Red Sox: Ranking the rumored replacements for Chaim Bloom worst to first
The rumor mill is abuzz with potential candidates for the Red Sox to replace Chaim Bloom with.
The Boston Red Sox made the shocking move to fire Chaim Bloom a few days ago and it has led to a lot of questions. There has been plenty of debate as to whether or not Bloom, ownership, or the players have ultimately been to blame for Boston's struggles, but it doesn't change the fact that the Red Sox are now in need of a new face to run the team ahead of a pivotal offseason.
The Red Sox have already said that they expect the search to replace Bloom could take a while and there is also the problem that Boston doesn't exactly have a great reputation around the league when it comes to their ownership. However, that hasn't stopped people from speculating on who could or should be on Boston's radar to run the team.
Let's rank all of the rumored candidates to replace Chaim Bloom worst to first
To be clear, it is very clear that most of speculation surrounding the Red Sox's top job is sportswriters just throwing darts at a board this early on. Boston isn't going to tip their hand too much at this point and most people are just taking names they know, manufacturing some sort of connection/logic, and then throwing it out there. This is far from an exhaustive list both in terms of the names being thrown around right now as well as who will ultimately be considered. This is a first glance, not a definitive final ranking.
Let's rank the rumored candidates to run the Red Sox in a purely unscientific way and before someone asks again, Theo Epstein isn't on the list. That isn't going to happen, so stop asking.
Billy Eppler
Eppler's name has shown up as a potential Red Sox option and that is an objectively terrible idea. Eppler has a decent resume on the scouting side, but he failed with the Angels as their GM and spent a ton of Steve Cohen's money in route to an all-time disappointing season for the Mets in 2023. Eppler's future with the Mets may be in doubt, but Boston should stay far, far away from him.
Alex Cora
One of the early names to come out after Bloom was surprising Red Sox manager Alex Cora. Cora has expressed an interest in a front office role in the future, but having him run the Red Sox's front office going forward seems like it would be actual malpractice. Maybe Cora could work his way up to that in the future somewhere, but he doesn't actual front office experience and (hopefully) shouldn't be a realistic option.
Eddie Romero
Romero is another internal option for the Red Sox and he does have his merits. His extensive background in international scouting could be very helpful as Boston looks to navigate the international free agent market and make deals with Latin American players. Romero also has been an assistant GM since 2018, so he knows the organization well top to bottom. However, Boston probably needs a new direction and Romero doesn't really seem to have the gravitas to do much other than what ownership tells him to do.
Sam Fuld
We now enter the "grew up a Red Sox fan" portion of the speculation with Sam Fuld. These sorts of connections always seem lazy, but at least Fuld has a background as a front office executive in a big market in Philadelphia. However, his partnership with Dave Dombrowski with the Phillies seems to be working well enough and he doesn't really have much experience running a front office with Dombrowski calling the shots in Philadelphia. Boston should pass here as well.
Carter Hawkins
Cubs' general manager Carter Hawkins is at least mildly interesting as he has done a reasonable job in Chicago of steering the franchise in a positive direction. Top level decision-making experience is a problem here, though, as Jed Hoyer is really the one calling the shots with the Cubs. Certainly not the worst option Boston could consider, but they should be able to do better.
Chris Antonetti
Every time a front office job in a big market opens up, the Guardians president Chris Antonetti's name comes up. A lot of people seem to be fascinated by the idea of Antonetti, who seems to always put a decent team together each season despite having next to no resources, having a real payroll to work with. However, Antonetti seems to be happy in Cleveland and has a track record of turning down opportunities to stay there. Boston will probably ask to talk to him, but will probably get turned down.
Mike Chernoff
You can pretty much copy and paste the explanation from the Chris Antonetti section here except that Chernoff at least seems more likely to entertain the job since it would give him sole authority instead of continuing to work under Antonetti. Of note here is that the Guardians have seemed uniquely good at identifying and developing pitching which could make Chernoff appealing to Boston. He shouldn't be the preference of fans, though, as his selection could mean that ownership wants the team to continue to operate with a slimmed down payroll going forward.
Thad Levine
Twins general manager Thad Levine is an interesting one. He is certainly used to operating under payroll constraints in Minnesota, but he also hasn't been afraid to try and be aggressive in free agency when certain opportunities presented themselve including signing Carlos Correa. The Twins seem to have a decent thing going right now, though, and Levine has actively avoided interviews with big market teams in the past.
Jon Daniels
Jon Daniels' time running the Texas Rangers was a rollercoaster. He is an aggressive executive with a lot of experience running a front office and built some really good Rangers rosters, but the back third of his tenure in Texas was pretty disappointing. It isn't a coincidence that Texas is doing well with a roster that was largely put together by Daniels, but it is unclear if he would be a great fit for Boston especially if the powers that be try to rein him in and keep him from diving into the deep end of the free agent pool constantly.
Brian O'Halloran
The top internal option the Red Sox have to replace Chaim Bloom is Brian O'Halloran. Ownership seems to like him well enough and he has a lot of experience and knowledge of the organization. If he does well in the interim role, he could very well become a leading candidate. However, it would be pretty disappointing to go with him instead of getting a new voice with new ideas in the front office.
Mike Elias
Elias is a popular name in the rumor mill given what he has turned the Orioles into since taking the job in Baltimore. Elias is smart and is really adept at identifying young players and developing the crap out of them. However, Boston is looking for a quick turnaround to contention which means he would have to be active in free agency which is not something we have seen out of him. Plus, he is in a pretty sweet situation with the Orioles aside from having an owner that seems willing to do anything to save a nickel.
Brandon Gomes
Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes has been a popular choice lately for a number of reasons. He is from Massachusetts which doesn't hurt and his short tenure as LA's general manager under Andrew Friedman has been very successful. He has experience with managing a big payroll, developing young players, and dealing with the media pressures of a big market. It is unclear how well he would do outside of the tutelage of Friedman, but he would be a solid choice nonetheless.
Mike Hazen
It seems like every list of replacement candidates for Boston's top executive job starts with Mike Hazen. He worked in Boston's front office for a decade, is a Massachusetts native, and has largely done a good job with the Diamondbacks although not without some free agent blunders along the way. Hazen would be a fine pick-up, although it is fair to wonder if his familiarity with the organization may make him wary of dealing with intervention from Boston's ownership.
James Click
The top pick among the speculated candidates to replace Chaim Bloom is James Click. Click got a raw deal from Astros owner Jim Crain who, despite Click building a roster in Houston that won a World Series in 2022, was only willing to give Click a one year extension after butting heads with Click that season. Click knows the analytics side of baseball well, has experience running a contending franchise, and seems like he could actually be available. Whether or not he would actually take the job is the only real question.
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