Chaim Bloom

Chaim Bloom

• School Yale University
• High School Akiba Hebrew Academy

• Born February 27, 1983 in Philadelphia, PA USA

Biographical Information

Chaim Bloom was named Head of Baseball Operations of the Boston Red Sox on October 28, 2019, replacing David Dombrowski, who also held the title of General Manager and was fired in the final weeks of the 2019 season.

A native of Philadelphia, PA, Bloom attended Yale University where he studied classics. His association with baseball began by writing articles for Baseball Prospectus, which eventually led to internships with the San Diego Padres and Major League Baseball and to his being hired by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2005. He worked in minor league operations and player evaluation, then in 2011 was promoted to Director of Baseball Operations. In 2014, he was promoted to Vice-President following the departure of GM Andrew Friedman and his replacement by Matt Silverman, of whom he became the right-hand man.

He interviewed for various GM openings before being selected by the Red Sox in October 2019. The Red Sox were coming off a World Series win in 2018, but were beset by vexing problems including a roster full of older and expensive players, leading to having to chronically pay into the luxury tax, and a farm system that was not particularly well rated. The failure to plan beyond the championship was what had led to Dombrowski's demise. Dombrowksi's former duties were split between himself and Brian O'Halloran, who was named General Manager. His appointment immediately drew comparisons to that of Theo Epstein in 2002, as both were young graduates from Yale with similar family backgrounds.

He had a rough first few months in his positions, with Major League Baseball's investigation into allegations of sign-stealing in 2018 that led to the firing of manager Alex Cora; the trade of the team's best player, Mookie Betts, to the Los Angeles Dodgers for financial reasons; the loss of almost the entire starting rotation to injuries and departures; and the coronavirus pandemic that upended everything.

He was fired on September 14, 2023 after the Red Sox had finished last in the AL East in 2022 and were threatening to do so again, having also done so in 2020. General Manager Brian O'Halloran took over his duties in the interim.

Further Reading

• Jimmy Golen (The Associated Press): "The Red Sox have fired Chaim Bloom as they stumble toward a third last-place finish in 4 seasons", Yahoo! Sports, September 14, 2023. [1]
• Joon Lee: "Inside new Red Sox boss Chaim Bloom's wild first 280 days on the job", ESPN.com, August 2, 2020. [2]