The Boston Red Sox may be closer to finding their next GM as Tampa’s Chaim Bloom has moved to the head of the pack after a recent interview.
We may be getting close to the end of the GM search in Boston. The Red Sox recently interviewed the Rays senior VP of Baseball Ops Chaim Bloom and things reportedly went well. It was reported by multiple sources last night including Ken Rosenthal and Chad Jennings of The Athletic as well as ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Boston has been without a head of baseball ops since the firing of Dave Dombrowski in September. In that time the Boston has been running with a four-person team consisting of Eddie Romero, Brian O’Halloran, Raquel Ferreira, and Zack Scott. Romero, O’Halloran, and Scott are assistant GMs, while Ferreira is a senior VP.
As far as Bloom is concerned he is one of the best options out there for the Red Sox to hire to course correct the organization. He’s spent the last 15 seasons with the Rays and has been in his current role for the last three years. Bloom also has experience with building and cultivating a farm system as he was the assistant director of minor league ops for several years.
In my eyes, Bloom would be the best fit for what Fenway Sports Group is looking to do with the Red Sox going forward. The work he and current Rays GM Erik Neander have done with that franchise has been a sight to see. And bringing him aboard could be a massive step in the right direction for the Sox.
Red Sox GM search has been quiet, but seems to be coming to an end. @Ken_Rosenthal and I are reporting that Rays vice president of baseball ops Chaim Bloom is among those who interviewed for the job.
— Chad Jennings (@chadjennings22) October 25, 2019
Tampa has gone 186-138 over the last two seasons and put up a hell of a fight against the Astros in this year’s ALDS. For the majority of the time that Tampa has been in the league they’ve lived and died with a shoestring budget while utilizing homegrown talent. That’s what the Red Sox want to do for the next few seasons to get their budget back under control.
I can imagine FSG is eyeing Bloom so strongly considering Tampa made it to the ALDS with a payroll of just $62.6M. To put that into the grand scope of things, Chris Sale and David Price are set to make a combined $62M in 2020. Two players earning as much as an entire roster is one of the biggest issues facing the Red Sox going forward.
When Dave Dombrowski was brought in he was done so to spend money and win championships. He did exactly that but now the winning has dried up in 2019 while the spending continued. If Bloom does get the job he’ll be brought in to stop the monetary bleeding while bringing wins back to Fenway Park.
It's rare to find a person in baseball about whom nobody has a bad word to say. Chaim Bloom is one of those people. Early response from execs around the league is that the Red Sox made themselves a fantastic hire.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) October 25, 2019
There won’t be much of a grace period for Bloom if he is the new President of Baseball Ops as he’ll instantly have to tackle the J.D. Martinez dilemma and guaranteed free agency of Mookie Betts in 2021. Martinez is running out of time to make his decision so Bloom may not even get a chance to speak with him if he’s hired, but he will have a serious puzzle in Betts.
Mookie has made it clear that he’ll go to free agency and test the market. He’s expressed his love for Boston and desire to stay but also his interest in the process and no doubt he wants a massive payday. It doesn’t matter who’s in the hot seat in that front office, that person is going to have to find a way to make a legitimate offer to Betts while not cannibalizing the CBT for just one player.
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The farm system is another area that needs some serious love and as I mentioned above, Bloom has that experience as well. Dombrowski is known for eating away at the farm system as trade bait to get the players he desires, he did no different with the Red Sox. With a young core on the main roster and a depleted list of prospects, Bloom will have his hands full growing the next generation.
We’ve all seen what the Red Sox farm system can do with names like Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Michael Chavis, and Betts among numerous others coming through the system. With plenty of vacancies in the lineup due to free agency Boston will need to count on those prospects to step their game up. Bloom and the Rays as a franchise have the track record of getting prospects ready for the call.
***UPDATE***
Per Joel Sherman of the New York Post and Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, an offer has been extended to Bloom and he has accepted. He will be leaving the Rays to become the head of baseball ops for the Red Sox. His official title with the organization will be Chief Baseball Officer. Brian O’Halloran will also be named the GM under Bloom, per Feinsand.
There hasn’t been a formal announcement as of yet but there’s plenty of chatter around Chaim Bloom. With the budget and farm system being the top priorities for the Red Sox going forward, he is one of the best in both areas and can be the man to turn both around. I imagine with how much noise is being made around the interview we may get an announcement sometime next week if a deal can be made between the Red Sox and Bloom.