I attended my first Red Sox game on August 2, 2009. It was a rainy day at Camden Yards in Baltimore, but seven-year-old me was just happy I didn’t have to watch John Smoltz pitch (The over-the-hill future Hall of Famer had taken the hill the day before). The unpredictable Clay Buchholz was the one pitching, and though he allowed six runs in just four innings, rookie Josh Reddick and current Twins manager Rocco Baldelli hit homers to spur an 18-10 Red Sox win.
My point here is that I’ve been watching this team for a long time. Yes, there are probably old-timers who would scoff at that notion, but for the majority of my now-adult life, I have lived and died with the success of the Old Towne Team. I’ve experienced the highest of highs, such as the improbable 2013 World Series run and the sheer dominance of the 2018 team, and the lowest of lows, such as the 2011 collapse, five last-place finishes in 12 seasons, and yes, of course, the Pablo Sandoval era.
Throughout all the ups-and-downs, however, I never felt that the organization didn’t prioritize winning. After a 71-91 2014 season, they threw big money at Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez. After another last place finish in 2015, they threw even more money at David Price and traded for Craig Kimbrel. Even if those moves didn’t always work, they always were indicative of an ownership and management that was committed to doing whatever possible to win a championship.
That’s not the case anymore. I may have disagreed with some of Ben Cherington’s moves, but he had a plan and a vision. He built the farm system and held onto it despite constant trade offers from teams looking to offload expensive veterans. He also, of course, had one of the most successful singular offseason in baseball history, building seemingly from scratch the 2013 World Series championship ballclub.
His successor, Dave Dombrowski, had a completely different philosophy, but like Cherington, he had a plan, and he was going to stick to it. “Dealer Dave” was going to get his guy, no matter the cost. He blew the Cardinals offer out of the water to get ace David Price, arguably the MVP of the 2018 postseason run. He targeted and acquired DH J.D Martinez, who filled the void David Ortiz left in the middle of the lineup. He parted with top prospects to get Craig Kimbrel and Chris Sale, two superstars in their prime who played key roles in the aforementioned championship run.
Then there’s Chaim Bloom. Look, I have been a fan of the many of the moves Bloom has made. The Kiké Hernandez signing was a stroke of genius, as was selecting Garrett Whitlock in the Rule 5 draft. He deserves immense credit for building that 2021 playoff team, on the backs of those off-season acquisitions and mid-season ones like Kyle Schwarber. I’ve even been a fan of many of his moves this offseason. Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin were, in my opinion, the second and third best relievers on the market, and I think the Masataka Yoshida and Justin Turner signings will drastically improve the consistency and quality of at bats of the Red Sox lineup.
Yet with all the good, there have also been mistakes. So, so many mistakes. Why did he sell Christian Vazquez at the trade deadline yet still go over the luxury tax? Why did he trade Hunter Renfroe for Jackie Bradley Jr. when everyone and their mom knew that Bradley couldn’t hit anymore? And, most of all, why were the returns for the Andrew Benintendi and Mookie Betts trade so measly?
Those mistakes, however, aren’t my main point of contention with the Chaim Bloom era. After all, every good GM (or chief baseball offer) makes mistakes. Hell, Theo Epstein signed Carl Crawford to a seven-year deal. My problem with Chaim Bloom is that he insults the intelligence of the Red Sox fanbase. As I’ve mentioned in my last post, it was understandable why they let Xander Bogaerts walk. He’s now on the wrong side of 30, had declining batted ball metrics, and was blocking the path of top prospect Marcelo Mayer. I didn’t like it, but I got it.
What is unacceptable is how Bloom treated both the Red Sox fan base and their superstar. A 4 year/$90 million deal is insulting to a player who has given his heart and soul to the city and was a leader both on the field and off the field. That offer was so below market value that Bogaerts had every right to feel like it was, as he reportedly put it, a “slap in the face.” Then Bloom had the audacity to spend all fall saying how Bogaerts was “priority A” and go on and on about how important he was to the team while meanwhile pursing Yoshida, a player who has never taken an at-bat in the big leagues, more aggressively than the face of the franchise. This is not Tampa Bay. The words of the man pulling the strings actually matter. Bloom may say he understands the fanbase, but his actions have insulted their intelligence and disrespected their passion.
Fortunately for Bloom and co., there is still one more franchise player to make things right with. The same excuses that you can make for Bogaerts can not be made for Rafael Devers. Devers is a generational hitter in his prime whose best days are ahead of him, not behind him. There is no plan B. Losing Devers would be an absolute catastrophe for the franchise far beyond the Betts and Bogaerts departures.
I’ve put the Red Sox owners on the backburner so far in this article for a couple of reasons. The first is that they have done an immeasurable service to Red Sox fans in bringing not one, not two, but four championships in the last 20 years. They have invested an enormous amount of resources into the club, and have hired the people (i.e. Theo Epstein) who made the moves to completely change the complexion of the Red Sox franchise.
Since that last championship, however, the owners have seemingly disappeared. We have not heard from them since the Mookie Betts trade, which was nearly three years ago at this point. We have no idea how involved they are with the team or how much influence they have over free agent negotiations. However, they were the ones who fired Dombrowski and brought in Bloom, which signaled a clear change in organizational philosophy.
That organizational philosophy includes the notion that teams should not hand out ten+ year contract. That is stupid. You need star players to win in this league, and the only way to hang on to them, after their seven years of service time are up, is to give them a long-term contract. Without long-term contracts, a team is just an identity-less collection of unproven young players and over-the-hill veterans brought in in free agency, which is what the Red Sox are in the danger of becoming.
The Red Sox may say “what Devers is asking for doesn’t fit our model.” Literally nobody cares. In a Red Sox Stats poll, 99.7% of respondents advocated for signing him. Is anyone going to care if a 35-year-old Devers doesn’t exactly meet the value of his contract? No! There has to be a human element to baseball operations. A long-term Devers contract would not only ensure a generational hitter is a Red Sock for life, but placate a furious fanbase, show other potential free agents you are committed to winning, and provide a leader for the next decade of Red Sox baseball. Signing Devers won’t erase the losses of Bogaerts and Betts, but it will, at the very least, ease the pain. It will show that the franchise has a plan, a purpose, a sense of direction. It will show the Red Sox are serious about competing year in and year out, which is what Bloom and Kennedy always claim.
Now let’s talk about the frightening alternative: What if Devers enters Opening Day without an extension? From a Bloom perspective, he should already be feeling the heat. He claimed, on the record, that the Red Sox are going to add a starting pitcher they would be “proud to start in a playoff game.” They have failed to do so. He claimed, on the record, that the Red Sox were going to be “very, very aggressive” on the trade market. They have failed to add even one impact player through trade. Obviously, things can change, but if he fails to follow through on either of those promises, he will be branded a liar and a fool, and rightfully so.
That’s not to mention the free agents that he already brought. What if Yoshida simply can’t hit major league pitching? What if the 38-year-old Turner shows his age? What if the similarly elder Jensen and Martin fail to fix the bullpen issues? If the Red Sox quickly fall out of contention, I would not be surprised if Bloom is gone before the end of the season.
A failure to sign Devers, however, should and would not just cost Bloom his job, but make him a villain in Red Sox lore. Imagine the Red Sox finish in last place again, and the Red Sox lose their third franchise cornerstone in the last four years. Bloom will become an absolutely infamous figure in Boston, up there with the likes of Harry Frazee and Grady Little.
Look, I’m not a huge fan of public protests, but if the Red Sox don’t sign Devers before spring training, there is only one option: Don’t buy tickets. Don’t attend games. Don’t spend any money on the team. The Red Sox continue to raise ticket prices to the point where seeing a Red Sox game is more costly than any other team in baseball. Why should you spend your hard-earned money on seeing a team that is seemingly indifferent then putting its best product on the field?
I hope you all understand how much that hurts to write. Fenway Park is one of my absolute favorite places on the planet. It also hurts because I actually think the Red Sox have a chance to exceed expectations next year. This team is drastically deeper than it was last year, when Travis Shaw, Jonathan Arauz and Jackie Bradley Jr. were on the opening day roster. Most of the 2023 roster was not a part of last year's abomination, whether because they were on another team, spent most of the year in the minors, or were injured for large chunks of the season. All of the “pundits” may pick the Red Sox to finish last, but I have no doubt this team is going to play competitive baseball.
At a certain point, however, enough is enough. I am extremely concerned about the future of this team, whether it be a Chief Baseball Officer who takes the passion and knowledge of the fans for granted or owners who seem content with mediocrity year in and year out. For the amount of time, energy and money Red Sox fans give towards this team, that is simply unacceptable. If the Red Sox fail to extend Devers by spring training, it is up to us fans to force management's hand.
Comments