 6 starts but he proceeded to crash and burn in Worcester. He went 5-7 with a 6.47 ERA in 19 starts before getting claimed by the Chicago White Sox in the Rule 5 draft. He posted a 7.36 ERA with the Charlotte Knights before being returned to Boston just eight days ago. That technicality is the only reason all five draft picks are still with the organization. Whether or not he makes the majors is if he can figure out AAA pitching or not.
RFA - RHP Brian Van Belle
There were 16 rookie free agents signed after the draft but only three remain. The first is right handed pitcher Brian Van Belle. He only made 4 starts for the Miami Hurricanes in 2020 but was 2-0 with a 0.68 ERA in those games. In 2021, he was 4-3 with a 4.10 ERA in 18 starts for the Salem Red Sox and was 9-6 with a hideous 5.43 ERA combined between Greenville and Portland in 2022. He was 11-7 between Portland and Worcester last year but has been straight batting practice this season. He's 2-2 with a 6.65 ERA so far this year and at 27 years old, time's up. They got prospects coming up and they can get a 4A veteran anywhere. Still, for a guy who might have been a low round pick or still not even drafted, getting this far is an accomplishment.
RFA - RHP Robert Kwiatkowski
27 year old right handed pitcher Robert Kwiatkowski has had an unsung career for sure. He graduated from Marshall University at 23 years old and looked like a future stud when he went 6-0 with a 3.58 ERA out of the bullpen for the Salem Red Sox. Unfortunately he was batting practice for Greenville in 2022 when he went 2-4 with a 6.75 ERA out of the bullpen. In 2023 he started off slow in Greenville but rebounded in Portland posting a 3.78 ERA for the Sea Dogs. This year he's posted a mediocre 4.40 ERA out of the bullpen for Portland but did throw 6 1/3 scoreless innings for Worcester. If he stays in Worcester, he might actually be useful. Just like Van Belle, he's 27 years old and he can easily be replaced by a better prospect or a 4A pitcher.....unless he continues to get guys out in Worcester.
RFA - Catcher Juan Montero
22 year old catcher Juan Montero was an interesting project started by Bloom. He was an undrafted free agent signed at 18 out of the Puerto Rican Baseball Academy and only played 34 games combined in 2021 and 2022 for the Florida Complex. In 2023 he hit .247 in 23 games for Salem but is only hitting .187 in 29 games for Salem. He's still only 22 but hitting .187 in Low A ball is a bad sign. Still, to not even be drafted and going straight from PRBA to the pros is a tough process. Hopefully he turns it around, but if not, there's always another catcher to be drafted or signed.
So there's your seven prospects remaining from the 2020 draft/rookie haul. The problem was three of them (Yorke,Jordan,Montero) were out of high school when they were drafted, one of them got injured (Wu-Yelland) and the others just haven't performed good enough (Drohan/Kwiatkowski/Van Belle). It looks like Yorke will have a place if he's not traded and the word is still out on Jordan, but it doesn't look good for the others. If only one of them makes the majors, that's a bad look for Chaim Bloom's first draft. Then again, the whole season was a waste anyway with Covid.
The Sox are back in action tomorrow night in Cincinnati to face the Reds. Kutter Crawford (2-6, 3.54 ERA) looks to get Boston to six straight wins against Andrew Abbott of the Reds. The game begins at 7:10 PM Eastern time at Great American Ball Park.
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