When Chaim Bloom joined the Greg Hill Show Thursday morning, the reiteration of the "a lot of lines in the water" approach shouldn't come as a surprise.
But there was one line within his response to a question about the impending trade deadline that should have raised a few eyebrows.
"We owe it to ourselves to have a lot of lines in the water right now. Some guys are cleaner fits that others. But I've said this before, sometimes you can do yourself as much good by adding to a strength as you can by filling in what you look at as a weakness," he said. "There are a lot of different ways to win games. There's attrition that happens over the course of the last few months of the season. We just have to make sure we have a lot of lines in the water and that we're in-tune to all possibilities and that's what we're doing right now. Constantly on the phone. Constantly going through the player pool. Just to make sure we're in-tune with anything that might happen, any opportunity that might make sense for us."
The line?
"Sometimes you can do yourself as much good by adding to a strength as you can be filling what you look at as a weakness."
It's a noteworthy approach considering the possibilities that might be ahead for Bloom and Co., particularly when it comes to the pitching staff.
A suggestion could very well be made that Bloom's focus when it comes to possibly doubling-down on a strength involves a starting pitching staff that will soon be getting Chris Sale added to the mix.
Right now, you have a somewhat resurgent Eduardo Rodriguez, the All-Star Nathan Eovaldi, and Nick Pivetta, who has seen the Red Sox carry a 13-6 in games he has started. There are also the presences of Garrett Richards and Martin Perez, who have each shown enough to at least enter the conversation of remaining in the rotation for the final few months.
But the real intrigue when trying to decipher Bloom's statement might involve the bullpen. In particular, Craig Kimbrel.
While Matt Barnes has proven to be one of the game's best closers this season, and the combination of Adam Ottavino, Garrett Whitlock, Hirokazu Sawamura and Josh Taylor has combined for a pretty reliable bridge to the ninth inning, the idea of using a lock-down group of game-enders to finish off games is intriguing.
Kimbrel -- who is being paid $16 million this season and next -- is having one of his best seasons with the struggling Cubs, totaling an 0.51 ERA and .102 batting average against in 37 appearances, striking out 61 in 35 1/3 innings.
It certainly has to be a thought.
One thing that is certain after listening to Bloom: It sure seems like his preference is to make some sort of trade prior to the July 31 deadline.
"I agree that we don't want to disrupt what we have, but I think if we're able to find the right additions with moves that make sense for the organization, I don't think it will do that," Bloom said. "I think it would be welcomed. It's on us to make sure anything we do makes sense and doesn't disrupt what we have going. We certainly don't want to do anything that is going to take away from a lot of the good stuff that we have going on here, but I also think that if the opportunities are there fresh reinforcements would be welcome. We just have to make sure they're the right fit, the right people and the right players."