New Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom shows humility in debut

The Boston Red Sox formally announced the hiring of Chaim Bloom as their new chief baseball officer in a news release and press conference today.

We all heard the reports on Friday afternoon that the Red Sox had made their decision on who would be the successor to Dave Dombrowski, and that decision was made official today. In a news release earlier today, the Boston ownership group officially named Chaim Bloom as the new Chief Baseball Officer.

During a press conference this afternoon, the newly appointed Bloom, Sam Kennedy, Tom Werner, and John Henry took questions from the media on the current status of the team. The big focus was obviously placed on Bloom and what his goals are for the future but the ownership group didn’t get off lightly.

Boston’s front office fielded questions surrounding the futures of J.D. Martinez and Mookie Betts, the payroll situation, and what Bloom brings to the organization. As I watched the press conference it seemed very clear that Henry, Werner, and Kennedy have the utmost confidence in Bloom to get the job done.

"“We believe Chaim is exactly the right person to lead the Boston Red Sox baseball operation based on a number of attributes we sought in this process,” said owner John Henry."

He will have a giant task of shaving down the bloated Red Sox budget as the team tries to get close to or under the CBT ahead of 2020. Now, Bloom didn’t get into anything too deeply as, you know, he’s only had the job for a few hours. But he repeatedly showed his gratitude to the team that has led the Boston front office post-Dombrowski.

Bloom made it clear that the way the Red Sox would be able to achieve its goals is as a collective and not as a one-man team. His big message during the day was that he believed heavily in collaboration, not only with the front office team but with the clubhouse as well. He seems very open to working with anyone and everyone in the organization to get the team to where they want to be.

"“The backbone of our department will always be the people,” Bloom said."

As the collective fielded questions from around the media scrum, they would heap praise upon Raquel Ferreira, Eddie Romero, Brian O’Halloran, and Zack Scott. The foursome was tasked with handling baseball ops during the interim between Dombrowski and Bloom. Upon the hiring, O’Halloran was also named the new GM under Bloom.

"“He leads selflessly and without ego … He is a model for everyone here,” Bloom said of O’Hallorhan. “That I can now work closely with him is a privilege.”"

With the Rays, Bloom was a part of a very successful team that not only cultivated young talent but did so with a shoestring budget. Tampa has done a phenomenal job as far as developing in-house pitching, which is something that the Red Sox have massively failed at. As a former Assistant Director of Minor League Ops, he played a hand in that prospect development. I can see that being a big goal of his for his time with Boston.

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When it came out on Friday that Bloom was not only the favorite but would be offered the job, I wrote about how he would be a perfect fit. He’s the exact guy that’s needed for this organization as they’re entering this transition period. BSI’s Sean Penney and Rick McNair also gave their thoughts on how Chaim can be positive for the club based on his experience and the team’s needs.

Bloom also doesn’t have an ego and is someone that will try and learn something from everyone around him.  It was pretty clear that not only in the press release but also the conference that Chaim is just as eager to join the Red Sox as they are to have him.

"“I’m excited to work with them to take this organization to new heights, and humbled by the faith that John, Tom, and Sam have in what we will accomplish together. The bond between the Red Sox and our fans is second to none, and my family and I are eager to make New England our home,” Bloom said in the release."

The Red Sox have a few clear needs facing them in the immediate future. They need to trim that budget down to avoid paying the maximum penalty for crushing the CBT. Boston also needs to get back to growing and cultivating their farm system, which used to be one of the best in the league.

These are two areas where Chaim Bloom can be a major asset to the organization in his new role as Chief Baseball Officer. Based on how the league reacted to the announcement, it seems clear that the Sox have the right guy for the job. As we head into the next chapter of Red Sox baseball, these are some exciting times going forward.