In the past two weeks, the Boston Red Sox’s search for a new head of baseball operations has run into multiple roadblocks as notable candidates including Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes and Phillies general manager Sam Fuld have declined to interview for the job. Those rejections are either par for the course or signs of trouble, depending on who you ask.
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“They’ve had a hard time lining this one up,” said one person who’s spoken to Red Sox officials about the job.
Another industry insider insisted such rejection is not unusual, especially this early in the process. Heads of baseball operations rarely switch jobs when already running an organization, and No. 2s are often motivated to stay put because of family concerns, financial stability, or uncertainty about the pressure of sitting in the big chair.
“The reality is, very few people are both good candidates for these jobs and interested in them,” one longtime executive said. “You’d be surprised.”
The Red Sox job is both intriguing and concerning. With luxury tax penalties reset, ownership having shown a willingness to spend heavily in the past, and a young core of position players already in place, the potential to turn things around quickly is evident and appealing. The Red Sox finished in last place in three of the past four seasons, but there’s some runway ahead of them if they can address their pitching staff and continue to develop hitters.
Ownership, though, has shown fleeting commitment to its past three heads of baseball operations, none of whom lasted more than four full seasons. Their most recent chief baseball officer, Chaim Bloom, was fired in September with a year left on his five-year contract. The team has already committed to keeping manager Alex Cora, which the organization touts as a perk of the job — a good manager is already in place — but something candidates might see as a crucial element already out of their hands.
According to multiple people with knowledge of the search process, Gomes, Fuld and Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey have all declined to interview for the Red Sox job. WEEI’s Rob Bradford reported that former Rangers president of baseball operations Jon Daniels also declined to interview “solely due (to) the desire to prioritize his family.” Daniels currently works for the Rays but still lives in Dallas.
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Red Sox assistant general manager Eddie Romero is widely viewed as the favorite among internal candidates. According to a person with knowledge of the team’s hiring history, Romero interviewed for the top Red Sox job in 2019 when it ultimately went to Bloom, and he’s been running point ever since Bloom was fired in September. Romero has been an assistant GM since 2018 and has been in the Red Sox organization since 2006. He’s been a key voice within the team’s international scouting program and has strong relationships throughout the organization.
“Eddie should be the guy, in my opinion,” one person in the Red Sox organization said. “Smart, articulate in two languages, people skills, media savvy, scouting experience, negotiating experience, has worked under four GMs, (and) has the fortitude to take risks.”
But the team continues to look externally as well.
A person close to Twins general manager Thad Levine said Levine is “open” to the Red Sox job, but it’s “no slam dunk” that the two sides will match up for the role. A longtime assistant GM in Texas and Minnesota, Levine has recently been sought after for other GM positions but turned down opportunities to interview with the Phillies in 2020, the Mets in 2018 and reportedly the Astros in 2011. Levine spoke to the Detroit Tigers last offseason but elected to stay with Minnesota where he’s been since becoming Falvey’s GM in Nov. 2016. Levine was in Boston on Monday, according to a person with knowledge of his plans, and it has been reported that he will interview for the job.
Twins GM Thad Levine is interviewing for the top Red Sox job. He once was a serious candidate for the big job in Philly before Dave Dombrowski was hired.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) October 16, 2023
Toronto Blue Jays vice president of baseball strategy James Click is another external candidate believed to be still in the mix for the Red Sox. Click won a World Series as the Houston Astros general manager in 2022 but declined a one-year offer to stay in Houston and spent the past season with the Blue Jays. Like Bloom, Click graduated from Yale and got his start in baseball with the Rays.
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It’s unclear whether the Red Sox plan to pursue former Marlins general manager Kim Ng, who stepped down from that role on Monday. Other external candidates are believed to be in the mix; on Monday, a New York Post report mentioned former Red Sox reliever Craig Breslow as one person viewed as a potentially strong candidate.
Team president Sam Kennedy made clear from the beginning that the Red Sox’s search could be lengthy. When Bloom was fired a month ago, Kennedy promised a more thorough process than last time when the team seemed to focus almost immediately on Bloom as its primary target, to the frustration of some viable candidates inside the organization.
“I anticipate a broader search, one that frankly could take a while,” Kennedy said at the time.
Because he’s already running the show in Minnesota, Falvey was never a likely fit. He did grow up outside Boston in Lynn, Mass., and has close connections within the Red Sox organization, but heads of baseball operations very rarely change organizations while holding a top job. Falvey has run the Twins’ baseball operations since 2016.
Fuld had been a more popular source of speculation because he grew up in nearby New Hampshire, studied economics at Stanford, and was a finalist for the Red Sox’s managerial opening in 2020 (when the job ultimately went back to Cora after his one-year suspension). Fuld is considered one of the sport’s rising executives and is currently the Phillies’ No. 2 decision maker behind former Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. While concerns about recent Red Sox turnover might have played a role in Fuld’s decision, he’s also believed to be content in his current role and with his family in Philadelphia.
Gomes, too, is seen as one of the sport’s rising executives, and he also has ties to Boston having grown up in Fall River, Mass., 60 miles south of Fenway Park. His motivation for turning down the interview for the Red Sox job is unknown, but Gomes has been with the Dodgers since 2017, became their GM in 2022, and lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two kids. Gomes, too, was a popular possibility because of his resume, reputation and connections to New England, but for the time being, he’s among those who seem content to let the Red Sox job fall to someone else.
(The Athletic’s Matt Gelb and Dan Hayes contributed to this report)
(Photo of Thad Levine: David Berding / Getty Images)
