Chaim Bloom responds to criticism by reaching agreement with Rafael Devers

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Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom has faced widespread criticism for his failure to keep local starts Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts, but he may have gained some goodwill by accepting a long-term contract with Rafael Devers. Charles Krupa/Associated Press

On several occasions over the past few months, Boston Red Sox baseball manager Chaim Bloom has said it doesn’t matter how much or how often the club professes its love for Rafael Devers. All that mattered, Bloom said, was that a deal was finally struck.

Bloom was right. Fans were fed up with empty promises after watching Mookie Betts traded to the Dodgers in 2020 and Xander Bogaerts fleeing to San Diego last month. The Red Sox had tried and failed to sign both Betts and Bogaerts, who were local stars online for massive paydays. Why would Devers’ situation be any different?

On Wednesday, Bloom put John Henry’s money where it was and proved that Devers was, in fact, his own case. The Red Sox and Devers have agreed to a monstrous 11-year, $331 million deal that will keep the third baseman in Boston until 2033.

Talking is cheap. Devers was not. And the deal did more than lock in a key player for over a decade. The biggest contract in Red Sox history restored Boston’s image as a big-market club. It proved the Red Sox are serious about competition and pay a premium to do so. And it may have been even more consequential for the legacy of Bloom, who responded to his loudest critics with a historic gesture unlike anything he had done before.

Bloom’s tenure hasn’t been perfect, as evidenced by the bottom two spots, some questionable acquisitions and the inability to retain Betts and Bogaerts. While it’s unfair to call Bloom the one who let Betts get away (by the time he was hired it was already clear that a trade was the most likely route), he was the one who let Bogaerts escape. The teams’ mishandling of the Bogaerts situation raised real questions about the future of the organization and whether the Red Sox under Bloom would ever be willing to pay a premium for a star player.

As the pressure mounted, the urgency also increased. Bloom even changed his tune publicly, telling ESPN last month that the Red Sox would likely go beyond reason to make a deal with Devers.

Credit Bloom for her ability to adapt and respond to the moment. In the wake of Bogaerts’ departure, it became clear to anyone with a pulse that the Red Sox couldn’t let Devers walk either. There’s no doubt that spending $331 million on a single player goes against Bloom’s nature and probably makes him uncomfortable. A deal like Devers could go against everything Bloom has believed in throughout his career. But that’s what the Red Sox, in this market right now, needed. And when things did, Bloom delivered.

There is some truth to the theory that Bloom was introduced to incorporate small market principles like improving a roster at the fringe or prioritizing depth and player development that have been so effective. during his stay in Tampa Bay. But referring to the Red Sox as Tampa Bay North, at least in the early stages of Blooms’ tenure, missed the point. Past economic commitments have so crippled the Red Sox that the desire to drop below the competitive equilibrium tax threshold (and the Betts trade that achieved that goal) was predetermined for Bloom when he took the job.

It wasn’t until last winter that the Red Sox had any real leeway. Trevor Story’s $140 million contract was a good sign. But that was still a modest commitment compared to what it would ultimately take to secure Bogaerts or Devers.

Perhaps Bloom learned a valuable lesson from the Bogaerts talks, an abject failure of organization that informed the way he has negotiated with Devers in recent weeks. When players (even those who have spent their entire career in the same uniform and repeatedly proclaim their love for their team) can test free will, they can really see if the grass (and the pile of money) is greener elsewhere. Bogaerts surely thought so. The Red Sox did everything in their power to ensure Devers couldn’t make a similar choice.

Turning lottery tickets like John Schreiber or Garrett Whitlock into productive players is nice and all, but to build the next great Red Sox team, Bloom always had to step out of his comfort zone eventually. He could theoretically build a contender like he helped do in Tampa Bay with depth signings, low-risk flyers and below-market pre-arbitrage extensions.

But in the end, he must use all the resources at his disposal and spend. The Devers deal, which aligns perfectly with Bloom’s longtime goal of helping the Red Sox in the short and long term, is a sign that the Red Sox of yesteryear are back.

Bloom is always going to be looking for that waiver yarn picker who can eat significant innings in July. He’ll always read scout reports on the unheralded Double-A prospect who needs a change of scenery. But he proved once and for all on Wednesday that he wasn’t afraid of the big move either and that the Red Sox were faring better.

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