True to his word, Bloom straddles line between buying and selling in eventful trade deadline

Aug. 3—You can't say Chaim Bloom and the Red Sox front office didn't tell us this was coming.

In the days leading up to Tuesday's trade deadline Bloom rejected the "buyer" and "seller" dichotomy and indicated the club would try to bolster this year's roster while shoring up the club's future as well. That's exactly what he did, threading the needle by addressing two of the club's most glaring weaknesses while also shipping out a beloved clubhouse veteran in Christian Vazquez whose long-term future with the club beyond this season was uncertain.

He was also true to his word in keeping Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers, and despite widespread speculation they might be dealt J.D. Martinez and Nathan Eovaldi are both staying put as well. Yet he also only made one trade on Tuesday and no big splashes before the deadline, which even Bloom acknowledged wasn't necessarily how he saw the day playing out.

"If you had asked me last night I would have thought we would have made more moves than we did," Bloom said. "At the end of the day we didn't want to force anything."

So, now what? As the dust settles the Red Sox do look better positioned in the short and long term, but this trade deadline is still likely to be viewed as a disappointment by many, both because of what did happen over the last few days and because of what didn't.

Losing Vazquez hurts. There's no sugarcoating it. The veteran catcher was among the organization's longest-tenured players and was one of the heartbeats of the clubhouse. He was also among the club's most productive players and after the news of his trade broke Monday his former teammates were visibly shaken. Regardless of the merits of the deal, a trade like that is going to leave a mark.

But the Red Sox didn't stand pat either.

Eric Hosmer may not have lived up to his big contract in San Diego, but he is still a four-time Gold Glove first baseman and a World Series champion. He'll bring badly needed stability to the position and an end to the ill-fated Franchy Cordero experiment. With San Diego picking up his entire remaining salary he'll also allow the club time and flexibility as top prospect Triston Casas develops.

Tommy Pham will also significantly upgrade Boston's outfield, as the 34-year-old provides a badly needed right-handed bat and some extra pop. Alex Cora said he'll take over in left field, Alex Verdugo will shift to right, and presumably either Jackie Bradley Jr. or Jarren Duran will man center until Kiké Hernández is ready to return later this month.

Those were both moves the Red Sox needed to make, and there was more where that came from too. The Red Sox had a logjam of lefties in their bullpen and Jake Diekman was the most valuable. Reese McGuire may not be the hitter or all-around player Vazquez is, but he's still a solid defensive catcher and should at least be adequate for the last two months.

At the big league level, the Red Sox are now a more sensibly constructed team, and Bloom said even if the season hasn't gone according to plan, they're not ready to punt on 2022.

"We did not have the first four months of the season that we were hoping to have. That's not news, we're in last place," Bloom said. "But it is a unique year in the division and I think when you have a chance at the playoffs, a real chance, even if it's not the chance you were hoping to have or even the chance that we had a month ago, that's not something you take lightly."

Longer term the Red Sox also addressed some looming issue.

With Jay Groome, the former first-round pick had finally gained momentum after missing most of 2018-20 due to injury and the pandemic, but overall his stock has cooled. The Red Sox also face a 40-man roster crunch this offseason as they look to protect other prospects from being taken in the Rule 5 Draft, so moving on from Groome to clear space makes sense, especially if the return includes an established big leaguer at a position of need.

On top of all that, the Red Sox added five new prospects to the organization. We'll have to see what they become, but Enmanuel Valdez at the very least looks like a good get given his meteoric rise through the Astros system.

Should the Red Sox have done more? The bullpen remains a question mark, though a top three of Tanner Houck, Garrett Whitlock and John Schreiber is certainly better than what Boston had to work with much of the first half. The starting rotation could have used another arm, though Chris Sale technically hasn't been ruled out and Kutter Crawford has been a revelation over the last month.

Rafael Devers is also coming back from the injured list, as is Rich Hill. Michael Wacha, Trevor Story and Hernández all should be back before long too. Maybe the Red Sox didn't land Juan Soto, and maybe they still haven't agreed to contract extensions with Devers or Xander Bogaerts, but Bloom has put the pieces in place to for the Red Sox compete.

Now it's just up to the players to do their part, and if they do we may look back on this deadline a lot differently a couple of months down the road.

Email: mcerullo@northofboston.com. Twitter: @MacCerullo.