Report: Red Sox fire chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom amid second-half skid

A miserable few weeks has led to a stunner in Boston, as Jeff Passan reports that the Red Sox have fired chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom after less than four years at the helm.

The Red Sox also announced that general manager Brian O’Halloran has been offered a “new senior leadership position within the baseball operations department,” further signaling a major change in the organization’s structure. O’Halloran and assistant GMs Eddie Romero, Raquel Ferreira and Michael Groopman will oversee baseball operations for the time being, but the Sox added that a search for a new baseball operations leader will begin immediately.

As the losses mounted — Boston enters their doubleheader against the Yankees on Thursday having lost 12 of their last 17 — and a Wild Card spot felt increasingly out of reach, rumors began to swirl that Bloom’s job might be in jeopardy. NBC Sports Boston’s 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 added that it “feel(s) like there’s an expiration date” on Bloom’s tenure as he wraps up his fourth season running the Red Sox.

It’s not too hard to see why: Boston enjoyed a 92-win season and run to the ALCS in 2021, but they’ve also finished in last place in two of Bloom’s first three years at the helm — and they’re currently in a dogfight with New York to avoid making it three out of four this season. With a current core that’s not quite good enough to contend and a farm system that’s improving but still a bit light on impact talent, it’s become increasingly unclear what the Red Sox’ path back to the World Series might look like.

It’s also unclear who Boston might consider as a replacement. Kudos to them on getting started on the search sooner rather than later — anything the team might do over the next two-plus weeks should have no bearing on whether owner John Henry thinks Bloom deserves another chance to build a contender — and with the Mets hiring David Stearns and the Nationals doubling down on Mike Rizzo, the Sox should have their pick of any front office up-and-comers that catch their eye.