To no fault of his own, Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom had limited opportunity to work with Mookie Betts after arriving in Boston in October.
Executive vice president and assistant general manager Brian O’Halloran, entering his 18th season with the Red Sox, however, had spent years with Betts as the star outfielder joined the squad in 2014.
Betts, as you likely now know, was traded along with Red Sox pitcher David Price to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a deal that was made official Monday night. During a press conference from Jet Blue Park in Fort Myers, Fla. on Monday, O’Halloran and Bloom spoke at length about what Betts meant to the franchise.
“This is a real tough one for a lot of people in the organization to move on from Mookie,” O’Halloran said. “We’ve all seen him grow up here from when he was drafted. And a lot of staff members — front office, coaching, medical, teammates — this is a tough one for all of us.
“As Chaim said, Mookie’s not only one of the greatest baseball players that’s ever put on the uniform for the Red Sox, he’s one of the best people, a class act on and off the field,” O’Halloran continued. “A lot of people here are going to miss him. So, it’s a tough day from that standpoint.”
Bloom lauded Betts’ attitude during the process.
“From my standpoint, obviously it’s a difficult thing in any situation and even when you know a player very well, and I was just getting to know him, which I think made it a little tougher,” Bloom said. “I will say, and this is very consistent with everybody here feels about him, throughout all the conversations he could not have handled himself better. He was classy. He was positive. He was appreciative. That just fits with everything that I know about the man.”
Despite the move, Bloom believes the Red Sox will compete during the 2020 season. Boston will put that theory to the test when the regular season begins on March 26.
