Could Red Sox Target Recently DFA’d Chaim Bloom Success Story?

The 2023 Major League Baseball trade deadline is coming up on Aug. 1, leaving many wondering what the suddenly surging Boston Red Sox might want to do.

It’s possible that Boston makes a few splash moves in an effort to capitalize on its winning ways, but there’s an equal chance that a similar approach is taken to that of 2022, where the Red Sox traded off some key pieces while also bringing in rentals to try and stay competitive.

The Red Sox don’t have to hamstring themselves into making a splash move either way, however. They could take advantage of one American League East team’s recent need to designate a starting pitcher for assignment.

The Tampa Bay Rays designated right-handed pitcher Yonny Chirinos on Monday, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The move was made to open an active roster spot for star pitcher Shane McClanahan, but provides Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom with an opportunity to capitalize on his familiarity with Tampa’s staff.

Chirinos, 29, made his debut during Bloom’s time heading up the Rays and has been a valuable piece for the franchise when healthy. The righty served in a bulk role for the Rays this year, often making appearances following an opener — totaling 62 2/3 innings over 15 outings, posting a 4.02 ERA. Though he had a significant injury absence entering this season, missing over two years from August 2020 to September 2022 primarily due to Tommy John surgery, he was nothing if not reliable in a year where Tampa has been hindered by injuries to the pitching staff.

The veteran presents a nice opportunity for Boston, who has also seen its pitching staff ravaged by injuries. Chris Sale, Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock’s injured-list stints have left the Red Sox with a three-man rotation (Brayan Bello, James Paxton, Kutter Crawford) while using openers and bulk relievers to keep things afloat. In signing Chirinos, the Red Sox could immediately add a pitcher that could start or pick up innings in bulk out of the bullpen.

Chirinos has around $500K left to be paid out on his current contract and can be retained for one more year via arbitration. In the event he clears waivers, he would have the right to elect free agency while retaining that salary due to having more than five years of service time.

In a season where tough decisions have to be made, this might be an easy one for Bloom.