The winter of discontent that has engulfed the Boston Red Sox this offseason went to a whole other level Friday. The Boston Globe reported that Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom has received death threats and been the subject of antisemitic slurs since the club hired him in 2019.
Bloom was brought in to replace Dave Dombrowski in the role a year after the Boston Red Sox won the 2018 World Series and has been scapegoated by certain sections of the team's fanbase for the organization's decline.
Boston finished last in the ultra-competitive American League East in 2022 with a 78-84 record. It was the Red Sox's second time in the division cellar in three years, with the squad also going 24-36 in 2020 to finish at the bottom of the AL East.
However, in the middle, Boston were second in the division with a 92-70 record and advanced to the AL Championship Series. The Red Sox lost that playoff to the Houston Astros in six games.
Red Sox Nation rose in unanimous anger at The Globe report. While Boston fans may not like Bloom, death threats and slurs take things to an unacceptable level for most Red Sox faithful.
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While the Boston Red Sox signed Japanese outfielder Masataka Yoshida and closer Kenley Jansen this off-season, losing shortstop Xander Bogaerts to the San Diego Padres via free agency seemed to overshadow the team's entire off-season. The $313.5 million contract extension signed by third baseman Rafael Devers did little to quell the fanbase's displeasure at the team's rapid decline throughout 2022.
Most Red Sox fans still point to the loss of superstar outfielder Mookie Betts in February 2020. With Betts and Boston at an impasse over a contract extension for the tremendously popular player, the Red Sox traded the 2018 AL Most Valuable Player to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a trio of prospects: outfielder Alex Verdugo, shortstop Jeter Downs, and catcher Connor Wong.
Verdugo has been a Boston regular but has not lived up to his top prospect billing, Wong is projected as a strong-defending backup, and Downs was released by the Red Sox this past winter.
Dark times for the Boston Red Sox
These are dark times for the Boston Red Sox. The rest of the division has either maintained or improved their teams, and now the Baltimore Orioles have awoken from their decade of slumber to field a competitive team. Things may get worse in Boston before they get better.