Red Sox: Chaim Bloom laying groundwork during GM Meetings
By Sean Penney
The GM Meetings provide Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and opportunity to lay the groundwork for the offseason.
The MLB GM Meetings begin in Scottsdale, Arizona on Monday, giving Chaim Bloom his first opportunity to mingle with rival executives. He’s only been on the job for a couple of weeks but these meetings will be pivotal to shaping the offseason for the Boston Red Sox.
Next month’s Winter Meetings are generally when the hot stove burns brightest with many of the top free agents waiting until then to sign. We may not see any major moves this week but the GM Meetings allow Bloom to lay the groundwork for his plan.
The Red Sox can’t make significant free agent signings without knowing how much room they have in the budget, which means Bloom’s focus will be on how to carve out payroll space so that the Red Sox can afford to plug the holes on their roster.
Unloading at least one of their expensive veterans would be a starting point toward their financial goal and Mookie Betts is the name that keeps popping up in the rumor mill. Some assume that the Red Sox must trade Betts before he potentially leaves in free agency next winter but Bloom has shown no indication that he’s eager to move on from the 2018 MVP and he certainly won’t make a panic deal to salary dump him for whatever they can get.
That doesn’t mean he won’t listen. The GM meetings give Bloom the chance to gauge the level of trade interest from other clubs. Are potential suitors hesitant to give anything close to fair value for a one-year rental? Which teams have enough room in their budget to afford the $27+ million that Betts is expected to earn in arbitration? Is there an executive under enough pressure to make a splash that they’d make an offer that’s too good to pass up? These are the questions Bloom must find answers to before he can entertain the thought of trading his best player.
The same goes for Jackie Bradley Jr., to a lesser extent. He’s expected to be on the trading block since he doesn’t appear to be in Boston’s long-term plans and dealing him could save about $11 million on next year’s payroll. Now is the time for Bloom to inquire about teams that may be interested in a Gold Glove-caliber center fielder.
Will there be interest in any of Boston’s high-priced starting pitchers? Chris Sale, David Price and Nathan Eovaldi are far overpaid based on what they produced in 2019 and they each come with lingering health concerns. That doesn’t mean they don’t have trade value. The upside that earned them those fat contracts to begin with is still there if they can avoid the injured list.
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There’s never a shortage of teams in need of quality starting pitching. They will be lining up to sign Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg in free agency but most of the interested clubs will walk away from those discussion empty handed. Would any of those teams with that much money to spend consider Sale or Price a suitable consolation prize? Bloom should get a sense of which teams are in the market for those top of the rotation starters so that he’s ready to pounce with an offer if those players sign elsewhere.
We may not see deals done this week but we can’t rule out Bloom striking early with a trade during the GM Meetings. The Rays acquired Mike Zunino from the Seattle Mariners during these meetings last year and Bloom wasn’t shy about making November trades during his tenure in Tampa Bay.
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Even if no deals are made this week, Bloom can lay the groundwork for trades that can be completed over the next few weeks so that the Red Sox can solve their payroll dilemma before the Winter Meetings arrive next month.