Red Sox Hire Chaim Bloom As Chief Baseball Officer

Humphrey

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If I'm hearing that post correctly, just think of Victor Kiam and you'll be close enough.
 

Green Monster

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Is it possible bloom knows the Sox FO folks and is a fan of some of them hence him keeping them?
This is a good point. They have been around long enough to know each other and come in contact at GM meetings, etc. Obviously they never worked towards a common goal, but Bloom most likely has a favorable opinion.
 

mauf

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steveluck7

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Is it possible bloom knows the Sox FO folks and is a fan of some of them hence him keeping them?
Was coming here to post the same basic thought. Gasper ignores the very likely fact that all of those names came up during Blooms interview(s) and the decision was likely arrived at with his input, at the very least.
These guys (and gal) are all close in age, working similar jobs with AL East teams... they probably know each other really well
 

RedOctober3829

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Was coming here to post the same basic thought. Gasper ignores the very likely fact that all of those names came up during Blooms interview(s) and the decision was likely arrived at with his input, at the very least.
These guys (and gal) are all close in age, working similar jobs with AL East teams... they probably know each other really well
And if it doesn’t work out, he’ll move on from them or vice versa. Henry didn’t force Bloom to work with these guys. Bloom will evaluate what they do well and not so well and adjust if need be. Hell they won a WS last year so they’re good.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Is it possible bloom knows the Sox FO folks and is a fan of some of them hence him keeping them?
I would say that its not only possible. Its probably very likely. All of these executives must spend a lot of time together at the league meetings and they likely talk fairly frequently about potential transactions etc.
 

bankshot1

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As a practical matter keeping the existing FO infrastructure allows Bloom to learn what he can from these execs about the org and players, the assets and liabilities, strengths and weaknesses, etc., and lets him draw his own conclusions about their abilities, as he climbs the Sox learning curve. And as important personnel decsions might be made soon these executive inputs are probably pretty important.
 

RetractableRoof

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I have little knowledge of this hire, except he seems to be well liked around the game (which is relatively hard to do), and seems to have a reputation for bringing people together in a cohesive way while moving in the direction he believes is right. If his view of the right direction matches Henry et al, (and Henry has acted towards and spent on winning) this should be a good hire.

In a philosophical thought, if he values people and their contributions the way it is portrayed, then roles are more important than titles to the extent that the people involved do not care. [I wonder if he chose his own title to avoid the "Grand Poobah" feel. If so, I like it.] It sounds like the gang of four will at least in the short term will still be valued, which to me is an obvious positive. I'm looking forward to seeing the ways he evolves the organization.
 

Monbonthbump

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James and Dombrowski out with their missions accomplished. In baseball, as in life, there will be peaks and valleys and all one must do is move ahead with vigor and optimism. I , for one, have a good feeling about this hire. Take the baton and run, Chaim.
 

JimD

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Kudos to Henry and the Sox ownership for not only recognizing the opportunity to hiring the next Theo Epstein when the last one was unavailable, but for moving swiftly to make it happen.

Also very impressive that they were able to do so completely under the radar in the current media environment, and happy to see the demise of the 'Nobody wants to work for the Red Sox!' narrative. Ownership has obviously gotten a lot of criticism for dismissing two executives soon after winning titles, but I think this year's move was defensible with further examination - Dave Dombrowski was hired to do a specific job and succeeded marvelously, but it was hardly a minority opinion that his skills were probably not suited for the future job at hand (not in small part thanks to some of the moves he made the last few years). The criticism would have certainly been warranted had the Red Sox been forced to settle for a second-tier figure running the show or promoting an internal executive before they were ready, but knowing Bloom was available and interested in the job, would anyone have wanted DD to stay in place? I wonder now if they had reached out to Bloom earlier and his expressed interest, and the team's desire to move quickly knowing this, was what drove them to dismiss Dombrowski when they did.
 

Green Monster

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I wonder now if they had reached out to Bloom earlier and his expressed interest, and the team's desire to move quickly knowing this, was what drove them to dismiss Dombrowski when they did.
I am happy with the Bloom signing and optimistic about the Red Sox future under his leadership.

At least a half dozen executives who were speculated to be targets received contract extensions, presumably to head off any Red Sox interest. Then Taubman self-destructed.......Is there any indication that Bloom was even their first choice?
 
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IpswichSox

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JohnnyTheBone

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At least a half dozen executives who were speculated to be targets received contract extensions, presumably to head off any Red Sox interest. Then Taubman self-destructed.......Is there any indication that Bloom was even their first choice?
I think the "first choice" thing is overrated. Frank Reich was not Indy's "first choice" for head coach of the Colts, but he turned out to be the best choice. I feel similarly about the Bloom hire. Looking forward to seeing how he re-shapes the Red Sox this winter.
 

Green Monster

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Totally agree. Not dissatisfied with Bloom hiring in anyway...... I just don't think it was influential in the DD firing a month prior.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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I don't know much about Bloom other than what I've read over the last few days and where he comes from, but it does seem like the right hire at the right time, and this leadership group has made more good decisions than bad ones in the past 15 years or so.

I'm cautiously optimistic and looking forward to seeing what moves he makes this offseason. There's a lot of talent here, obviously, but also a lot of important decisions to be made.
 

JimD

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I believe that Bloom will be served well by the current management group as he gets acclimated to the Red Sox organization. I would have liked to see Ferreira become the first woman GM in baseball but there's value in keeping people in roles where they are comfortable, and O'Halloran seems to have the right breadth of experience to step up to GM (his resume appears to be more well-rounded than Romero's or Scott's, IMO). I just hope that Henry and Werner give Bloom an open checkbook to expand the front office and scouting organizations as he sees fit and start the process of returning the Red Sox to the forefront of modern baseball management, operations and evaluation/analytics.
 

joe dokes

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I believe that Bloom will be served well by the current management group as he gets acclimated to the Red Sox organization. I would have liked to see Ferreira become the first woman GM in baseball but there's value in keeping people in roles where they are comfortable, and O'Halloran seems to have the right breadth of experience to step up to GM (his resume appears to be more well-rounded than Romero's or Scott's, IMO). I just hope that Henry and Werner give Bloom an open checkbook to expand the front office and scouting organizations as he sees fit and start the process of returning the Red Sox to the forefront of modern baseball management, operations and evaluation/analytics.
That's nearly the only place left where a team can use its financial weight with no ancillary consequences.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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Why? What was said?
I've heard nothing bad or, frankly, unexpected. Usual platitudes and positive attitudes, and Bloom is being vague and non-committal in answering any questions about the roster and its construction in 2020. If anyone thinks he's really going to give a firm answer regarding, say, Betts' future or spell out in detail any of the moves he would like to make, they are in fantasy land. It's been a run of the mill introductory press conference.
 

HPJoker

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They’re talking about “sustainability” as if this isn’t a franchise that hasn’t won 4 World Series in 15 years including two this decade. They just finished a run where they became the first AL East team to win the division 4 consecutive years. If that isn’t sustainability, what is?

“sustainability” is the new euphemism for trimming payroll and everyone touting this model is conveniently ignoring that you can have a sustainable contender while spending money.

And it sounds like offloading Mookie’s salary was a condition of the job since trading him and getting under the payroll are essentially paired outcomes.
 

njgreenwood

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I see that Joker plainly puts where he's at in his username.

What did you expect a press conference that was summed up in an email to be about? Work in any kind of office setting and you'll find that most meetings are just about buzzwords and throwing them around. The dude just got hired, he's not going to say more than he did. Is the team sustainable? Sure, but not at the expense that it's at now.

Bloom was brought in to get creative. Instead of exercising Cashner's $10 million option, let him go and find a cheaper option that DD wouldn't have thought of, for an example. It's what he does best, seemingly.
 

jon abbey

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'Sustainability' in this context to me means filling the pipeline with pre-arb talent, developing your own pitching, all things that every team needs to be doing and that Dombrowski had dropped the ball on.
 

The Talented Allen Ripley

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They’re talking about “sustainability” as if this isn’t a franchise that hasn’t won 4 World Series in 15 years including two this decade. They just finished a run where they became the first AL East team to win the division 4 consecutive years. If that isn’t sustainability, what is?

“sustainability” is the new euphemism for trimming payroll and everyone touting this model is conveniently ignoring that you can have a sustainable contender while spending money.

And it sounds like offloading Mookie’s salary was a condition of the job since trading him and getting under the payroll are essentially paired outcomes.
Sir, does this mean that Ann-Margret's not coming?