The Boston Red Sox are nearing an agreement with Tampa Bay Rays executive Chaim Bloom to take over as the new president of baseball operations, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times:

Rays senior VP Chaim Bloom has emerged as the leading candidate for the Red Sox general manager job and “seems likely” to be hired, the Tampa Bay Times has learned.

Several other outlets reported similarly on Thursday night. Bloom was first reported to be among those who interviewed for the job, according to The Athletic, identified as “a serious candidate” for the job by ESPN and labeled “the frontrunner” by Mark Feinsand of mlb.com.

Bloom is currently the right-hand man to Rays general manager Erik Neander. He has been in the Rays organization for 15 seasons, and he interviewed for the GM job with the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants prior to the 2018 season.

The Red Sox GM job opened up after the team fired Dave Dombrowski in September. It was initially thought that the Red Sox would hire internally, but Bloom appears to have the inside track on the job.

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Boston had a disappointing season after winning the World Series in 2018. Despite ranking fourth in the majors in terms of runs scored, the rotation was one of the worst in baseball while the bullpen lacked reliable options at the end of games.

Obviously, Bloom has experience building deep pitching staffs in Tampa Bay. The Rays overcame a host of injuries in the rotation to win 96 games and earn an AL Wild Card berth.