The Boston Red Sox officially announced Chaim Bloom as Chief Baseball Officer on Monday afternoon.
In what has been an ongoing search since the firing of Dave Dombrowski on Sept. 9, the Red Sox have their guy for the immediate future. The 36-year-old who most recently worked as the Vice President of Baseball Operations with the Tampa Bay Rays, who were a win away from their first ALCS berth since 2008 this season.
Chaim (pronounced ?aj?ji?m) graduated from Yale University in 2004, the same school that former General Manager Theo Epstein graduated from in 1995.
“My teammates and I will do everything to make you proud, on and off the field,” Bloom said in his introductory press conference.
The Rays have averaged 93 wins over the previous two years. Considering the payroll has remained in the bottom tier of the league, that might appear to be a bit more impressive than the Red Sox (highest payroll) averaging 96 wins, even without the World Series title.
However, Red Sox fans are much more concerned with the direction of the team moving forward as opposed to what has happened in the past. Most notably, the likes of J.D. Martinez and Mookie Betts, whose future in Boston remains in limbo moving into the winter.
The questions poured in, and Bloom answered them to the best of his abilities, given his inexperience with the position and especially with the Red Sox.
“We talked about him a little bit,” Bloom said of the discussions surrounding Mookie Betts during the interviewing process. “There’s still a lot I don’t know… but I am looking forward to building relationships with those guys.”
Take that as you wish, but that question appears to remain unanswered for the immediate future. Obviously, the team doesn’t have to outright speak their future plans to the public, but that answer did seem a bit deflective.
There certainly is a lot that remains unanswered as the Red Sox approach one of the most important offseasons in the 21st century, but they appear to have found the guy they’re ready to go to war with, along with new GM Brian O’Halloran. Only time will tell what the results will be.
