Red Sox News: Chaim Bloom asks for patience with MLB investigation

Boston Red Sox CBO Chaim Bloom is like the rest of us in that he’d like to see the MLB’s investigation into 2018 resolved, but he understands the delay.

Ya know the movie Ground Hog Day? The one where Bill Murray wakes up to re-live the same events day after day, that’s how I feel about this Red Sox investigation. Each and every time I see another bit of news surrounding the MLB’s search into the 2018 World Series squad, I feel like it’s just the same update.

The report will be done, the report is almost done, the report is done and just needs to be typed. Nothing ever seems to advance in the way of any real findings being revealed as far as what did or didn’t happen in 2018.

Red Sox CBO Chaim Bloom was a guest on WEEI’s OMF this week and he spoke about the investigation and the organization’s views on the matter. By now I’m sure you all know the story but let’s do a speedy recap for those who may not be up to speed.

“We’re still in that same place where we think the best course for everybody is to reserve judgment until what we see comes out of it,” Bloom said on WEEI. “It is obviously frustrating that we don’t have that outcome yet but at this point, with what has gone on the last month, I think it’s understandable.”

In January a report from Evan Drellich and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic blew the lid off of the cheating being done by the Astros, while also implicating the Red Sox and Yankees and a lesser violation of the rules. The Astros organization was punished, to a degree, while the players were let off scott-free thanks to their cooperation.

Though the Yankees were mentioned in the report, not even a single glance has been shot their way. Then we get back to our beloved Red Sox, who have somehow been under investigation longer than Houston was. Allegedly, they took advantage of the unsupervised replay rooms that the MLB placed within Fenway Park.

Whether they did or didn’t, who knows, none of us were there. Two things stick out pretty big to me in relation to this whole mess: the length of the investigation and the denial of numerous players. If the MLB had any sort of concrete evidence then they would’ve dropped the hammer by now, but they haven’t, making me incredibly skeptical.

Then we have numerous members of that championship team speaking out against the investigation and making it clear that the league won’t find any wrongdoing. That brings me back to Bloom and his thoughts on the matter. I will give him credit, he’s done about as well as he could have this past offseason with the cards he was dealt.

“I know the commissioner was originally on a timetable doing everything he could to wrap it up before the season. Sometime early-to-mid March understandably the coronavirus took over pretty much every ounce of everybody’s available time and energy,” Bloom added.

Not only was he tasked with slashing payroll but he also had to do so while the results of this investigation loomed over the collective heads of the Red Sox. Obviously we all know what’s going on in the world right now. The coronavirus has essentially put a stop to damn near everything and that includes baseball ops.

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Bloom expressed that Red Sox Nation, as well as those in the organization, should keep their reactions and judgment until the results are made public. He’s not wrong. I’ve been writing about this investigation since that first report dropped in January. Weeks of inactivity mixed with several delays and here we are. I haven’t always been the kindest to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and granted, I’m sure most of it was related to my love of the Red Sox.

It’s bad enough that we have to go through this EVERY time the Patriots win a Super Bowl, but now the Red Sox? I’m sure that sounds incredibly paranoid and I may need to fashion myself a tin hat, but I’m sure I’m not the only one feeling that way. The league says that we’ll know the results before gameplay resumes in 2020, whenever that may be.

“But I think you’ve got to cut everybody some slack here just given our industry and everybody has been dealing with something we something that we haven’t faced before. Something for which there is no roadmap and understandably has dominated everybody’s attention for the last month or so.”

Nobody saw the coronavirus coming, let alone the fact that it would put the world on hold. I respect Chaim Bloom for the work he’s done while in Boston and for how he’s trying to be a strong face of the Red Sox. He wasn’t here in 2018 but he’s not wavering in support of this team. If he says we should cut the league some slack then I’ll give him that benefit. I may not agree with the investigation as a whole, but I’ll wait and see just what the final report says.