Tomase: Jeter Downs Might Be Defining Player of Chaim Bloom Era

Tomase: Jeter Downs might be defining player of Chaim Bloom Era originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

If there's a player who signifies everything wrong with Chaim Bloom's Red Sox tenure, it's Jeter Downs.

Acquired as the primary prospect for MVP Mookie Betts, Downs couldn't even hit .200 over two seasons at Triple-A Worcester's launching pad. So when the Red Sox needed to create a roster spot for free agent outfielder Masataka Yoshida on Thursday, they designated Downs for assignment, effectively ending his Red Sox career with a .154 average in 14 games.

Downs' disappointing tenure touches on every organizational misfire that has dropped the club to last place, probably for the foreseeable future.

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It started with the failure to extend a key homegrown player. It continued with the inability to identify a representative return, compounded by overthinking said return. And it finished with a highly-touted prospect failing to develop.

On the first point, Bloom inherited the Mookie mess and took the job knowing his first order of business would be trading the fan favorite. In the bigger picture, though, it's fair to ask how much he learned from the fiasco, since he lowballed Xander Bogaerts right out of town this winter in another blow to a reeling fanbase, receiving even less in return.

There was a world in which Bloom traded Betts and mitigated the franchise's suffering. After all, other teams have traded franchise cornerstones for a return that spearheaded their next run to contention. The Rangers made two World Series with the prospects they acquired from the Braves for Mark Teixeira, including shortstop Elvis Andrus, left-hander Matt Harrison, and closer Neftali Feliz. The Indians likewise did not regret shipping ace Bartolo Colon to the Expos for Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore, and Brandon Phillips.

Because Bloom arrived from the resourceful Rays, we assumed he'd excel at identifying young talent. But as has been the case in a number of other deals -- whether it's trading Mitch Moreland or Andrew Benintendi -- the return for Betts has proven to be laughably meager.

And that starts with Downs, since the prospect component of this one was always going to make or break the trade's final grade. Outfielder Alex Verdugo had the outside potential to be an All-Star, but he hasn't realized it and feels like just another guy. Catcher Connor Wong always projected as little more than a secondary prospect.

Downs is the piece the Red Sox needed to nail, and they failed, just as they only managed to turn Benintendi into Franchy Cordero and Josh Winckowski. Acquired as a bat-first second baseman with power potential, Downs actually proved to be a mediocre defender who couldn't make contact.

Even worse, the Red Sox only acquired him because they backed out of the original iteration of the deal, which included right-handed Twins reliever Brusdar Graterol. The Red Sox didn't like Graterol's medicals, and so they held up the trade until the Dodgers agreed to take the hard thrower, swapping Downs to Boston.

All Graterol has done since is post a 1.89 ERA in 20 postseason outings as one of Dave Roberts's most reliable setup men. Would Graterol's 100 mph fastball have made the Betts trade a win? No. But it at least would've given the Red Sox a usable piece. Instead, they talked themselves into a downgrade.

And so when it came time to make room for Yoshida on Thursday, there really was only one choice.

"This was a tough one," Bloom said. "The fact that he was in a position where we considered him and chose him to be designated I think just speaks to some of the struggles we've had getting him on track. I still think there's a lot of physical ability there, but we haven't been able to unlock it consistently. Certainly he's still young and there's no reason to write him off, but he's obviously had some struggles."

Downs's struggles mirror those of the organization as a whole -- what began with promise has meekly fizzled out.