The Boston Red Sox have deep pockets and a deep hole in their starting rotation. So, why didn't they make a serious run at Blake Snell?
Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom fielded that question Wednesday after the San Diego Padres acquired Snell in a blockbuster trade with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Bloom's answer was definitive -- and indicated his club likely won't be big-game hunting on the free-agent or trade markets this offseason.
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"When you look at the amount of talent that came back for Blake and the length of time over which that talent can impact the Rays, that’s exactly the sort of deal, given the cost and given the price tag, that would not make sense for where we’re positioned right now," Bloom told WEEI's Rob Bradford and John Meterparel, via MassLive.com's Chris Cotillo.
"I think it would put us further behind in our goal to win as many championships as we can over the (long term)."
The Padres reportedly parted with four prospects -- including MLB.com's No. 23 overall prospect, pitcher Luis Patino -- to land Snell, a former Cy Young award winner who along with Yu Darvish could make San Diego a legitimate National League contender.
Boston Red Sox
But the Red Sox are in a much different place than the Padres after their worst season since 1965, and their farm system is still relatively barren from the Dave Dombrowski era, which brought a World Series title at the expense of several top prospects.
So, while Bloom hinted that he may have called his former club about Snell, he also made it clear that Boston is in rebuild mode.
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"It’s our job to be involved in everything and we’re remiss if we don’t check in our every player who might be available," Bloom added. "When it comes to taking an enormous amount of value and consolidating it into a smaller amount that impacts us right now, I think that’s the opposite of what we need to do at the moment."
There still are talented pitchers on the free-agent market (like Corey Kluber) whom the Red Sox could sign without breaking the bank or selling the farm. But Bloom's comments confirm this team won't come close to selling out for elite talent with high price tags.