Chaim Bloom opens up who could play shortstop next season
The Red Sox are looking at replacements for Xander Bogaerts to play shortstop next season. It’s likely his replacement may already be on the roster. Trevor Story, Kiké Hernandez and Christian Arroyo are all potential in-house candidates.
In an interview with The Athletic, Chaim Bloom opened up as to who could be the Opening Day shortstop.
“Kiké is our center fielder, and that makes a lot of sense for us to go forward with,” Bloom said. “So, of those two, I would put Trevor at short, but I think we are looking at different possibilities.”
Story is the most logical replacement due to being the everyday shortstop when he was with the Rockies. Last season he played exclusively at second base for the Red Sox.
“We’re fortunate that we have multiple guys on this team that are really capable shortstops,” Bloom said. “And that gives us a really good place to start from as we continue to work through the offseason and put the best club together that we can.”
The Red Sox could still dip into the free agent market for Bogaerts replacement. Bloom said he isn’t ruling anything out but if the club signed a free agent, he prefers a shorter deal.
Both Carlos Correa and Dansby Swanson are still unsigned and looking for a home for 2023 and beyond.
“I certainly would not take that off the table,” he said. “I don’t want to and shouldn’t get too specific on what we would or wouldn’t consider with any free agent. I don’t think it’s appropriate, but I definitely would not take that scenario off the table.”
There’s still a lot of time before Spring Training and a lot can change for the Red Sox. At least for now, Bloom has shed some light as to what the plan could be for the organization in the short term.
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We will win
Pretty disappointing from Bloom, not sure he understands the Boston expectations. Deep breaths, as a fan, as we head towards the New Year.