Chaim Bloom doesn’t believe in the ‘easy narrative’ around the Red Sox after the trade deadline
"If that's who you think this group is, I don't think you should've believed in them in the first place."
The Red Sox have limped to a 3-9 record since Major League Baseball’s trade deadline passed on July 30. In that span, Boston went from leading the American League East to falling four games behind the Rays.
Boston’s front office, led by Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom, has been criticized for not being aggressive enough in acquiring further help for the team.
In a Thursday morning interview on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show,” Bloom responded to the critique.
“It doesn’t make sense for us to be aggressive if we’re doing something that’s not a good baseball trade, that doesn’t help this team, that’s going to lead to more losing than winning,” said Bloom. “We don’t want do those things. We want to make good baseball moves, and we found three that line up, and we think they’re all going to help this team down the stretch.”
The Red Sox made trades for relief pitchers Austin Davis and Hansel Robles, as well as outfielder Kyle Schwarber.
Bloom also disputed the notion that the lack of major trades at the deadline has contributed to “frustration” on the team, or that it’s been a factor in the recent run of losses.
“To me, that’s an easy narrative based on what’s happened since the trade deadline,” said Bloom. ‘Look, the season has peaks and valleys. We’ve been very, very fortunate that really for the entire first half of the season, we didn’t have very many [valleys]. And as Alex has said, even before the deadline, even in July, I think you saw some things that especially offensively weren’t as crisp as they were in the first half.”
“Obviously, the timing leads to, I think, the easy narrative,” Bloom added. “But I would say this: everything we’ve seen from this team, nobody believed in them I think since day one, and they’ve proven that wrong and I think they’ve earned a lot of people’s belief. I think if you believe in them, and if you believe in them going into the deadline, I think you should think more of them than to think that this type of thing would get into to their head.
The second-year Red Sox executive isn’t ready to count out the team even amid the recent slide.
“You’re going to play well at times, and poorly at times. That happens in the course of a six-month season,” Bloom explained, “but to pin it all on this, to me that doesn’t show a lot of faith in the team. I think if that’s who you think this group is — and I know some people are questioning it — if that’s who you think this group is, I don’t think you should’ve believed in them in the first place.
“I don’t think that’s who this group is and I don’t think they do either,” Bloom concluded.
Boston concludes the series against the division rival Rays on Thursday afternoon at 4:10 p.m. The two teams will play two additional series (seven games in total) down the stretch in August and September.
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