It may be fairly early in the offseason, but so far, Boston’s search for a new top baseball executive can best be described as slow-going.
According to multiple sources, the Red Sox have been been met with a number of rejections by some targeted candidates as they seek to find a replacement for Chaim Bloom, who was fired in September. Some of those prospective hires have been put off by the level of turnover that’s taken place in the baseball operations department over the last dozen years or so. The new hire will be the fifth person in charge of the department since 2011.
And increasingly, sources add, there’s concern about the surrounding infrastructure. The new hire will not only be inheriting Manager Alex Cora, whose job has been guaranteed by ownership for at least 2024, but also a front office that includes several executives who’ve been part of the organization for more than two decades.
One person whom the Red Sox are known to be targeting, multiple industry sources confirm, is Michael Hill, who has an extensive resumé in the game and for the last few years has served as MLB’s Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations. For MLB, Hill is in charge of umpires and on-field discipline. Hill, who played football and baseball at Harvard, was drafted by the Texas Rangers in 1993 and spent three seasons in the minor leagues.
It is unknown if Hill has interviewed for the position yet, or even if he has signaled interest in the role.
After his playing days, Hill worked for the Tampa Bay Rays, Colorado Rockies, and Florida Marlins. He worked his way up the ladder with the Marlins, first becoming general manager, then president of baseball operations before being let go by then-CEO Derek Jeter after the 2020 season.
Hill has told friends that while he enjoys his job in the commissioner’s office, he would like to eventually return to a more competitive environment and the challenge of again running a team.
THE SEATTLE MARINERS claimed right-handed reliever Kaleb Ort off waivers from the Red Sox, a source said Friday afternoon. The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham reported Wednesday that Ort had been placed on outright waivers as a way for Boston to get him off the 40-man roster.
Ort, who has 47 appearances in the majors over the last three seasons, was on Boston’s 60-day injured list after missing the last three months of the season with elbow inflammation. The Red Sox are in the process of shuffling the back end of their roster as the offseason begins and decided to move on from Ort, who possessed intriguing fastball velocity (95.8 mph average in 2023) and got plenty of chances to prove himself in the majors under former chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom.
Ort, who turns 32 in February, debuted in 2021 after saving 19 games for the WooSox, then split the 2022 season between Triple-A and the majors, logging a 6.35 ERA and 1.765 WHIP in 28 ⅓ MLB innings while pitching to a 2.88 ERA in Worcester.
In 2023, Ort made the Opening Day roster before struggling to a 6.26 ERA and 1.565 WHIP in 23 big league innings; he owned a 1.54 ERA in 11 2/3 innings at Triple-A. In total, Ort owns a 3.09 career ERA and 131 career innings at Triple-A but has struggled mightily in the majors, pitching to a 6.27 ERA in 51 2/3 innings. He last pitched for the Red Sox on July 4. In late September, he made three rehab outings for the WooSox but was never activated.
BOSTON CURRENTLY has a full 40-man roster plus four players (Corey Kluber, Wyatt Mills, Adalberto Mondesí and Jarren Duran) on the 60-day injured list. Anyone on the 60-day IL needs to be activated at the end of the postseason and counts against the 40-man max. Kluber and Mondesí will be free agents along with James Paxton, Joely Rodríguez (if his option is declined), Adam Duvall and Justin Turner (if he opts out).
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