The mere fact that Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and president/CEO Sam Kennedy met with the media for 26 minutes on Friday — three days in advance of MLB’s Aug. 31 trade deadline — spoke to extraordinary circumstances.
“That was the point,” Bloom said of the fact that protests disrupted league-wide trade conversations. “That was what this was about, to get everybody, whether you are within these walls or out there in society doing something else, to stop and take notice and to focus on these issues. It’s really important.
“So many people, frankly, have the privilege of focusing on these issues only when they want to focus on the issues or only when they feel they have to. And one of the things that I think that has come to the forefront for many people through these conversations is that if you’re a Black American you don’t get to choose when this becomes a focus for you. I think that’s something that all of us, especially those of us who are white, really need to think about and pay attention to.”
Nonetheless, Bloom anticipated a resumption of more typical trade talks in the coming days. While he expected organizations to continue self-examinations about diversity and inclusivity, he anticipated that trade talk would likewise occur in earnest.
“I’m sure leading up to the deadline, we’re going to have the same volume of calls, a lot of the same operations as we normally have,” Bloom said. “We can walk and chew gum at the same time. One of the big lessons of this for our sport is this shouldn’t be something that we only pay attention to every now and then when we want to. It has to become part of how we live, how we operate. I don’t see it as an either/or.”
That being the case, manager Ron Roenicke anticipated an uptick of player curiosity about who might be moved before the trade deadline.
“We know what we went through the last couple days. That ended up where guys weren’t so concerned about the trade stuff anymore and just worried about what was going on. I’m sure it will be back again these next couple and then leading into [Aug. 31],” Roenicke said. “I probably will say something [to players] about the trade deadline, just, ‘Hey, focus on what you can do now. We’ll get through this deadline and then concentrate on winning as many games as we can before the deadline and then after it.’ ”
Brasier retreats on retweet
On Thursday night, hours after the Red Sox decided to join Jackie Bradley Jr. in not playing in order to protest the shooting of Blake, reliever Ryan Brasier retweeted a YouTube post from the Hodgetwins — a politically conservative comedy duo — titled, “Doc Rivers crying over Jacob Blake.” The video mocked the decision by NBA players to protest by not playing.
Brasier subsequently deleted the retweet after NBC Sports Boston inquired why he’d posted it so close to joining in such a protest.
“Ryan Brasier contacted me with a long text, we talked over the phone, he had already talked to Jackie and talked to [first base coach Tom Goodwin],” Roenicke said. “He explained that he was watching [the Republican National Convention] and wasn’t really thinking about timing but just tweeted out some things. From him to me, there was no malice about anything going on in anything he said.”
Asked if he was disappointed to see one of his players amplify such a message so close to the conversation that the team had with Bradley, Roenicke said that he didn’t want to speak for Brasier.
“I haven’t really had time to sit down and think about it,” he said. “When I answer things about this I really need to know a lot more.”
Not looking beyond 2020
Asked if the Sox had examined whether they might want Roenicke as manager beyond this season, Bloom said that he didn’t expect any conversations about his future until after the season. “We all agreed at the outset that it would be best to save those discussions for the end of the year,” Bloom said. “We haven’t discussed it yet.” … Nate Eovaldi, whose scheduled start on Thursday had already been pushed back to Sunday by cramping in his calf, won’t be able to start this weekend, according to a major league source … Though he’s making progress in his rehab exercises, outfielder Andrew Benintendi continues to feel discomfort in his ribs — which he injured on the bases Aug. 11 — when engaged in twisting exercises. He’s not close to a return from the injured list. “This is slow,” Roenicke said. “Just watching him on the treadmill, knowing he still feels it, it’s going to be a while.”
Alex Speier can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on twitter at @alexspeier.
