Red Sox didn't interview a minority for Chaim Bloom's job, but here's how they satisfied Selig Rule 

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The Red Sox did not interview a minority candidate for their top baseball operations job, but the hiring process still satisfied baseball's Selig Rule, according to CEO Sam Kennedy.

The 1999 directive of former commissioner Bud Selig comes under frequent criticism for paying little more than lip service to diversifying the ranks of MLB front offices and coaching staffs.

Teams are not required to interview minority candidates, but they must consider them, and the Red Sox technically complied when they contemplated candidates from their interim front office leadership structure of Brian O'Halloran, Eddie Romero, Raquel Ferreira, and Zack Scott. Romero is of Puerto Rican descent, while Ferreira's parents emigrated from the Cape Verde islands.

"Before turning to an external solution, we used the transition period to consider and evaluate our internal options for the top baseball operations job (and the future structure of the department)," Kennedy said via text. "We have assurances from the Commissioner's office that we have complied with the Selig Rule and handled the process properly."

The Red Sox interviewed only one candidate, hiring Tampa VP Chaim Bloom as their new chief baseball officer, replacing Dave Dombrowski.

"The process, I think everyone remembers when we made the decision to part ways with Dave, we immediately installed Rock and Eddie and BOH and Zack," Kennedy said on Monday. "Again, they did just a tremendous job and gave us an opportunity to get a jumpstart on the offseason and position us for 2020. Over a four to six-week period led by John (Henry) and Tom (Werner), we had the opportunity to evaluate the department critically to kind of identify strengths and areas for improvement, and we came to the conclusion that we may benefit, the Red Sox may benefit from adding an external voice or resource."

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Kennedy added that the ownership group became convinced that Bloom, "would be the absolute ideal choice to come in and partner with the front office and be an incredible teammate with Eddie and Raquel and BOH and Zack."

O'Halloran ended up being promoted to general manager, while Henry told MassLive that the Red Sox have granted another organization permission to speak to one member of the group of four about a job opening. That person is believed to be Romero. The Giants and Pirates currently are conducting GM searches.
 
It should be noted that Ferreira, as senior vice president of major and minor league operations, is one of the highest-ranking women in an MLB front office, and that Alex Cora is one of five minority managers in the big leagues.

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