Chaim Bloom spoke on Zoom a little over 20 minutes on Wednesday, and most of what he had to say was expected: yes, he’s disappointed in the team’s performance, yes, the pitching is less than he expected, no, he does not hold any of this against manager Ron Roenicke.
But hidden within that press conference was an answer that sheds light on what kind of up-and-coming Red Sox fans should expect. And refreshingly, depending on your perspective and reservoirs of patience, the answer is that it will not be quick.
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“I do not think it is wise for us to set schedules on these things,” Bloom said. “I think if we do the right things, times can sometimes accelerate. It’s bad to predict. A lot of the time, when you start to get cute and try to sync these things and think you can predict the schedule exactly. , you do things that are contrary to what your goals were in the first place.
“You have to keep the big picture in mind. If that’s behind everything we do, we might find that things come together faster than people would expect. I would not try to set a schedule on it. I think we should make certainly we evaluate our options and potential moves in the light of what we are generally trying to achieve. “
When Bloom talks about the big picture and long-term goals, he certainly sounds like someone who will not, say, make a splash for an outfielder like Carl Crawford, or trade four prospects for a closer like Craig Kimbrel, or a few sign free agents like Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez just because they are there. That patchwork approach to remaining competitive seduced predecessors Theo Epstein, Dave Dombrowski, and Ben Cherington in varying degrees, respectively, but Bloom was brought to build, not to mention at poor playoff opportunities.
With the Red Sox falling just two years after the worst record in the American League, after winning a franchise record 108 games, it’s clear Bloom has a big job ahead of him. In the past, property has responded to bad campaigns by authorizing large splashes to remain relevant, even at the expense of long-term success. Bloom sounds much more interested in the long game.
That’s what made his response about how much money he expects to have to spend on the same lighting this winter.
“It’s not something we’ve specifically discussed,” he said. “There are so many other things that we are prioritizing at the moment. But this organization over time, and I have certainly seen it up close, has always devoted large resources to baseball operations in the pursuit. after winning. I have no reason to think that will change. “
The Red Sox are not talking about budgets because they recognize that there is no point in targeting high-profile agents this winter. These are the kinds of moves a team makes when it comes to battle.
These Red Sox are a long way from that, and it sounds like Bloom knew it.
