The Red Sox have fired Chaim Bloom as they stumble toward a third last-place finish in 4 seasons

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Red Sox fired Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom on Thursday as the team stumbled toward a third last-place finish in four seasons.

The team made the announcement before the start of a doubleheader against the New York Yankees, who took the first two games of the series to drop Boston into a tie for last.

Bloom was hired from the Tampa Bay Rays to help revive the farm system and bring financial stability to a team that was one of baseball’s biggest spenders. One of his first actions was to trade 2018 AL MVP Mookie Betts, on a mandate from ownership to get the payroll in order.

The team said general manager Brian O’Halloran “has been offered a new senior leadership position within the baseball operations department.”

O’Halloran will run the department in the interim, along with assistant general managers Eddie Romero, Raquel Ferreira, and Michael Groopman.