No one knows what chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom might do by the July 30 trade deadline, including, likely, Bloom himself. That's the nature of the business, where a few wins (or losses) can change not only your own team's wish list, but the availability of targeted players, too.
But what Bloom does know, nine days out, is that year has a very different feel than a year ago. In 2020, his first full season with the Red Sox, the club was hopelessly out of contention and Bloom was in full-on sell mode, eventually auctioning off Mitch Moreland, Kevin Pillar, Heath Hembree, Brandon Workman and Josh Osich.
The moves enabled Bloom to further re-stock his minor league system and deepen his prospect inventory.
But he's much happier now that the team sits in first place and he finds himself in "buy'' mode.
"It's so much more fun to be in this position,'' said Bloom, appearing recently on This is Our F'ing Podcast: A Red Sox Show.. "I think last year, where we were, we had an opportunity to move the organization forward. It was clear to us, where we were and what that meant, and what we needed to do. But it's no fun to be in that position. This might be a little more complicated, but it's a lot more fun. It's where we want to be.''
While the Sox shift into a more aggressive stance, Bloom will be tasked with trying to balance his desire to improve the club while not surrendering so much in the form of prospects that it threatens to damage the progress that's been made in the minor league system.
"I think we just need to say true to the goals that we've outlines for the last year and a half. We're trying to deliver championship-caliber baseball to Red Sox fans every year. That's obviously a lofty goal; it's not easy to accomplish. But if we mean that, then we have to act like it. So, this year obviously is part of that. And to the extent that have a chance to move the needle on that and make ourselves more likely to win a championship. we should. And we should be looking into those opportunities.
"We just need to make sure we're not doing it in a way that's going to hurt our chances ultimately to win as much as we want. If we improve our chance this year at the price of hurting ourselves every year to come, I'm not sure that's really a good trade, given our objectives and given the biggest goal that we have.''
There's also the matter of which players the Sox can pursue. Some might be pure rentals, heading for free agency this winter; others might be under control for another year or two. Naturally, players with more control are going to require a bigger acquisition cost.
"It's great to have players who can be under team control for a long time and can be part of this,'' Bloom said. "But talent also matters. Control of the player is not that valuable if the player's not going to help you win. So years of team control is not a be-all, end-all. But it definitely matters. It's certainly something that we value and should value, both in players we have and the players we might go pursue. But we also need to make sure we're assessing the talent correctly. At the end of the day, that's what plays on the field.
"And on top of that, the fit on our roster. There could be a player who in one situation could be really valuable to the team, that given the makeup of our roster might not be that valuable to us. Or vice versa. So we have to look at all that. That's a lot of the meat of the discussions that we have when we're talking about potential targets and then if we get into conversations with a club, weighing a potential move and whether it makes sense.''
The Sox have either led the division or been within a few games of first place since the second week of the season, reflecting the talent on hand. As such, there's no obvious weakness on the roster, though surely, a few areas could benefit from upgrades.
"It's nice to be going into a situation where we don't feel like we have a gaping hole anywhere on our roster,'' Bloom said. "But it also means that it's not an easy place to just pinpoint an upgrade and go shop for one specific thing. The nice thing is, what it means is, we should look at any available players. And sometimes adding to a strength helps you just as much down the stretch as bolstering a weakness because there's going to be injuries, there's going to be peaks and valleys in performance.
"So I think we have to look at any available talent and see how it can help is. You never have enough pitching, obviously. There's obviously areas of our lineup that are very well entrenched and other areas where we could improve. But I don't think we should walk past an opportunity to help ourselves in an area where we're already good because that can also help you win more games.''
Bloom also recognizes that there's a bit of an obligation the front office feels toward the players and staff to reward them for playing so well up to this point by providing some help for the final two months.
"Supporting the group is something we think a lot about,'' confirmed Bloom. "Every chance to win a championship is precious. We know that the season can go different ways and different things can impact that -- .the performance of the players on the field, health and just the the bounced that the game gives you. So to be in this position is not something we take lightly. Not just for the clubhouse, but for our own sake, for the organization. If we have a chance to win a championship I think we need to honor that chance. We just have to make sure we're doing it in a way that doesn't ultimately undermine the biggest thing we owe our fans -- which is a chance to do this every year.''