Deadline error has gotten worse

For an executive who has preached using all available methods to improve the talent base of the organization, the mistakes Chaim Bloom made at the trade deadline last season remain hard to fathom.

By holding on to J.D. Martinez, the Red Sox remained over the first limit of the luxury tax. As a result, they will receive draft picks 133 and 134 as compensation for Xander Bogaerts and

Nate Eovaldi leaving as free agents.

Had the Sox ducked under the cap, it would have been Nos. 70 and 71.

In the history of the draft, eight players with a career bWAR of at least 10.0 were taken at 70 or 71. Only four such players were taken at 133 or 134.

Floyd Bannister, Andrelton Simmons, A.J. Pierzynski, and Danny Tartabull were among the players at 70 or 71. Coincidentally enough, the best player taken at 134 was righthander

Corey Kluber, who agreed to a one-year deal with the Red Sox this past week.

It’s certainly possible the Sox could find major league talent with those bonus picks. But they could have had five of the first 83 picks, which opens more opportunities to be creative.

Bloom’s deadline strategy of trading Christian Vázquez and Jake Diekman while obtaining Eric Hosmer, Reese McGuire, and Tommy Pham led to a 2532 finish.

It would have been far better for the long-term future of the team to have traded Martinez, Rich Hill, and a few other veterans and started preparations for 2023. At the time, the Sox had a 29 percent chance of making the playoffs, per Fangraphs.com.

It only got worse from there.

A few other observations on the Red Sox:

■ With Bogaerts, Eovaldi, Martinez, and Vázquez now with other teams, the Red Sox have lost 28 seasons and 2,695 games of experience with the franchise. Throw in 103 postseason games on top of that.

Rafael Devers is the only position player with more than three years of experience with the team. The longesttenured player in the organization is Matt Barnes, who debuted in 2014. Then comes Chris Sale, who was obtained before the 2017 season but has been a ghost much of the last three seasons because of injuries. With the consent of the team, Sale spent nearly all of his time on the injured list in Fort Myers, Fla., so he could live at home in nearby Naples.

There will be a stark leadership void when the Sox gather for spring training. In a market like Boston or New York, that can make the difference. That aspect of the team is something manager

Alex Cora will have to mold over time.

It won’t help that a number of key players have committed to the World Baseball Classic and will be out of camp. That includes Devers, Kiké Hernández, Trevor Story, and Alex Verdugo.

■ It’s strange that Michael Wacha is still a free agent after posting a 11-2 record and 3.32 ERA over 23 starts last season.

But he was 10-16 with a 5.11 ERA the previous three seasons and the Sox and other teams are treating his ’22 season as an outlier. Opposing hitters had a .260 batting average on balls in play, well below the league average of .290.

Projections aside, Wacha could provide the innings the Sox figure to need given all the uncertainties in their rotation.

■ Kenley Jansen has averaged 38 saves in his last four full seasons. If he does that again, Jansen would be fifth place all time with 429.

Craig Kimbrel has three more career saves than Jansen. He signed with the Phillies, who don’t have an established closer.

■ Hirokazu Sawamura, who had a 3.39 ERA in 104 relief appearances for the Sox the last two seasons, is looking for another opportunity in the majors instead of returning to Japan.

The righthander, who turns 35 in April, could merit a minor league deal.