I have zero trust in the Boston Red Sox front office to make the right moves to improve the on field baseball team.
I believe there is a level of tension between Red Sox Manager, Alex Cora and Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer, Chaim Bloom to the point where Alex Cora’s heart might not be into managing right now. Strong statement right? A few weeks ago I was told by someone at Fenway Park to “expect a Bloom extension sooner than you think”. I had someone tell me last week that if there was a choice between Bloom and Cora, ownership / Sam Kennedy would pick Cora as the one to stay. And to be clear, I trust the person who told me the later information more. Who really knows, because, I’m not there.
Nov 12, 2019; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Boston Red Sox general manager Chaim Bloom speaks during media availability at the Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Montelucia. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
My Red Sox trust issues begin with Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom. From baseball people I talk to, Bloom strikes me as a beta General Manager as a trade negotiator. What do I mean by that? We hear about people who walk into a room and demand the room. That’s an alpha person in the room. Bloom feels to me like he is anything but that. Which is a problem if you’re building a baseball team. There are a lot of beta General Managers in sports and here’s why. I talked to a long time baseball General manager recently and he said to me that there are only 120 to 130 roster decision maker spots in pro sports, player personal spots really hard to come by so if a GM comes in, his first year is getting his system in place and his people in place. His second and third years are building on that. His fourth year is the prove it year and the fifth year said GM either has an extension or is sitting at home. If the manager or coach screws it up, that’s the fall guy but if a GM makes a trade that screws it up, it’s on the GM and said GM just lost his job because of a failed trade. So it’s in many GMs best interests to play it safe on trades.
Apr 29, 2017; Boston, MA, USA; Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein on the field before the game between the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
In 2003, Red Sox Manager Grady Little, who was loved by all of his players, made a catastrophic mistake by not taking Pedro Martinez out in game 7 of the ALCS after throwing 100 pitches. Grady Little lost his job for it.
If the Nomar Garciaparra trade in 2004 fails, Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein doesn’t make it to a second contract as GM.
Bloom was forced to trade Mookie Betts because Betts didn’t want to play in Boston. Betts was an MVP, he was one of the Red Sox franchise, marketable players. And to use a Maz term, the Red Sox traded a horse for a bunch of ponies. The return on the Betts trade has turned out to be decent but the promise at the time was for trading Betts to LA, Bogaerts and Devers would be staying in Boston. That turned out to be a lie as there was seemingly minimal effort to keep Xander. And the Red Sox never replaced that marketing star power because Red Sox leadership wanted to go the Moneyball path. The Moneyball path was designed for small market teams to get flawed players and compete because those flawed players don’t cost as much. In the movie Moneyball, “Billy Beane” talks about counting cards and turning the odds on the casino, thinking differently in the player development meetings so that the A’s can win in the meeting room and on the field.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JANUARY 15: Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom addresses the departure of Alex Cora as manager of the Boston Red Sox during a press conference at Fenway Park on January 15, 2020 in Boston, Massachusetts. A MLB investigation concluded that Cora was involved in the Houston Astros sign stealing operation in 2017 while he was the bench coach.
Below is a list of Chaim Bloom’s acquisitions at deadline WHEN THE RED SOX WERE A SELLER:
2022:
INF Enmanuel Valdez and OF Wilyer Abreu for C Christian Vazquez
C Reese McGuire For LHP Jake Diekman
OF Tommy Pham for a player to be named later
1B Eric Hosmer, Corey Rosier and Max Ferguson for LHP Jay Groome
Bloom didn’t trade JD Martinez or Nathan Evoldi because, well, who knows why.2021:OF Kyle Schwarber for RHP Aldo RamirezRHP Hansel Robles for RHP Alex ScherffLHP Austin Davis for INF Michael Chavis2020:RHPs Nick Pivetta, Connor Seabold to the Phillies for RHPs Brandon Workman, Heath HembreeINF Hudson Potts, OF Jeisson Rosario to the Padres for 1B Mitch MorelandRHP Jacob Wallace to the Rockies for OF Kevin PillarRHP Zach Bryant to the Cubs for LHP Josh Osich
Do any of those moves make you feel good about the Red Sox making the right moves at the upcoming Major League Baseball Trade deadline? I don’t feel great about any of them other than Kyle from Waltham. I just don’t trust the Red Sox upper management to make the right moves at this years trade deadline. And I don’t trust them to tell me the truth about any questionable situation. I’m sure it’s just a me problem.
