Chaim Bloom has said that the Red Sox are taking their time with their managerial search, which may extend beyond the start of spring training.
Boston Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom mentioned that the team is still looking for their new manager but that they won’t rush to hire someone by the start of spring training on February 12.
"“It would certainly be ideal” to have replaced Alex Cora by then — but not at the cost of rushing the process, Bloom said, per Boston.com. “Nobody wants to be at this point in a year without a manager, obviously, so that would become even more important once we get to spring training.”"
When asked if the team has interviewed anyone and whether or not they’ll consider internal candidates, he stated:
"“It’s best for everybody if it just stays private until we have something to share,” he said. “Obviously speed is important, because of the unusual timing of this, but we just want to make sure we’re not going faster than we should, in order to get the best outcome in this process.”"
While it’s good that Bloom and the team are being patient and taking their time in finding the right candidate and they obviously know more than we do, it’s more than a bit concerning that they’re willing to go into spring training without someone at the helm of the team. Putting on my editorial hat, while this is a veteran team that doesn’t necessarily need a strong leader to run a tight ship, they do still need stable leadership. This offseason has been tumultuous, to say the least, and the firing of Alex Cora threw the entire upcoming season into flux.
The best course of action would be for the team to make a decision on a manager within the next week or two with the full understanding on both sides that it would be an interim position. The team needs to have some stability in the clubhouse from the very first day of spring training and hiring a capable interim skipper who can set expectations, deal with the media, and generally run the show would go a long way toward calming things down heading into the season.
While it’s always too early to predict how the team will perform once the games matter, it’s looking more and more as though 2020 will be a lost season. Given the negligible improvements Bloom has made to the team thus far and the strength of Boston’s chief competitors in the American League, the best thing to do would be to ride out this season while taking stock throughout the season of who the front office’s ideal managerial candidates are. Then in the offseason, Bloom and his team in the front office should waste no time interviewing and hiring their long-term answer for manager to lead the team in 2021 and beyond.
For the upcoming season, though, it doesn’t make sense to endure a protracted managerial search with spring training starting in a month and then hire someone who may not be the right fit beyond 2020. Bloom should take his time in finding the right person to lead the Red Sox back into World Series contention, but the immediate need is for an interim manager who can be there to lead them through what promises to be a bumpy season from the very first day of spring training. While it remains to be seen what Bloom ultimately does, that would seem to be the right move to make.