The Boston Red Sox had their candidate for the general manager role right in their laps. Paul Toboni, considered to be one of the brightest young minds in that front office, was poached by the Washington Nationals this week and now, they plan to look from both within the organization and outside of it to fill the role this winter.
Previously, Brian O'Halloran, a local kid from Massachusetts, was the former Red Sox general manager and was under Chaim Bloom's branch until 2023, when Bloom and O'Halloran were fired from their positions. However, O'Halloran wasn't gone outright, as he accepted a spot as the executive vice president under Craig Breslow.
Many believe that there's only one assistant GM, but it's a group of individuals, including Eddie Romero, Taylor Smith, Raquel Ferreira, and Mike Groopman. All of these individuals have a serious possibility to be considered as the next man (or woman) up and should be considered after Toboni left for the Nationals this week.
Eddie Romero, Executive Vice President, Assistant GM
Romero, for one, is a legacy choice. His father, Ed Romero Sr., was an infielder for the Red Sox on the 1986 World Series team. Romero Jr. is one of the more notable executives in the front office besides Toboni.
From San Juan, Puerto Rico, he began his career in 2006 under Theo Epstein, serving as an assistant in the international scouting department. He was responsible for the international signings of several notable Red Sox including Rafael Devers, Yoan Moncada, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Brayan Bello.
After Dave Dombrowski's firing, Romero was also considered as a candidate for the GM job, but that would never turned out to be the case. Things are different now and Romero is widely considered to be the next No. 2 guy under Breslow and will be taken into consideration.
Taylor Smith, Senior Vice President, Assistant GM
Taylor Smith is an interesting one, as he was poached from the Tampa Bay Rays organization last October. He was hired to take over Groopman's responsibilities on the analytics end. There were rumors about him eventually taking over Paul Toboni's responsibilities if Toboni were to be promoted to the GM role, and he still could.
Smith was an analyst in Tampa Bay and was promoted to "Director of Predictive Modeling", but has since taken on a much bigger role with Boston. However, he's only a year in, much like Groopman. He may be in this role for a few more years before getting a promotion, most likely from senior vice president to executive vice president respectfully.
Raquel Ferreira, Executive Vice President, Assistant GM
Raquel Ferreira, the third female vice president of baseball operations in MLB history, was playing the long game. The Rhode Island native and URI graduate was hired in 1999 as an administrative assistant and was promoted within Epstein's branch as the director of minor league administration. She played a key part in developing the Red Sox farm system which produced big names such as Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jed Lowrie, and Will Middlebrooks.
She was then promoted to vice president of baseball administration, being involved in many things, most notably, the Xander Bogaerts extension back in 2019 for six years, worth $120 million. After Dombrowski's firing, she, along with Zack Scott, Romero, and O'Halloran, oversaw team operations for the rest of the season. She ended up becoming one of the highest-valued executives in the Red Sox front office, and her worth was well-deserved. Ferreira even was considered the highest-ranked female executive in the MLB.
Mike Groopman, Senior Vice President, Assistant GM
Groopman, a Brookline native, was originally part of the Milwaukee Brewers' branch under David Stearns and Matt Arnold. But in 2022, during the Bloom era, the Red Sox offered him an ultimate promotion as an assistant general manager. He accepted the position in November that year and was the highest-ranked executive hired since Bloom back in 2019.
Since then, and after focusing more on player acquisitions due to the Smith's hiring, he's also been widely regarded as a top candidate for a GM position. His most notable feat was the Garrett Crochet trade. Looking into the stories of how it happened, they were almost dead in the water by the Chicago White Sox GM, Chris Getz.
He wasn't even considering the Red Sox and viewed them as a distraction, and didn't think their original offer was that serious for him. So Breslow, to prove how much he wanted it, went to get help. Mike Groopman was that person, and he inserted other pieces into the deal. With Groopman's close connection with Getz back in Kansas City (when Getz was playing and Groopman was an exec there), Groopman almost single-handedly won the trade bid for Crochet, giving the ace the Red Sox needed and extending him for six years.
Whether or not he gets the GM role, he'll most likely be the person promoted if Breslow hires from within. If not GM, he'll move to the Senior Vice President role.
Conclusion
For the Red Sox as a whole, there are four top candidates for a GM role right here. This all depends on where Breslow wants to go. Does he want to look under his nose and see who's standing in front of him? Or should he look farther out for somebody new? That's up to him to decide, but you can't go wrong with Smith, Ferreira, Groopman, or Romero.