New Boston Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom has some pretty difficult decisions to make in the coming weeks. So, Pedro Martinez decided to give the newbie a bit of advice.
While Bloom has no pre-existing relationships with any members of the Red Sox organization, Martinez notes he'll need to make strong ones if he wants to succeed in Boston.
"A good GM, the first thing I’m going to tell you is being able to connect with the players in a good way," Martinez told WEEI's Rob Bradford on the Bradfo Sho podcast. "Being able to be approachable by the entire staff. Not just the players. Not just the baseball operations system. But management. Good relationship with management. A good connection to the players and the managers and the coaches. I think a good GM will be someone who treats everybody equal and respects everybody from the clubbies to the president of the team or the top owner of the team. Someone who is respectful to everybody and treats everybody equal and has a good connection with the entire organization would be a good GM."
Bloom will be learning on the fly, and Martinez already has a great relationship with the Boston clubhouse -- he could play a major role in negotiating contracts with players in the future.
"That’s why you have people like me between me and the players so we can actually pinpoint those moments it’s a good moment for a GM to approach the players or discuss contracts or talk business or whatever because most of the players want to look good," Martinez said. "Nobody wants to go in front of 60,000 people and look bad. They are really picky with the way they prepare and all that. You have to understand when they’re mentally preparing for the work or whatever it’s not a good time to approach them with the other stuff and take time away from preparing."
While he'll most likely be the middle man for the Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez situations, it'll be up to Bloom to focus and either strike a deal or trade away players for assets.
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