FORT MYERS, Fla. — In each of his first two seasons as the Red Sox' chief baseball officer, events seemed to get in the way of a dramatic move by Chaim Bloom.
Not long after he arrived, he found his manager embroiled in a scandal with his previous team, leading to a mutual parting of the ways with the Sox and subsequently, a one-year suspension from Major League Baseball. So, at a time when he was starting to get to know the organization, Bloom spent much of his first winter searching for a replacement manager.
When that was complete, he was directed by ownership to auction off the team's best player, Mookie Betts, just as spring training was getting underway.
In his second offseason, the pandemic continued to rage, and with so much uncertainty in terms of revenue and fan attendance at games, he mostly made complementary moves.
Now, however, it's different. Baseball has labor peace for the next five years. A new CBA has given big-spending teams additional leg room before bumping up against the CBT (competitive balance tax). And several hundred free agents, frozen in aspic when the lockout began, are flooding the market, certain to depress salaries.
Finally, the Sox have the potential to have a lot of money coming off the books following the 2022 season, when J.D. Martinez ($19.375 million), Nathan Eovaldi ($17 million) and Christian Vazquez ($7 million) are eligible for free agency, to say nothing of the possibility that Xander Bogaerts ($20 million) could opt out.
So, is the year that Bloom goes big? Is this the time for him to reel in a big free agent, or trade for a star?
Maybe. Or maybe not.
"In this period, with so much going on, and so many conversations, we want to be nimble enough to take advantage of any and all opportunities,'' Bloom said. "(The current market) opens more options for us, maybe then we've been working with the last couple of years. I don't think we should worry about the size, or the 'Q factor' or the splashiness of the move. We should be trying to use all our resources to be as great as we can every year -- whatever that means.
"Certainly, especially looking ahead, the more flexibility you have, the more options you can consider. That's part of why that flexibility is important because it does give you access to the whole menu.''
To date, the two-year contract for $14 million given to Kiké Hernandez last winter is the most lucrative deal authorized in the Bloom Era.
The current market, meanwhile, boasts some stars such as Carlos Correa, Trevor Story and Kris Bryant whose demands will dwarf that number.
After adding relievers Matt Strahm and Jake Diekman Sunday, the Red Sox sit around $210 million in payroll, some $20 million under the first CBT threshold of $230 million. And, having been under the CBT the previous two seasons, the Red Sox would not face additional penalties if they were to go over the first threshold -- which they would need to do if they were to sign either Correa or Story.
"Especially at a time like this, even generally, we don't talk about the specific number (of the payroll),'' said Bloom. "But to me, I don't think we should start chasing some move based on the size of some move in the abstract. We're blessed here with tremendous backing, great resources -- both in terms of payroll and building a great organization -- and our job is to use those resources to be as great as we can be and to give our fans a championship-driven product every year,
"So we owe it to ourselves, we owe it our ownership, we owe it to our fans, to look at every possibility that fits that and choose what we think is the best path to having that feeling that we had in October last year.''
Bloom conceded that the amount coming off the books following 2022 "is something we have to be mindful of, too.''
A narrative has emerged early in Bloom tenure that he was brought to Boston with an eye toward overseeing a payroll more in keeping with the hyper budget-conscious Tampa Bay Rays, his previous employers. Such a theory is not accurate -- the Red Sox were among the top three or four payrolls in the game in 2021 and are likely to be among the top five this season, too. The Rays, meanwhile, have only twice had a payroll that hit $100 million for CBT purposes -- $104 million in 2014 and $100 million in 2017.
But it may well be that while Bloom has no issue with a payroll in excess of $200 million, he would prefer a more equitable distribution of his resources while not getting tied down by any mega-deals. It's worth noting that the Sox have only one player (Chris Sale) earning more than $20 million this year, while the Yankees have three -- Gerrit Cole, Giancarlo Stanton and recently acquired Josh Donaldson.
Meanwhile, Bloom is aware that, eventually, he must address the futures for both Bogaerts and Devers, the latter of whom is eligible for free agency after the 2023 season. To retain Bogaerts past this year and extend Devers will take commitments in excess of $30 million annually -- each.
It's possible then, that Bloom's biggest spending spree, if and when it comes, will be directed internally, rather than on the outside free agent market.