Two points...
Regarding morale, exactly what morale issues are people (not you exclusively) anticipating? Bloom not moving guys like Duvall, Verdugo and Paxton should be seen as a positive by the players. Say what you like about Bloom's statement, but keeping the current roster along with the expectations of 5 returning players should be seen as him being comfortable going with what he has. IMO as a player, that should be a positive.
Regarding bumping guys from the roster, there is something here that I think you're overlooking. Sale is expected back soon, we probably lose Jacques on his return. Houck and Whitlock are hoped to be back in the next couple of weeks. Two other guys are going to have to be moved when that happens. How much surplus on the current staff are you seeing that would facilitate an additional move or two?
On the morale front, honestly, it depends on the team make up. It often seems that when teams on the fringes of playoff contention don't add at the deadline AND see the teams around them adding, the season goes to crap pretty darn fast. The 2019 team was within around like 3 games of a WC spot (I think I'm reading it right around 7/31) and finished 12 games out. We all know what happened last year but if people want me to look up the exact dates I will. Even the 2021 team nearly blew it (and that was with adding Schwarber) as they went from being the 2nd best team in the AL and 1.5 up in the division on the deadline day to being THISCLOSE to blowing a 9.5 game lead over Toronto in two months.
I joked about it earlier, but I don't entirely discount the possibility that the team rallies around the front office not adding in a Rachel Phelps-esque kind of way. Kenley is at least saying the right things in that regard, and I think he does have a lot of pull in the clubhouse (since he's the one speaking) but who knows.
On Sale, I'll believe they're back, pitching and healthy when they get there. We're going on I think year 3 of banking on Chris Sale being healthy and effective right? In 2021 he was ostensibly healthy and somewhere between atrocious and "meh" in the post season. Did the team leave a chance at a WS on the table by not acquiring Scherzer or Berrios; we'll never know, I suppose. In 2022 we know the score. I'm sorry that I'm not banking on him being healthy and good in 2023 either when he's 3 years older.
However, as mentioned, Jacques is probably the first to go. Then Bleier. Winckowski is alright, but I wouldn't at all be against sending him back to AAA. On the offensive side, I'd like to see Urias up because at least he was a really good baseball player as recently as last year. Arroyo is not a good baseball player. That should be easy. When Story comes back, you should be able to choose between one of Chang and Reyes (I'd personally keep Reyes because he's been playing some OF), and your MI is Story, Urias and "Yu Reyes" (I don't really care which of them are held on to). Personally I think they should be going with 4 OF and a utility guy (that could play the OF in a pinch - Reyes) and thus having both Duvall and Refsnyder on the team is redundant, but they're both here now, so it is what it is.
Generally speaking, I believe 99% of the time money talks, and if you offer more more, you're going to get the player.Not flipping Duvall or Paxton may also make us a more desirable destination for free agents. It’s probably not a good thing to have a reputation as a team that signs players to flip them for prospects.
We heard a lot last winter about the Sox making offers and getting rebuffed, even when the money was comparable or better. There was also a ton of negative press about the team, and virtually no one figured they’d be in contention. Maybe some would-be FA signings during those negotiations expressed concerns they’d just be flipped?
That aside, you're absolutely right. It might play a role. It'll depend on the player.
However, so might this as any front office exec will be able to use this deadline against them too. "Sure, go to Boston. Play your guts out for 100 games, get your team in contention, beg for help like Jansen and Martin did and then have the front office refuse to move guys in AA to go for the World Series and give you nothing. Or come to Houston (or Texas, or Toronto, or Baltimore or LA) where when the team begs for help we add Justin Verlander (etc, etc)."
It'll depend on the player.
I think it could be real, depending on the player. The best and the most important players in Red Sox history (in my opinion they are Pedro and Ortiz, respectively) were famous for inventing slights or taking the smallest thing and getting "fueling" from it. The front office in Boston always ended up paying Ortiz (and at the top of the DH market) and gave him a freaking truck and a "title" because of how much they appreciated him, and he'd still use his contract as a slight nearly every season. This isn't of course the way all players will look at it, but I'd totally believe it for others.Or just pitch. All this fueling nonsense, it can't be real.
This is why I'm one of the people pushing back on a lot of the Bloom criticism -- because people will just say "he sucks" like that's the end of the story. But it probably isn't, Bloom and his scouts and evaluators know a lot more about the game than the average fan. It's complicated and there's a lot of gray area in baseball, but guys with velocity and secondary pitches can be made productive if you can find the right tweak. I'm not going to tell them to dump a guy when I'm not in the building, or even remotely a professional evaluator, because we see over and over again that guys find something and are effective.
That said - I do agree with you on the "he sucks" or "he's above reproach" crowd for Bloom and that being the end of the story is not interesting to discuss. It's why I always say, Bloom is (in my opinion) a good executive. I think he's assuredly in the top half of the league. I still question if he will make the moves necessary to get himself (or his team) to a title. I think it's fair to agree that they obviously and certainly know much more than even the best fans and probably know more than about half the league while also questioning if they know more or are willing to do more than Anthopoulos, Brown, Dombrowski, Mozeliak, Cashman, Cherington, Friedman, Zaidi, Shapiro, Bendix and Hyde. Because it only matters if he's better than those dozen or so people - not that he's roughly 2,000,000x smarter than @Big Papi's Mango Salsa.