BOSTON, MA – JULY 6: Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom of the Boston Red Sox looks on before a game against the Tampa Bay Rays on July 6, 2022 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)
Chaim Bloom can learn a few lessons from these three mistakes he made in the offseason in building this year’s Boston Red Sox team.
The Boston Red Sox didn’t have a particularly strong offseason heading into 2022. However, as an already well-loaded team, there were some positive predictions.
Those good vibes around the Red Sox quickly evaporated as the team got off to a slow start. A mid-year turnaround had people wondering if they could pull off a miracle. Their late summer slump has helped reality set in.
Some of the blame has to fall on Chaim Bloom, who helped build this team. From these three mistakes, he has a couple of lessons to learn.
1) Red Sox can learn from the James Paxton signing
The Big Maple hasn’t been productive for a couple of seasons now. After his pretty stellar 2019 campaign with the New York Yankees, he has tossed only 21.2 innings at the major league level. They weren’t even all that productive, with a 6.64 ERA in 2020 and a 6.75 performance in 2021 with the Seattle Mariners.
Everything seemed to suggest James Paxton was not an ideal fit for the Red Sox or, frankly, anyone else. Injuries had taken such a big toll on him that to invest any faith was unwise. In this instance, Bloom chose the wrong grail with Paxton.
Paxton has yet to pitch for the Red Sox this year, nor does it seem he will he appear in a single game. His most recent rehab start ended after two batters.
The $6 million in 2022 has been flushed away. The $13 million team option for next year could be easily declined by the Red Sox. However, with Paxton having a $4 million player option, it looks like Boston may be in for paying him even more and maybe to do nothing at all.