Red Sox News: Rays' Chaim Bloom Hired as Boston's Chief Baseball Officer

The Boston Red Sox announced on Monday morning that Chaim Bloom has been hired as chief baseball officer.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post first reported on Friday that Bloom had finalized a deal to take over the team.

ESPN's Jeff Passan reported Thursday that Bloom, who spent the past three seasons working as senior vice president of baseball operations with the Tampa Bay Rays, was the favorite to land the position.

The Red Sox turned heads in September when they fired president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, underscoring the pressure that members of their front office face. While the team was a disappointing 84-78 and missed the playoffs in 2019, it won the World Series the previous year.

Dombrowski's tenure was largely defined by success after he joined the team in August 2015. Boston won 93 games in both 2016 and 2017 and topped the American League East both seasons. The Red Sox won 108 games and the World Series in 2018.

He also found success elsewhere, capturing a World Series crown with the Florida Marlins and reaching two Fall Classics with the Detroit Tigers.

Bloom is following one of the most accomplished front-office executives in recent league history and has to do so under potential financial restrictions. Passan noted Red Sox owners John Henry and Tom Werner told reporters they planned on cutting the payroll to avoid the luxury-tax threshold for 2020 after leading the league in payroll on Opening Day 2019 at $187.23 million.

Meanwhile, J.D. Martinez can opt out of his contract this offseason, and Mookie Betts can become a free agent after the 2020 campaign.

This is a critical offseason for the Red Sox, and they now know who is going to steer them through it.

Bloom, 36, was with the Rays for 15 seasons in roles that included minor league operations, player development, contract negotiations, salary arbitration and international scouting.

Working with a smaller budget than Boston is accustomed to probably won't be an issue for him either. Passan pointed out Tampa Bay featured the league's lowest payroll on Opening Day 2019 at $49.08 million.

Bloom and the Rays front office still managed to build a roster that reached the playoffs this year with a 96-66 record while the Red Sox did not. He will try to build on that success with his new team.