Inside The Red Sox

How Chaim Bloom Responded To Point-Blank Criticism Of Red Sox's Bullpen

'I think they are fair questions."

Scott Neville

How Chaim Bloom Responded To Point-Blank Criticism Of Red Sox's Bullpen
How Chaim Bloom Responded To Point-Blank Criticism Of Red Sox's Bullpen /
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The Boston Red Sox's inaction to build a stronger bullpen at any point in 2022 was quite perplexing all year long.

It has been frustrating to watch the Red Sox's bullpen, which has a 4.48 ERA, ranking No. 25 in Major League Baseball. What makes the experience nearly unbearable at times is the fact that it was so easy to predict their struggles just via a quick glance at the Opening Day roster. 

Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom has taken heat for his inaction in both the offseason and at the MLB trade deadline on Aug. 2. 

MLB.com's Ian Browne asked Bloom if the fans and media's criticism of his inability to build a bullpen was fair prior to Wednesday's 5-3 loss to the New York Yankees at Fenway Park. 

"I think they are fair questions," Bloom told Browne. "Obviously, you look at the results and I think they are very fair questions to ask. There are situations where you have fewer proven aspects of your team that can go either way. In this case, a lot of those situations didn’t go our way.

"We have to look at why that is and what else we could have done to get more out of some of these guys. I do think that with the guys we have had in that group, the ability has been there to have better results than we’ve gotten. Not everybody has been able to deliver those results and we have to look at what we’re doing as a staff, as an organization, to help put our players in better positions to succeed."

Bloom's general approach appears to look past the biggest names on the market and seek players with the highest potential. He had immense success doing so with the Tampa Bay Rays and has shown flashes of brilliance in Boston (Garrett Whitlock, John Schreiber) but has not had enough talent to rely on.

His theory stems from the top names in the offseason and the top performers not lining up at the season's end, which is true. But it would have been nice to have a few more proven options to at least handle the high-leverage spots. 

Here's to hoping for a little more proven talent in the bullpen for 2023 as they enter a pivotal offseason with far more questions than answers. 

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Scott Neville
SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer.  His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu

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