Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy says chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom’s job is safe

Red Sox president/CEO Sam Kennedy (center, back turned) shared a laugh at JetBlue Park Monday with (from left) team owner John Henry, chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, outfielder Alex Verdugo, and general manager/Florida operations Shawn Smith.Jim Davis/Globe Staff

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Red Sox president/CEO Sam Kennedy said Monday that chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom’s job is safe.

“Chaim is our chief baseball officer and I do not anticipate any changes there,” Kennedy said.

Bloom is in the fourth year of a five-year contract. The Sox hired Bloom away from the Tampa Bay Rays front office in October 2019.

Kennedy did acknowledge that after last year’s last-place finish in the AL East, the pressure is on for the team to perform more than in years past.

“We have the best fan base in baseball that allows us to put a team out there that should be built to compete,” Kennedy said. " So, yeah, we feel the pressure for sure.”

The Sox raised ticket prices roughly 2 percent for this season. Kennedy said the team currently has seen a 4.5 percent ticket sales increase compared with this time last year.