It's hard to remember a player leaving the Red Sox triggering the kind of response from the fan base that the departure of Xander Bogaerts for San Diego has had this week. Red Sox fans are angry, and they've demonstrated that anger on social media and on talk radio.
Here's a one-on-one conversation -- slightly edited -- with Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom about the process, the aftermath and what lies ahead for the Red Sox:
BSJ: Having had some time to digest the news, what are your thoughts about the negotiations and how everything unfolded?
Chaim Bloom: When all was said and done, the final outcome wasn't a real shock. We had known or strongly suspected throughout (Wednesday) and even the last couple of days, where this was headed -- despite (reports) that were out there. When it was done, there were a lot of emotions that came with the finality of it that were heavy. He's a really significant player for this franchise. He's somebody that we all loved and knowing what this means to our fans and what it means for the organization and the finality of it hitting me in that moment, was a lot. But the outcome was something we could see coming.
Obviously, any time you have a player who's that tied to the organization, you'd love to have him remain part of your organization forever. Free agency is an open process, but ultimately, he got a great deal and he's going somewhere else and that can happen when you get into free agency. There's a business decision that comes with it that is part of our job, but it doesn't take any of the emotion of the final result.
BSJ: When you say "you could see this coming,'' do you mean Bogaerts leaving or the emergence of the Padres?
CB: I would say both, really. As the process was getting to its final stages, we knew that financially it was going to go to the territory that we weren't in terms of dollars and years. We had enough intel to know who was involved.
BSJ: When Sam Kennedy looks back on the Mookie Betts negotiations, the lesson was that the Red Sox should have been more aggressive in the early going in trying to get him extended. Do you have any of those same misgivings about how aggressive the organization was with Bogaerts before he opted out?
CB: I think it's important to remember here that, unlike Mookie and unlike a number of players, Xander did already sign an extension (in 2019) with the organization once. And realistically, the further you go into a player's career, the harder it is to do that and for them to forego that right to free agency. So I don't think anybody should be too Pollyannish about how likely that would have been. But I do think that within this last year, I understand the criticism that we weren't more aggressive then. There's a lot that goes into it. I don't think we know where that would have gone. But I understand that criticism and that's something we need to take a look at.''
BSJ: Specifically, the offer last March, at the end of spring training (when the Sox proposed one more year at $30 million, to be added to the remaining three years and $60 million) -- any desire for a do-over there?
CB: A lot of the conversation between the two sides at that point, regardless of any formal offers, led me to think that even at that time that we were going to end up seeing him become a free agent. But again, it's something we have to all look at. If there was a path at that time that would have or should have been good for everybody and we didn't find it, that's something we need to look at and think about, irrespective of any formal offers.
BSJ: It seemed from the outside, that while Betts wasn't completely committed to staying in Boston, the public comments from Bogaerts seemed to suggest he was -- that all things being equal, he would have preferred to stay. There was no ambiguity about where he wanted to be. Does that make it any harder to accept -- that you had a player who seemingly wanted to stay here, but ultimately didn't?
CB: Yes. And I believe him. Everything I know squares with what you said. Ultimately, he still wanted to see his value bettered by the market and get that value and was willing to go somewhere else to get it. But I know he wanted to stay. I talk a lot about having players who want to be in Boston and I know he wanted to stay. So, from an emotional standpoint, yes that's something we're going to have to carry with us.
BSJ: Do you think you had the backing of ownership to carry out these negotiations the way you wanted?
CB: When you talk about a negotiation like this, a player of this magnitude, these (involve) not just Baseball Operations -- they're organizational decisions. Ownership is involved. We all work from our end how we're going to go about it and then we come out of it aligned. That, to me, is how it needs to work because Baseball Ops is obviously a huge part of the organization and ultimately we're responsible for the quality of the product on the field. But the organization is bigger than us, so it's really important that we're all aligned in where we're going and we work through these problems with ownership and ultimately come out aligned and then we go forward.
BSJ: That said, is it a bad look for the Red Sox to have identified a player as "top priority" to "Plan A,'' as you and others did, then have happen what happened?
CB: I'm not too worried about that. I knew when I said that, that it wasn't a certainty that we would end up with him. That's just the nature of free agency. I knew there was the possibility that as he hit the market, the bidding might go to a place where we wouldn't. And if that happened, someone might look at us and say, 'Oh, they've got egg on their faces.' I just don't think that that is a reason not to express that preference. I don't think it's a reason to try to beat around the bush. We are all really confident that we're going to build a really good team. I basically thought that the only reason not to express that we really want to have this guy back, is that if it doesn't happen, it might be a bad look. That's not a good enough reason. We can't worry about that. I'd rather just go out and state our preference -- understanding it's not a certainty and understanding there's a business side to this that might get in the way of that. If it does, it does. I'd still rather not beat around the bush about our preference.''
BSJ: Coming up more than $100 million short, can you see why people might have had a hard time squaring that statement with how things played out?
CB: Yeah, absolutely. Not to get into all the conversations we had, or formal offers and informal conversations, leaving that aside, I honestly get it. Regardless of any of that, the bottom line is that he ended up somewhere else and a huge reason for that is the nature of the contract that he got, which is a place where we wouldn't go. I totally understand how that would frustrate people. The business side is hard sometimes. Hopefully, with the fullness of time, this will bear out as the right decision not to go to that spot. But I don't expect that to take any of the pain and frustration away from the people who are feeling that. And for that matter, even though we feel good about our decision-making in this process, we also feel that pain because these guys are really important to us, Xander especially. There's a lot of times in this business when we need to make the right business of baseball decisions and we don't turn off our emotions doing that. But we still have to make the right decisions for the organization.
BSJ: Given that this now makes two players -- Betts and Bogaerts, both homegrown All-Stars -- who have left, why have the Red Sox, a top revenue club in MLB, been unable to satisfy those two players?
CB: Ultimately, I'm not sure it matters what I do say. (The fans) want to see us win, and I know who's doing it matters. Going back to the Mookie situation, I believed very firmly that the organization at the time was not in a position to maximize the commitment it would have taken to keep him. And when you make those commitments and you're not in that position, you will regret it. I actually think the last couple of years bore that out. In 2020, obviously, we weren't set up to win, period. In 2021, I don't think we would have been able to accomplish what we did had we gone on that other path. I don't think we would have been able to have a roster around him to make it go. Obviously, the rest of this is going to play out. This situation is a little different. I understand that and I understand that it's really frustrating.
It's on us to deliver a product that our fans are going to be proud of, to deliver winning baseball. What I say doesn't matter. We have to deliver that.
BSJ Where do you go now at shortstop?
CB: We've talked about that even leading up to this offseason and as we've worked through it. The way this offseason has unfolded, obviously free agency has dominated things early on. It's been a really, really active and hot market. There's still a lot of dominoes left to fall on the free agent front and the trade front is really just getting started. There are different possibilities that we've talked about. We think we have two good ones in-house in Trevor (Story) and Kiké (Hernandez) who could both handle it. Obviously, moving guys around who are on the roster opens up other needs. How that puzzle fits together is still to be determined, but there are a lot of possibilities that we've talked about -- some that we've laid the groundwork for and pursued, conditionally, not knowing how things were going to work out with Xander. We had to do that coming into the offseason and we're going to continue down that path. So it will obviously take some time to play out, but we've spent some time preparing for this.
BSJ: Rafael Devers is now on deck. What do you say to a fan base that's going to be entirely skeptical about your ability to get something done with him?
CB: I totally understand the skepticism and nothing I say matters until there's a deal. The only thing I can promise is that we're going to work really hard at it.
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There's a great range of opinions on Masataka Yoshida, the Japanese outfielder signed by the Red Sox earlier this week. Some thought the Red Sox grossly overpaid when they gave Yoshida a five-year, $90 million deal (with another $15.5 million going to his former team as part of the posting process); others thought the deal was about right.
The economics of the deal will be debated for some time, but here's a scouting report from one major league talent evaluator who has scouted Asia extensively and has seen Yoshida play in person about a dozen times.
"He can hit, he's got some power, controls the zone and has really good plate discipline,'' said the evaluator. "His power is to pull, but I have seen him go to left-center field for home runs. If he adjusts and utilizes that wall like some of the lefthanded hitters at Fenway who have had a lot of success, then he's going to do very well.
"But it is an offensive profile. He's going to be adequate at best defensively; the more DH at-bats they have for him, they'll have a better defensive team on the field.''
According to a major league source, the Red Sox' plan -- which could change depending on what else they're able to accomplish this winter -- is to have him split time between the outfield and DH.
Yoshida's primary offensive skill is the ability to get on base.
"He has a very good knowledge of the strike zone,'' said the evaluator. "From what I've seen, he doesn't tend to chase a lot. He will ambush early (in the count) at times, but it's not like he's a first-pitch hitter. If he thinks it's a fastball, he's going to jump on it. But generally, he's going to show patience. There's not a lot of swing-and-miss. I've seen him handle better stuff (in Japan). They have some quality arms, though certainly not the depth that he's going to see in the major leagues. But he handles (quality) stuff. He also handles the big moment, too. So playing in Fenway Park in key moments, I don't think that's going to faze him the way it might some other guys.
"He's going to have to adjust to going the other way a little more, especially in Fenway because unless he's pulling it down the line, he's going to see some long fly balls caught if he's only trying to pull. But with his approach, he's going to be able to adjust better than some other hitters coming from Asia have been able to do. However, he's going to have to adjust to going the other way more consistently in order for that power to play better. I heard somebody use (Andrew) Benintendi as a comp; I do think that's a fair comparison on the offensive end. He's certainly not as athletic or as good a defender as Benintendi, but on the offensive side, that's not a bad comparison. If he hits 17, 18, 19 home runs, I think that will be a really good year for him in the first year.''
Yoshida is listed at 5-8, 160 pounds, so he's not by any means physically imposing. But the evaluator believes he can hold up to the grind of a 162-game season.
"He's very strong,'' he said. "He's got some stockiness to him. Although he's short, he does have strength. I don't see any issues with that. He's not an athletic, physical specimen. But he's got strength, so I think he'll be durable. It will depend on how well he takes care of his body.''
As for Yoshida's makeup, he has a tendency to respond to a challenge.
"I think he looks for the big moments,'' said the evaluator. "I do think it's a good fit for the pressure of being in Boston and that sort of thing. The big moment doesn't faze him. I didn't get the sense that he was a leader. I think it's more on the confident size. He was comfortable knowing he was 'The Guy.' I wouldn't say he was a Jamie Tartt, for Ted Lasso fans. But he likes being 'The Guy.' ''
Yoshida has "good base-running instincts. You see him and you see him run down the line, you see his body type, and you're not expecting him to steal bases. He can be an opportunistic baserunner and a smart one. You can't expect incredible first-to-third times or that sort of thing. But if the defense is going to give him the base, he's going to take it.''
Defensively, Yoshida is suspect.
"He's a below-average runner, first of all,'' said the evaluator. "On the bases, he'll sneak in a stolen base once in a while. But there's a lack of foot speed. He'll handle balls that he can get to, but he's not going to get to a ton. He's not going to give you a ton of range. It's a below-average arm, too. I had heard it's a '20 arm' (the lowest grade in scouts' 20-80 grading system) and it's better than that. But it's a below-average arm. For me, it's a 40 arm.''
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How much have baseball salaries escalated in the last two decades?
Consider: Brandon Nimmo just signed (essentially) the same deal that Manny Ramirez signed prior to the 2000 season.