Jonathan Papelbon blasts Chaim Bloom for Red Sox struggles

The Boston Red Sox could be turning into sellers right before our very eyes. Jonathan Papelbon thinks there’s one man to blame.

Papelbon, as he was during his playing days, is incredibly outspoken. This is especially true about his former teams, namely the Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Red Sox.

The former Red Sox closer was beloved for years, and despite his frequent outbursts and bizarre pregame rituals, still has some pull on the Boston radio airwaves.

In a recent appearance on WEEI, Papelbon blamed Chaim Bloom for the Red Sox struggles, stating that he tried and failed to bring a Tampa Bay Rays approach to Boston.

“(The Rays) were the very beginning of you know what, we’ve got to find prospects, we don’t have the money to (sign stars), we’re gonna outsmart the system so to speak, right?” Papelbon said. “Well, I think he’s trying to kind of bring that into Boston and for me, that don’t work, buddy.”

Red Sox: Is Jonathan Papelbon right about Chaim Bloom?

Papelbon isn’t wrong to target the front office, which clearly hasn’t made winning as much of a priority as it should be. If that were the case, Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers would both be signed long-term by now.

Yet, his analysis is a little off. In his next segment, the former closer discussed the different between the Red Sox and Yankees spending habits.

“Look, you’re going up against the Yankees and they’ve got one of the highest payrolls, and you’re going to come into the Red Sox front office and try to finagle your way through all these good deals and find the next prospect? No, that don’t work for me, man,” Papelbon said.

Per Spotrac, the Yankees are third in payroll, while the Red Sox are sixth. The gap in between those two isn’t all that large. New York is winning because they invested in the right parts of their team, and made smart and savvy decisions. Boston, meanwhile, traded away one of the best players in baseball two years ago, and may let Bogaerts walk this offseason.