The Boston Red Sox implemented their cone of silence in the recent work up to the trade deadline. My assumption is phone expenses are part of the overall cost control strategy. The strategy amounted to just do nothing. This is not alarming since Dave Dombrowski experienced the same before the 2018 deadline. Dombrowski got skewered for his inaction, and the team then captured the World Series.
In October 2019, the Red Sox management made a significant change of direction and fired Dave Dombrowski just a year after winning a World Series. Management went to Tampa and secured the services of Chaim Bloom, who had helped construct a winning franchise by creating a productive farm system, astute payroll management, creative signings, and quality player development. Bloom's teams never captured a World Series.
Bloom inked a five-year deal that reminded me of all those tumultuous failed five-year programs of Mother Russia during the communist era. Inevitably they died, and would Bloom soon emulate them? Bloom will quickly enter his fifth year of a five-year contract to create a new vision and, like our political structure, faces a divided nation.
The Boston fan base and media are not noted for patience, and Dombrowski could tell you neither is senior management. The fan base is a divided faction with a common goal -- they want the team to win, but the debate is about how to do it. Stay the course or make every attempt at instant gratification?
Bloom has achieved the most important goal, which is payroll reduction. Has that goal been achieved? The Red Sox are now 14th in MLB payroll, and it was a painful and costly process in both money and emotional investment. The trade of a once-in-a-generation player does not win over a fan base, nor does the exit of Xander Bogaerts. This was enjoyable as a root canal watching it take place.
Boston was present in the old spend, spend, and spend days, exemplified by the contracts issued to Rafael Devers, Trevor Story, and Masataka Yoshida. Public relations may have spurred on Devers's contract, but you somehow had to win the crowd. Spending was still available but within reason.
Reconstruction of the farm system became a priority, and after four years, the Boston system rebounded. That said, the success for Bloom will only be measured by how his draft choices develop, and the system does have a healthy smattering of the top 100 that may become crucial to Bloom's survival. The development aspect will be known as the current crop, either sink or swim and if they sink, the onus is squarely on Bloom.
Grading the four years of Chaim Bloom, I would give an incomplete
The Bloom administration has attempted to plug roster gaps until the farm system produces, so you will get an Adam Duvall and Corey Kluber with various performance success and failure levels. Wedged in is some red meat to the spend crown with the signings of Story and Yoshida.
The Tampa years showed players with "who?" attached to their resume but somehow produced. The Red Sox have trolled the bargain basement with moderate success, and that is the general pattern - you toss enough against the wall, and some will stick. This season the organizational depth has kept an injury-plagued team in contention, another checked box for Bloom.
Winning is everything in Boston, not just finishing with a winning record. Boston has yet to do that since the Dombrowski era. Previous GMs - Theo Epstein, Ben Cherrington, and Dombo all produced the ultimate results, and Bloom has not.
In 2021 the Red Sox gave us a surprise gift and were almost a World Series team, but almost no longer cuts it in Boston. The 2022 season would be classified by that infamous term a bridge year as the team sunk to last place in the competitive AL East; despite collecting IL days for critical players this season, they remain in the hunt for a playoff slot.
The Bloom era needs a championship since that is the measurement of success now that the Red Sox have vanquished the Curse of the Bambino. Bloom has also walked a tightrope that would make the Great Walenda proud, but you can fall off that tightrope, and rumblings are always present, forcing the inevitable vote of confidence.
Management appears in no hurry to extend Bloom, whose Boston future hinges on his methods' success. A strong playoff run in 2023 and 2024 demonstrates that the grand plan is working, and Bloom could draw a nice extension. Otherwise, it will be one and done for Bloom in 2024.