‘Widespread speculation’ that Red Sox will fire Chaim Bloom

Report: ‘Widespread speculation’ that Red Sox will fire Chaim Bloom originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Red Sox haven’t had a general manager/chief baseball executive last more than four years in Boston since Theo Epstein in the early 2000s.

There’s a chance that trend could continue.

There is “widespread speculation within the industry” that the Red Sox will part with chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom this offseason, The Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham wrote Thursday night. This speculation has persisted for some time; our John Tomase noted last week there’s been “a lot of smoke” about the Red Sox potentially moving on from Bloom, and ESPN’s Buster Olney said it “feel(s) like there’s an expiration date” on Bloom as he wraps up his fourth season running the Red Sox.

Bloom was hired in 2020 with the goal of replenishing the Red Sox’ prospect pool after the previous president of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski, sold out to help Boston win the World Series in 2018. Bloom has had some wins on that front: The Red Sox now boast Major League Baseball’s fifth-best farm system, per Baseball America, and the team’s first-round draft pick in 2021, Marcelo Mayer, could be the franchise shortstop of the future.

Yet Bloom simply hasn’t gotten results at the MLB level while showing an unwillingness to deal prospects to improve the big-league club. The Red Sox are on the brink of finishing last in the AL East for the third time in four seasons, and aside from a surprise run to the ALCS in 2021, Bloom’s club has a losing record under his watch.

Three non-competitive seasons in a four-year stretch is simply unacceptable in Boston, where the Red Sox have the resources to acquire high-priced free agents yet have signed just one player (Trevor Story) to a deal worth more than $100 million during Bloom’s tenure.

The question is whether there’s a better option than Bloom on the open market. Promising young executive David Stearns just agreed to be the New York Mets‘ president of baseball operations, while a reunion with Epstein seems unlikely given where Epstein is in his baseball career.

If no quality candidate emerges, perhaps the Red Sox stick with Bloom in 2024 and give the edict to be more aggressive in acquiring talent. But if a potential GM hits the open market, there’s a good chance they’ll be on Boston’s radar.