Chaim Bloom is choosing to look forward -- not back -- when it comes to Rafael Devers' contract situation with the Boston Red Sox.
Devers has one more year remaining on his deal, meaning he can become a free agent after the 2023 Major League Baseball season. Bloom has made clear the Red Sox would love to sign Devers to a long-term extension, but the third baseman's price tag obviously is steeper now that he's a perennial All-Star.
Which raises the question: Does Bloom regret not being more aggressive earlier in the process?
Of course, Bloom became Boston's chief baseball officer in October 2019 -- with Devers already well on his way to becoming a proven commodity -- but the Red Sox face the unpleasant possibility of Devers entering the 2023 campaign without a new deal.
"Really good question. It's tough to look back on those things," Bloom said Thursday on WEEI's "The Greg Hill Show." "Obviously, there are a lot of different things that happened over the last few years, including a pandemic that paused the whole sport and then we had to play (in) empty (ballparks) for a while. So there's a lot of different twists and turns in that.
"Look, obviously we want to have this guy here for a long time, so any hypothetical world where that could already have been settled in a way that works for everybody is probably a good world for the Red Sox. But it doesn't really pay to look back on those hypotheticals. We're here, we are where we are, and we're still hoping to get this done."
Bloom's right. What's done is done. While one could argue the Red Sox should have made a stronger effort to sign Devers to a contract extension in previous years, the reality is they waited and it now might cost a few extra bucks to keep him in Boston for the long term.
The good news for the Red Sox? Devers is an exceptional player. Which is why we're even having this conversation. And he remains under contract through next season, so there's still plenty of time to reach an agreement with one of MLB's brightest young stars.
