Could the Boston Red Sox look to the staff of Chaim Bloom's predecessor to find their Bloom replacement?
Philadelphia Phillies vice president and general manager Sam Fuld, who reports to president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, "has emerged as one of the leading candidates" to run the Red Sox' baseball operations, USA TODAY's Bob Nightengale reported Sunday.
Fuld is an intriguing candidate for Boston: The Durham, N.H., native carved out an eight-year major league playing career with four different teams before joining the Phillies' front office in 2017.
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The Red Sox nearly hired Fuld as their manager after the 2020 season before Alex Cora returned from his one-year suspension to manage the team, and as our John Tomase points out, Fuld worked closely with a pair of Red Sox alumni (Dombrowski and Gabe Kapler) in Philly.
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The 41-year-old Fuld has never run a team's baseball operations before, and it's possible Boston could be looking for a more seasoned executive after Bloom's inexperience showed during his four-year tenure as chief baseball officer. Then again, Fuld has played a role in building a strong Phillies team that reached the World Series in 2022 and has an excellent mentor to learn from in Dombrowski.
As for other candidates to replace Bloom, Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen seems like he's staying put in Arizona, while Theo Epstein appears off the table as well. But Cleveland Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti and Oakland Athletics general manager David Forst both have been reported as potential options for Boston.