WASHINGTON -- A year ago, the Mets' choice for general manager came down to Rays executive Chaim Bloom or player agent Brodie Van Wagenen, and with Van Wagenen assuring Mets ownership that he could find a path to immediate success, he got the job.
Because of that decision, Bloom was available for the Boston Red Sox to pursue this fall after Boston fired Dave Dombrowski, and by all accounts, the Red Sox pushed hard for Bloom, who checks a lot of the boxes necessary for success. Nobody's going to outwork Bloom, his peers report, he's diligent and trustworthy, and he works well with others.
That last skill -- his ability to connect with those around him -- is going to be essential, because the circumstances under which he takes over Boston's baseball operations will be extraordinarily challenging.
The Red Sox appear to be an organization in decline, with significant and difficult choices in their immediate future involving the team's biggest stars, and as Bloom leads those discussions, he'll be surrounded by a lot of people he has never worked with before. He'll have to dig into the question of whether the Red Sox should take one more run at signing Mookie Betts before Betts reaches free agency next fall, and if he determines that the Red Sox cannot sign Betts -- or should not -- then he'll have to lead the discussion about whether to trade Betts.
And in the current industry climate, any team interested in Betts is probably not going to be willing to give up as much for Betts in trade as it would have five or 10 years ago. Prospects are more coveted now than ever, and teams don't spend as much for short-term investments as they used to. This is what the Rangers learned when they waited for big offers to emerge for Yu Darvish in 2017, and the Orioles experienced when they put Manny Machado on the market the next year.
Bloom will have to follow the mandate of owner John Henry to slash payroll, which might mean allowing J.D. Martinez to walk away through the opt-out clause in his contract. It might mean that the Red Sox will have to again try to fix their bullpen issues through bargain shopping, something that Boston struggled to do early last season -- and something that the Rays have done very well in Bloom's time in their front office. Jackie Bradley Jr. is a free agent after next season and could be trade bait this winter, and the Red Sox must again identify solutions at first and second base.
Bloom might have to find other cheap starting pitching, because the Red Sox have $80 million invested annually in three starting pitchers who will carry a lot of injury concerns and uncertainty over the next three seasons: Chris Sale, David Price and Nathan Eovaldi. Bloom will have to foster a regeneration of the organization's farm system, which was strip-mined through the win-now trades of recent years.
All of this has to happen at a time when the powerful and well-run Yankees are the dominant force in the AL East, the Rays will continue to be dangerous and the Blue Jays have just graduated high-end talents Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette from their farm system.
Others in the industry believe Red Sox manager Alex Cora and Brian O'Halloran, who will be the team's general manager, will work well with Bloom. But their shared experience is only just beginning as Bloom digs into difficult decisions that may leave him scarred in the eyes of a fan base that will want to keep Betts, and will want the Red Sox to win now.
You could make a case that Bloom was fortunate to be turned down by the Mets. But there are tough moments ahead for him in Boston, and given the demonstrated impatience of the Red Sox ownership, it remains to be seen whether Bloom will be given enough time to be a conduit for change, and whether he'll be around for the next extended window of success.
News from around the major leagues
Gerardo Parra's arrival inspired the spirited playing of Baby Shark at Nationals Park, and the unique dugout celebrations whenever someone hits a home run. Whenever Adam Eaton or Howie Kendrick hits a homer, they drop onto the bench and pretend they are speeding in cars, the two of them pantomiming as drivers. This started, Eaton explained, because he and Kendrick share a love of cars, and they figured that, hey, why not incorporate this into their home run celebration? Kendrick's imaginary car, Eaton said, is an automatic, and German-made, while Eaton's is a stick shift and sounds more like an American muscle car.
• Didi Gregorius reaches free agency in the week ahead under less than ideal circumstances. The shortstop turns 30 in February -- beyond what a lot of executives now believe to be the performance tipping point for players at the position -- and he really struggled in 2019. After returning from Tommy John surgery, Gregorius batted .197 in his last 47 games of the regular season, and the defensive analytics he generated indicated a regression: In just 688⅓ innings, he scored a minus-6 in defensive runs saved, well below average at the position.
There are evaluators who believe Gregorius would be best served by taking a one-year deal someplace in 2020 in an effort to rebuild his value and be open to moving around to other positions in the infield, as teammate DJ LeMahieu did for the Yankees this year.
• When Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno told reporters that his team's payroll will grow in 2020, he fueled industry speculation that his club will pursue Gerrit Cole in free agency in an effort to bring him home. Cole grew up about 20 miles from the Angels' ballpark and attended high school less than 5 miles away.
If Cole signs with the Angels, this could also mean the Yankees will be in almost the exact same position as they were before the July 31 trade deadline: left to pick through what they regard as imperfect solutions as they look for rotation help. Stephen Strasburg could opt out of his contract with the Nationals, but Strasburg has never been fond of change and could simply use the opt-out as a way to get another year or two added onto his deal. Cole Hamels will be a free agent, but he turns 36 in December and didn't pitch well for the Cubs late in the season. Madison Bumgarner is about to hit the open market, but the Giants have some interest in re-signing the left-hander who is a part of their legacy -- and American League teams have some question about how well Bumgarner would fare against deeper and more powerful lineups.
Zack Wheeler, 29, might turn out to be the best and most accessible target for the Yankees next season. Like the Rays, Braves and Astros, the Yankees had interest in trading for Wheeler in July, before the Mets decided to hang on to him. But now that Wheeler is headed into free agency, the Yankees would have to outbid the Astros and other teams for him. Last winter, they chased after left-hander Patrick Corbin, and lost out to the Nationals when Washington offered Corbin a six-year deal; the Yankees offered five years.
• If a catching emergency develops for the Nationals in the last three games of the World Series -- if Yan Gomes and Kurt Suzuki were both unavailable -- then manager Dave Martinez would turn to second baseman Brian Dozier, who, while enrolled at Itawamba Agricultural High School, served some time at catcher. It was during a discussion about Dozier's history when Martinez recalled the time he was compelled by circumstances and a former manager to play first base.
Martinez was mostly an outfielder during his playing days, but when he was with the Cincinnati Reds in 1992, first baseman Hal Morris was injured. The next day, Martinez discovered two items in his locker -- a first baseman's mitt and a protective cup. Initially, Martinez thought this may have been a practical joke played by teammate Barry Larkin, but no, it was real, because right fielder Paul O'Neill had made it clear he didn't want to play first. Reds manager Lou Piniella wrote Martinez in as his first baseman.
Martinez had no interest in playing first base, but he did what he was asked to do, taking ground balls and preparing as best he could.
In Martinez's second game at first base, All-Star Will Clark came to the plate for the Giants and, with his fluid, picturesque swing, Clark smoked a line drive at Martinez. The ball smashed against Martinez's foot and rolled away, and in great pain, Martinez limped in pursuit. When Martinez hobbled back to the dugout after the half-inning, he can remember feeling his heartbeat through his throbbing toe, and when he returned to the dugout, he saw Piniella sitting there with his arms tightly folded, clearly unhappy.
"I thought you said you could play first base," Piniella said grumpily, with the tart voice that his former players love to imitate.
"No," Martinez shot back, his voice rising, "you said I could play first base."
Martinez laughed as he told the story. What he didn't say was that he persevered, to Piniella's apparent satisfaction: He played 21 games at first for the Reds that season, and 171 more over the rest of his career.