Chaim Bloom Reflects On Lessons From 2022 Red Sox Deadline

The 2022 trade deadline featured both additions and subtractions for the Boston Red Sox. Whether it was the departure of former World Series champion Christian Vazquez or the arrival of rental outfielder Tommy Pham, the front office mixed both buying and selling at the deadline.

With under a week to go until the 2023 trade deadline, chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom reflected on how lessons from a year ago will shape his own actions at the key date this season.

“One thing we try to do is actually review it afterwards, whether we are high-fiving each other or sitting there with our arms folded,” Bloom told Chris Cotillo and Sean McAdam on MassLive’s “The Fenway Rundown” podcast. “Keep those notes and you pull them out when you are getting ready for next year. I think we do that with as many processes as possible. That’s how you get better.”

As he alluded to when discussing activity on Tuesday, Bloom reaffirmed how a team’s positioning adjusts which deals are made.

“Last year on the day of the deadline, we were on the outside looking in, arguably even more so than where we are now,” Bloom said. “Chances are whatever you do when you’re in that position, you are not going to get in.”

Bloom also discussed the long term consequences of last year’s deadline deals.

“Ultimately, you win 78 games and you go over CBT. That’s not good. That’s something that certainly, with the benefit of hindsight, we want to do differently.”

One of the biggest takeaways from last year’s deadline is how to manage reactions to trades and organization shakeups from internal personnel.

“Obviously, a lot of the communication around that, whether it was in the clubhouse or with our group,” Bloom said. “Knowing that the club was on the road at the time. Knowing how it went down and how it became very chaotic on the ground. That’s something we spent some time digesting.”

Bloom added that in an effort for better communication, having front office personnel on-site for the day of the deadline when the Red Sox play in Seattle against the Mariners would help, despite that top executives usually do not travel on the road with the team.

“To have no front office representation, that is something I would do differently,” Bloom said. “We will do that differently. It is a lot to handle. Our field staff is trying to get ready for a game. It puts a lot on their lap. That’s something we are going to do differently.”

The 2023 Major League Baseball trade deadline is at 6:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Aug. 1.