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Chaim Bloom

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Chaim Bloom
Boston Red Sox
Chief Baseball Officer
Born: (1983-02-27) February 27, 1983 (age 41)[1]
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Teams

Chaim David Bloom ([ħajˈjiːm]; born February 27, 1983) is an American sports executive who is the Chief Baseball Officer for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously worked for the Tampa Bay Rays, most recently as Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations.

Early and personal life

Bloom is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is Jewish and keeps kosher.[2][3] His father Benjamin Bloom is an eye doctor, and his mother Esther Stern-Bloom is a retired Hebrew and French teacher.[4][5] He attended Jewish day schools, first at Solomon Schechter Day School (now known as Perelman Jewish Day School), and then at Akiba Hebrew Academy (now known as Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy) in Greater Philadelphia, graduating in 2000.[6][4] He then graduated from Yale University in 2004, with a bachelor's degree in Latin Classics.[2][7][6]

Bloom and his wife, Aliza (née Hochman), met at Yale, where she earned a B.A. in economics and international studies.[2][8] They have two sons, Isaiah and Judah.[4][2] The family lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, close to Tropicana Field in part so he could easily return on Friday nights to make Shabbat with his family, as he is Sabbath-observant.[9][3][10]

Career

Bloom's first entry into the baseball world was an article in Baseball Prospectus in 1997, and he continued writing for it until he joined the Rays.[11] Prior to joining the Rays, he was a baseball operations intern for the San Diego Padres and a legal/corporate partnerships intern for Major League Baseball.[12]

Tampa Bay Rays

Bloom began working for the Tampa Bay Rays in February 2005 as an intern, was hired by the Rays full-time to work in Minor League Operations in October 2005.[2] He was promoted to Assistant Director of Minor League Operations in 2008, with responsibility for all aspects of the team's minor league system, including player evaluation and assignments, expansion of video, strength and conditioning, and mental skills initiatives, creating of the "Rays Way" player development manual, and executing individual development plans for organization's prospects.[13][2][14] He was named Director of Baseball Operations in 2011, expanding his job to include contract negotiations, salary arbitration, budgeting, and overseeing major league support staff and international scouting.[2][13] In 2014, when general manager Andrew Friedman left the Rays organization, the Rays promoted Bloom to Vice President of Baseball Operations.[15][16] His responsibilities expanded to include his overseeing domestic and international player development, a newly created baseball performance science department, trade negotiations, pro, amateur, and international scouting philosophy, personnel additions and changes throughout baseball operations, and short- and long-term strategic planning.[13] He was named Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations in 2016, second in command behind President of Baseball Operations Matthew Silverman.[2][17]

Despite a low Tampa Bay payroll, Bloom consistently fielded competitive teams. The franchise had been one of the most innovative under his management; he integrated analytics into all aspects of the game. He was an early user of breakthrough strategies, now more widely used, such as a much heavier emphasis on shifts and the use of openers (starting games with relief pitchers). Bloom is also known for his prowess in developing starting pitchers. He wrote the "Rays Way" player development handbook in 2008; and during his tenure with the Rays sportswriter Tom Verducci opined that "no franchise understands better how to identify, develop and maintain quality pitchers."[18][19]

In 2015, Bloom interviewed for the general manager position with the Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers; in 2016 with the Minnesota Twins, and 2018 with the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets; Bloom was a finalist for the Mets' position.[20][21] In 2019, he interviewed for the Boston Red Sox' head of baseball operations position.[22]

Boston Red Sox

On October 25, 2019, the Red Sox hired the 36-year-old Bloom as Chief Baseball Officer, succeeding Dave Dombrowski as head of their baseball operations, with Brian O'Halloran to be named general manager and reporting to him.[23] The Red Sox made an official announcement on October 28, an off-day of the 2019 World Series.[24][25] In 2019, Bloom's Tampa Bay team had the lowest payroll on opening day at $49 million, while Dombrowski's Boston had the highest at $187 million. Bloom's Rays were 96–66 and made the playoffs, while the Dombrowski-led Red Sox were 84–78 and did not make the playoffs.[26][27] Since the Red Sox were trying to reduce salary and get under the luxury tax threshold for the 2020 season and in the future, Bloom was hired because of his experience at managing a low payroll on the Rays.[28]

Bloom's first season with Boston was the start-delayed and shortened 2020 season; the Red Sox had a record of 24–36 and finished in last place in the American League East. Bloom subsequently hired Alex Cora to return as the team's manager after a year away from baseball, announced in November 2020.[29]

References

  1. ^ Shaughnessy, Dan (October 25, 2019). "Is Chaim Bloom the next Theo Epstein?". The Boston Globe. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Dan Shulman. "What you need to know about Chaim Bloom, the Red Sox new baseball ops boss," The Boston Globe.
  3. ^ a b Doherty, Matthew. "5 things to know about new Red Sox chief of baseball operations Chaim Bloom". The Boston Globe. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  4. ^ a b c Yair Rosenberg (April 2, 2019). "Chaim Bloom's Diamond Life". Tablet Magazine. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
  5. ^ "Akiba Grad Chaim Bloom Takes Top Job With Red Sox"
  6. ^ a b "Alumni Spotlight," Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy.
  7. ^ "5 Things To Know About New Red Sox Head Of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom". Vaaju.com. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  8. ^ "Aliza Hochman". The Globalist. April 14, 2019. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  9. ^ "Chaim Bloom - Vice President of Baseball Operations | Tampa Bay Rays". Mlb.com. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  10. ^ "Chaim Bloom will join Boston Red Sox as head of baseball operations". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  11. ^ McCaffrey, Jen. "5 things to know about Red Sox target Chaim Bloom". The Athletic. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  12. ^ "Rays Executives". Tampabay.rays.mlb.com. November 4, 2016. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  13. ^ a b c "Chaim Bloom - Vice President of Baseball Operations | Tampa Bay Rays". Mlb.com. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  14. ^ Cotillo, Chris (October 25, 2019). "Who is Chaim Bloom? Likely new Red Sox GM is 36-year-old Rays VP with player development experience". masslive.
  15. ^ Chastain, Bill (October 17, 2014). "Rays promote Chaim Bloom, Erik Neander to VP, baseball operations | Tampa Bay Rays". Mlb.com. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  16. ^ "Rays promote Bloom, Neander to VP status". ESPN. October 17, 2014.
  17. ^ Gartland, Dan. "Chaim Bloom: Red Sox to hire Rays exec as head of baseball ops". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
  18. ^ John Tomase (October 24, 2019). "Tomase: Bloom is Sox only GM candidate". NBC Sports Boston. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  19. ^ Verducci, Tom. "THE RAYS WAY". Vault. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  20. ^ Rosenthal, Ken. "Rosenthal: Pitching concerns for the Astros; how the Nationals got Soto; Bloom and the Red Sox; more notes". The Athletic. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  21. ^ Matt Ehalt. "NY Mets GM search down to Doug Melvin, Chaim Bloom, Brodie Van Wagenen". Northjersey.com. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  22. ^ Cotillo, Chris (October 25, 2019). "Red Sox GM search: Rays VP Chaim Bloom frontrunner to become Boston's new top executive (reports)". masslive.
  23. ^ Cotillo, Chris (October 25, 2019). "Chaim Bloom will be Boston Red Sox's chief baseball officer; Brian O'Halloran will reportedly become GM". masslive.com. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  24. ^ McInerney, Katie (October 28, 2019). "Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom: The goal is 'sustained long-term success'". The Boston Globe. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
  25. ^ "Boston Red Sox hire Sabbath-observant Chaim Bloom as head of baseball operations". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  26. ^ "Rays' Chaim Bloom favorite to become Red Sox general manager," ESPN.
  27. ^ "Boston Red Sox hire Chaim Bloom as their new head of baseball operations (report)," masslive.
  28. ^ "Red Sox to hire Rays' executive Chaim Bloom to run baseball operations". The Washington Post. October 25, 2019.
  29. ^ Hartwell, Darren (November 6, 2020). "Red Sox GM offers forthcoming statement on Alex Cora hire". NBC Sports. Retrieved May 4, 2021.
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