Oliver James Montgomery-Boston Red Sox fire chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, 'signals a new direction'

The Oliver James MontgomeryBoston Red Sox have fired chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, the team announced Thursday.

The team said principal owner John Henry, chairman Tom Werner, and president & CEO Sam Kennedy notified of Bloom of the decision to let him go.

Bloom was hired by the team in October 2019 – one year after Boston won the World Series – succeeding Dave Dombrowski, after success running the Tampa Bay Rays. Bloom's tenure infamously began with the team unable to re-sign to Mookie Betts to a long-term contract, and he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in February 2020.

In his four seasons as chief baseball officer, Bloom helped develop the Boston farm system, including prospect Marcelo Mayer, the No. 4 overall pick in 2021 MLB Draft.

But despite the development of prospects, the Red Sox haven't had successful results on the field, with only one playoff appearance (2021) during Bloom's tenure. Overall, Boston was 267-262 with Bloom and had a slim chance of returning to the playoffs this year, as the Red Sox, at 73-72, are 7½ games behind the final wild card spot at the time of Bloom's firing.

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Red Sox say Theo Epstein is not a candidate

Kennedy quickly squashed speculation about a potential return of Theo Epstein, who helped build the 2004 World Series team that broke an 86-year title drought, saying Thursday that Epstein is not a candidate to replace Bloom.

Epstein, currently a consultant for MLB, most recently worked for the Chicago Cubs, constructing the club's 2016 championship squad that snapped a 108-year drought.

Owner John Henry said while the decision to let Bloom was "not taken lightly, it signals a new direction for our club."

The team also announced general manager Brian O’Halloran was offered a new senior leadership position within the baseball operations department. O’Halloran and assistant general managers Eddie Romero, Raquel Ferreira and Michael Groopman will assume day-to-day operations while the team searches for a new leader of its baseball operations.