What Chaim Bloom really said about Trade Deadline moves

Heading into the trade deadline, Chaim Bloom submitted to 21 minutes of questions on WEEI’s Greg Hill Show.  Bloom was a little evasive, elusive, frank, and non-committal in answering Greg Hill, Courtney Cox, Jermaine Wiggins and Rob Bradford.  Here’s an attempt to cut through the spin by summarizing what I heard — not verbatim — but reduced and paraphrased by me.

Greg: Just what is the problem with this talented Red Sox team’s horrible July performance?

There’s a lot of reasons for the poor performance. Defense is a problem. We’re inconsistent. We have not played well for long stretches.  Injuries are not the excuse.

Greg: How did the Cora-Bloom Dislike Each Other narrative originate?

No idea.  Not feeling it.  So much fun to work with him. Everyday.

Wiggy: What direction is the team headed in for the rest of season, including whether to buy or sell at trade deadline?

We’re exploring all trade options and are not committed directionally.  We have to look. But we have to factor in the recent losing. 43W-33L on June 30.  51W-52L on July 31.

Greg: What is the point is of developing good players from their roots, and then letting them walk?

I understand people are worried about losing our talent.  Nothing I can say matters until there is a deal in place to talk about.  The point is to win championships.

Courtney: Scott Boras said he’s going to talk directly to John Henry about Xander.  Have you been squeezed out of negotiations?

Don’t read too much into Scott’s comments about this.  Also, please know that I have no ego.

Wiggy: Do you look at long term contracts as justified if you get 5 good years in a 10-year scenario?

That depends. Each situation is complete. It’s about stats and character. You factor in the depth chart, the minors, the roster. I am not going to say what I think about long term contracts and if one often doesn’t get full value for the money.

Greg:  Are there any Red Sox players who are untradeable?

I can’t talk in those absolutes.  We aren’t planning on talking about Devers or Xander with any club.

Courtney: do you assign value to the stability & balance a player develops to the Boston environment after playing in it a while?

Yes, 100%

Rob: Can you guarantee Bogaerts will be a Red Sox on Aug. 3?

I think to make those guarantees is silly – but I can’t conceive of a set of circumstances that would see Bogaerts leave now.

Rob: Have you discussed Bogie and Boras giving up their 10/5 no-trade clause rights?

I wouldn’t tell you if I did.  But, no.

Wiggy: Is a player like Juan Soto being looked at?

We’d be silly not to do so.

Greg: Are you allowed to pay big money in pursuit of top players?

Yes, if it is the best move for us to make.

Greg: How do you relate to assigning a tag of Buyer or Seller to teams in the trade deadline context?

Viewing your self like that may cause you to miss an opportunity. In any deal players may both come and go.

Bloom’s comments left all doors open.  I won’t be surprised if J.D. and Xander are gone this week or if they are not.

My gut says that control is an important thing to Bloom.  A team can have superior control of a player, as with Kutter Crawford and Jarren Duran, potential free agents in 2028.  There is also reasonable control, as with Raffy Devers, who can go free agent in 2024. There is limited control, such as with Trevor Story, who will earn $134 million guaranteed for 2022 through 2027, but can be traded.

My gut also tells me if Bloom can engineer a talent improvement and lower the Sox $203 million payroll, he most certainly will do so.

To listen to the interview:

https://www.audacy.com/weei/authors/the-greg-hill-show

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