UPDATE, 4:33: Rays GM Erik Neander said “the overriding emotion and feeling is happiness” for Bloom, and that he’s not concerned about Bloom being with a division rival, nor him taking any proprietary information, methodologies or data with him. "In today’s game it’s changing so quickly, and at the end of the day I think our greatest strength is our people, and we’re all just one of 250, myself included,'' Neander said. "And by the time you try to install processes somewhere else, I think they can often be at risk of being outdated. To say nothing of the wonderful people and processes that are already in place as enters there.'' Neander also said no Rays employees will accompany Bloom to Boston. DEVELOPING: The Red Sox on Monday officially announced the hiring of Rays senior VP Chaim Bloom as their new chief baseball officer and were understandably quite thrilled with the move.Bloom, 36, will be “responsible for all baseball operations matters” in taking over a team that has among the largest revenue streams in the game but somewhat inconsistent results over the last 10 seasons, winning the World Series twice but finishing last in the AL East three times, and third three other times.Here is what the top Red Sox execs had to say in the press release announcing the hiring of Bloom, who reportedly was the only candidate interviewed: Principal owner John Henry: “We believe Chaim is exactly the right person to lead the Boston Red Sox baseball operation based on a number of attributes we sought in this process. We had done exhaustive work narrowing down candidates. That work led us to Chaim, who was the first executive invited to Boston for an interview. He made a strong impression on all of us and validated our initial research that he was the one to lead our baseball operation.'' Chairman Tom Werner: “Chaim’s rise from intern with the Rays in 2005 to Senior Vice President, Baseball Operations speaks to his leadership, intelligence and work ethic. He possesses the essential qualities to establish a sustainable baseball operation throughout the organization with an emphasis on long-term success at the major league level.” President & CEO Sam Kennedy: “This is a great day for the Red Sox. It became clear during the search process why Chaim has become one of the most respected and talented executives in the game. I am looking forward to working closely with him and his team to bring our fans the fifth World Series championship under this ownership group.”Bloom, who spent 15 years with the Rays is working his way up from intern to the No. 2 spot in baseball operations, will be introduced at a 1:30 p.m. press conference today at Fenway Park. Here is what Bloom said in the Sox release: “It is an incredible honor to have the opportunity to lead the Red Sox baseball operations department. The talent and dedication of our staff, and the culture that they represent, are remarkable. I’m excited to work with them to take this organization to new heights, and humbled by the faith that John, Tom, and Sam have in what we will accomplish together. The bond between the Red Sox and our fans is second to none, and my family and I are eager to make New England our home.'' Also, in thanking his former Rays bosses, co-workers and friends: “I’m grateful to Stu Sternberg, Matt Silverman, Brian Auld, Erik Neander and all of my friends at the Tampa Bay Rays for the 15 amazing years we spent together. They were tremendous teammates from start to finish, and I would not be here today without their friendship, guidance, and support.”
![Marc Topkin - Rays Reporter](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 50 50"/%3E "Marc Topkin - Rays Reporter")