Chaim Bloom knew what he was getting into in 2019.
Shortly after the Red Sox fired Dave Dombrowski, Bloom was brought in as the team’s new chief baseball officer to build a sustainable winning product. Tough decisions loomed in that effort. And none bigger than Mookie Betts, the homegrown superstar who Bloom, of course, ultimately traded in February 2020. Rather than risk losing Betts in free agency – where he was set to command more than $300 million – Bloom dealt him to the Dodgers.
More than three-and-a-half years passed from the trade to Friday night, when Betts finally returned to Fenway Park as a visitor for the first time. He received a loud ovation as he saluted the fans in his first at-bat in the first inning. Some Red Sox fans will never forgive or get over the decision to trade Betts, but on the night of his return, Bloom reiterated that he believed it was in the best interest of the franchise at the time.
“Mookie was one of the best players in baseball then and he still is. This was never about our assessment of him,” Bloom told the Herald before Friday’s series opener. “It was really about where the organization was, that we just weren’t equipped at that point to build and win around him, and I knew that coming in. I knew there were going to be a number of tough choices to get the organization on more stable footing to where we really could be in a position to win and win a lot every year. That doesn’t come overnight. It requires long-term thinking. It requires tough choices.
“I think every year we’ve moved closer and closer to that, and I do think we have this pointed in the right direction, to be able to deliver a consistent championship product to our fans. But that was never going to come easy, and I knew that. I knew where we were at that point. I think everybody here was very clear about that. That doesn’t make the emotional aspect of it any less difficult. Every decision we make, whether it’s a huge trade or waiver claim, we take all of those very personally. We try to make the right call every time.”
The Red Sox have been up and down since the Betts’ trade, with two last-place finishes sandwiched around a trip to the ALCS in 2021, and they’re in the hunt for a wild-card berth this year. Bloom has consistently preached patience in his rebuild, and almost four years since Betts last donned a Red Sox uniform – while it has certainly been a rollercoaster – he likes where the Red Sox are positioned right now.
“We’re not going to be where we want to be until we’re at the very top of the mountain,” Bloom said. “But I do think we have this pointed in a good direction. Had we not made that (Betts) deal, I don’t think we get to the ALCS in 2021. We obviously didn’t take that all the way, and that’s the goal, but there’s a lot of good things that have happened in that time that may not have happened had we not made that move.”
Why does Bloom think the Red Sox wouldn’t have made the ALCS in 2021 without trading Betts? He doesn’t want to dive too deep into hypotheticals, but it always comes back to the bigger picture.
“Obviously, we were at a point where when we put that team together, we were putting that team together not knowing if we would have a single fan at Fenway Park that year,” Bloom said of the 2021 squad. “Our fans are obviously a big reason why we are who we are as an organization and why we have the resources that we have. So the roster would have had to come together differently. There would have been other tough choices we would have had to make, and it might not have added up to the same end product. That’s part of why we were looking to make long-term oriented moves. Because in baseball, you need a complete roster, and then some. You need a complete organization to win. …
“The season demands that of you, and we had to be on the lookout for any step we could possibly take towards that. And obviously your star players are a part of that, but the timing of it is so important, and so much of what we’ve been doing has been to be positioned where we expect to be positioned from now on, where we have a good team that we can back up with a complete organization, where we can keep star players at the center of that but also surround them with a team that can win.”
Kenley Jansen, who left the ninth inning of Wednesday’s win over the Astros with tightness in his right hamstring, was out again Friday and continuing to improve, manager Alex Cora said. They’re hoping the closer will avoid a stint on the injured list. In the meantime, Cora said they’ll play matchups in the closer spot in Jansen’s absence. …
Former Red Sox J.D. Martinez and Joe Kelly did not make the trip to Boston this weekend because they’re both on the injured list. Former Red Sox reliever Ryan Brasier, who was designated for assignment in May, was back and was part of a video tribute with Betts before Friday’s second inning began. … Justin Turner was recognized as the Red Sox’ Heart and Hustle Award winner during pregame introductions on Friday. … The Red Sox claimed right-handed pitcher Zack Weiss off waivers from the Angels on Friday and moved Corey Kluber to the 60-day injured list. Kluber has been out since June with right shoulder inflammation.