Craig

Breslow

Healey adds that Boston’s ownership group hasn’t even discussed making a change. Breslow, who took over as the club’s primary decision-maker prior to the 2024 season, faced little criticism early on, but the tone has shifted. Breslow’s decision to fire longtime manager Alex Cora last month has drawn scrutiny, and some of his recent moves, most notably the Kyle Harrison trade with Milwaukee, haven’t aged particularly well.

Breslow specifically said that he felt that it made no sense for the Red Sox to look to acquire a number four or five starter, but wanted to find somebody who “can pitch alongside [Garrett] Crochet” at the top of the rotation. Considering the Red Sox were close to trading for Joe Ryan at the deadline, you’d have to assume that he remains a major target for them this offseason. The power bat could be a free agent like Pete Alonso or perhaps a trade acquisition, but it seems that the Red Sox plan to be active this offseason.

Last week, Breslow mentioned that the Red Sox would likely need to trade away a left-handed hitting outfielder or middle infielder this offseason due to a roster crunch, but it appears that any player could be traded for the right return. While that likely doesn’t include players like Rafael Devers or Brayan Bello, who signed long-term contracts this season, but other big names like Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, or Masataka Yoshida might be available if the Red Sox can get help for their rotation or bullpen, which Breslow admitted was a major priority this offseason.

Breslow himself has a long track record of developing pitching, both as a former major league pitcher himself and while working in the Cubs organization. The Red Sox also hired well-regarded pitching coach Andrew Bailey away from the Giants and brought in former Twins’ minor league pitching coordinator Justin Willard to oversee their organization’s pitching development. All of these signs point pretty clearly to the Red Sox now being near the forefront of analytics and motion capture data in pitching development.

Breslow officially takes over at the helm of Boston’s front office after spending the last few years as the Cubs’ assistant general manager. The 43-year-old, who hails from Connecticut, spent 12 years pitching in the majors before joining Chicago’s front office after retiring following the 2018 season.

Breslow, 43, became a front-runner for the Red Sox’ job last week — and after other candidates removed their names for consideration over the past few days it seemed as though the writing was on the wall. Breslow is expected to have the opportunity to hire his own general manager. He’ll be inheriting a team where manager Alex Cora is only under contract through the 2024 season, so his first order of business could be working on an extension to give his manager some job security.

Alex Speier of the Boston Globe has reported that the Red Sox have interviewed at least eight first-round candidates, including Levine, but that they’ve moved on to the second round of their hiring process to find their next head of baseball operations. Speier adds that multiple sources believe Cubs assistant general manager Craig Breslow has made it to the second round. No other candidates are known at this juncture.

Breslow, who pitched for 12 seasons in the majors, and also won a World Series title with the Red Sox back in 2013, is reportedly in “advanced discussions” to serve as Boston’s next president of baseball operations. The 43-year-old Connecticut native joined the Cubs front office back in 2019 when Theo Epstein was still running baseball operations, and has risen to the rank of assistant general manager and senior vice president of pitching. His ties to New England and the Red Sox make him a logical choice, but it remains to be seen if he’ll want to step into a front office role where he won’t be able to pick his own manager with Alex Cora, who clearly has front office aspirations of his own, set to return for the 2024 season.

Breslow heads back to the minors, but he’s guaranteed himself a September callup by allowing two runs in 8 2/3 innings while mopping up for the Padres.

Breslow double-majored in molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale, so it always figured that teams would eventually attempt to hire him for a front office role. According to the team, he’ll “help to evaluate and implement data-based processes throughout all facets of Baseball Operations. He will also support the organization’s pitching infrastructure in Player Development and the major leagues.” The 38-year-old spent the 2018 season in the Blue Jays’ minor league system, posting a 5.40 ERA across three different levels. He’ll wrap up his playing career with a 3.45 ERA over 576 appearances in the majors between stops with the Red Sox, Twins, Athletics, Indians, Diamondbacks, Padres, and Marlins.