Chaim Bloom Looking Forward To Collaborative Effort As Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer
BOSTON (CBS) -- There is a new man in charge of baseball operations at Fenway Park. The Red Sox have officially hired Chaim Bloom as their Chief Baseball Officer, the team announced Monday morning.
The 36-year-old Bloom comes to Boston after spending the last 15 years in the Tampa Bay Rays organization, bringing a lofty resume with him. He began as an intern under current Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball ops., Andrew Friedman, in 2004, and worked his way up the Rays ladder. He was promoted to assistant director of minor league operations in 2008 and was elevated to director of baseball operations in 2011. He was named senior director of baseball operations in 2014, where he worked closely with Tampa general manager Erik Neander.
Bloom is now responsible for all baseball operations matters in Boston, but if there was one keyword from his introductory press conference at Fenway Park on Monday, it was "collaboration." Bloom made it clear throughout his time with the media that he'll be collaborating with all the great baseball minds already in place in Boston, including Raquel Ferreira, Brian O'Halloran, Eddie Romero and Zack Scott.
"I know that a lot of what we accomplished in Tampa Bay was due to having great people and putting those people in a position to succeed by empowering them and challenging them," Bloom said during his introductory press conference at Fenway Park on Monday. "That's something that I think can work anywhere."
Bloom's first order of business was to announce that O'Halloran, who has been in Boston since 2002, has been named the team's new general manager. And while Bloom is used to working on a shoestring budget in Tampa, Boston's ability to spend money was not the main selling point for him.
"It's obviously great to have resources, but for me, there is so much beyond that that makes this opportunity exciting. I think a lot of it is the talent within the organization, not just on the field but in our staff," he said. "It really comes down to your people, and that is one of the most exciting things about this opportunity."
Bloom, a graduate of Yale, is lauded across baseball for being an integral part of the Rays' player development over the last 15 years. This past August, Baseball America rated Tampa Bay's farm system first in its organizational talent rankings, while MLB.com ranked the Rays No. 2 among baseball's top farm systems.
That success down on the farm has led to success on the field for the low-budget Rays, a club that saw its win total increase in each of the last three seasons. Tampa has averaged 93 wins over the last two seasons, including a 96-win campaign in 2019 and a trip to the playoffs for the first time since 2013.
Boston's brass is hoping that Chaim will help rejuvenate the franchise's farm system, while also building a perennial winner at the major league level.
"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 Red Sox principal owner John Henry. "We had done exhaustive work narrowing down candidates. That work led us to Chaim, who was the first executive invited to Boston for an interview. He made a strong impression on all of us and validated our initial research that he was the one to lead our baseball operation."
"Chaim's rise from intern with the Rays in 2005 to Senior Vice President, Baseball Operations speaks to his leadership, intelligence and work ethic," Red Sox chairman Tom Werner said. "He possesses the essential qualities to establish a sustainable baseball operation throughout the organization with an emphasis on long-term success at the major league level."
