Boston Red Sox: Chaim Bloom is going cheap…again

The Boston Red Sox are now a little over two years into the Chaim Bloom era, and their pathetic start to the 2021 offseason has confirmed what we all already knew: Chaim Bloom does not like spending money.

With a lockout on the horizon, MLB free agents have been faster to sign their deals this year than any year in recent memory, and the result has been an absolutely wild start to the winter, with more than $1.5 billion handed out so far.

And unless you count the Michael Wacha signing as something meaningful, which I certainly don’t, our Boston Red Sox have done absolutely nothing. And unfortunately, this isn’t a one time occurrence with this front office.

Chaim Bloom’s lack of spending is a troubling pattern for the Boston Red Sox

This was always a risk with the Chaim Bloom hiring. Hire a man trained in the smallest of markets, and there’s a chance he’ll never adjust to a big one. I just didn’t think it would become this clear this quickly.

The front office can call it ‘rebuilding the organization’, say that they want to maintain flexibility in future years, or throw out whatever other cliché they want to. The bottom line is this: The Boston Red Sox seem to no longer be in on any meaningful free agents, and that’s a real shame.

There’s really no excuse for it. It’s not like the organization doesn’t have the money to go out and get an impact player. And most people would expect a front office to want to add to a roster that was on the verge of making the World Series last year.

But instead, it looks like another winter of thrift shopping led by Chaim Bloom. On a roster with immense talent but real holes, wouldn’t it be nice to add a few reliable pieces instead?

It started last year, when their ‘splurge’ purchase was Garrett Richards for $10 million. Then at the trade deadline, instead of addressing the actual needs of the team, they went out and got Kyle Schwarber because he was the cheapest power hitter on the market.

And now, as the rest of the league stocks up on this spending spree, the Sox are sitting idly by, waiting for their next bargain bin purchase.

The Boston Red Sox are heading down a dangerous road

While Bloom’s current habits may well help build a great farm system, there’s no denying that it limits the talent level on the major league roster. And as we get further into his tenure, if this keeps up, it is only going to get worse.

Let’s start with Kyle Schwarber. Acquired at the trade deadline, the slugger did nothing but rake after arriving in Boston. So much so that he almost certainly priced himself well out of the Red Sox price range.

Do any of us think that Bloom is going to hand out the four-year, $70 million deal that is being projected? Fat chance.

How about Xander Bogaerts? The longtime Red Sox shortstop can opt out of his current deal after the 2022 season, and after seeing the frenzied spending this offseason, there’s no reason to believe he won’t.

The closest situation he’s been in to this was the Mookie Betts mess that he inherited from Dave Dombrowski, and that of course ended with Betts in Los Angeles. Is the same fate on tap of Bogaerts?

Last, but certainly not least, is Rafael Devers. The fact that Bloom hasn’t locked his superstar third baseman into a massive extension is nothing short of terrifying. The price is only going to go up from here, and yet the two sides are apparently not even close to an agreement.

If they won’t even move quickly to pay Devers, one of the unquestioned upcoming stars of the league, then who will Bloom deem worthy of a contract?

Is Chaim Bloom the right man to lead the Boston Red Sox?

If it wasn’t already obvious, I am very concerned about the direction of the Boston Red Sox. I had my doubts after the trade deadline and Bloom’s relative inactivity, and the beginning of this offseason has done little to quell those fears. I want nothing more than to be proven wrong, but I’m just not sure it’s going to happen.

This is a group that is ready to compete right now, and I’m not sure if the front office understands that. They’d rather go bargain hunting and find the diamond in the rough than pay a premium to acquire a sure thing, and it is going to destroy this team if things don’t change soon.