Red Sox Fans Need To Hold Craig Breslow Accountable For What He Said On Wednesday
Full disclosure - not a huge Craig Breslow Guy.
When the Red Sox hired him a few years ago, he was reportedly the 10th or 11th choice for the job after multiple people turned down the opportunity to even interview for the position of Chief Baseball Officer for the Boston Red Sox. He's made some good moves, yes. Trading for Garrett Crochet and Carlos Narváez. The Aroldis Chapman signing. All good.
But there's been plenty of bad, too, like banking on Lucas Giolito and Walker Buehler as the key guys behind Crochet. The Rafael Devers trade appears to be a disaster.
More than the moves through a couple of seasons, I find his media availabilities to be maddening. Breslow has mastered the art of saying a lot of words without really saying anything. When Dave Dombrowski was here running the Red Sox, he spoke very matter-of-factly about what the team needed and what he planned to do to make it better. Breslow does not. It's a lot of long answers that really give you nothing. He's a Yale guy, and every time he talks, it feels like he's trying to remind you of that fact.
I was interested in what he would say on NESN's '310 To Left' Podcast. As it turns out, there were two answers that Red Sox fans need to file away, now that he's said the words out loud.
1. "But I said the other day...I think there's a real danger in thinking that because we took a step forward from 2024 to 2025, if we just roll this thing back, we'll take another step forward coming out of 2025 to 2026. We need to look for ways to improve the team...I think it gets more and more difficult to take that next step, the closer you get to where you want to go. But it's incredibly important, right?"
Damn right, Craig. And you know how you make a good team better? Spend money.
It's early, but Spotrac has them 7th in spending for 2026 - they have to be Top 5. And there can't be any staying out of the luxury tax threshold bullshit. They're on record as saying they know they're in their "window of contention." So go spend money.
And that doesn't have to be just free agent spending. That could mean trading for a player already making a lot of money.
2. “What we need to, and what we’ll do over the course of the offseason, is take a step back and really recognize what type of potential pitching additions or acquisitions really move the needle for us, because we do have what I would suggest is a strong group of pitching depth,” Breslow said. “And so we want to make sure that any additions that we make actually improve our team.”
David Berding. Getty Images.“And so we want to make sure that any additions that we make actually improve our team.”
Oh, hey, what's up, Joe Ryan? Fancy meeting you here in this blog.
What I took from the Breslow quote above was, "We have some good pitchers behind Crochet, but nothing great."
Ryan would slot in perfectly behind the Sox Ace. He's coming off an All-Star season where he was Top 10 in ERA, WAR, and Hits per 9. He's a solid choice to have starting Game 2 of any playoff series. And if Crochet misses any time, you'd feel okay with Ryan as the next guy up to lead the rotation.
Ryan is still arbitration eligible and won't be a free agent until after the 2028 season. But the cash-strapped Twins might see this as their best chance to get a haul of prospects for Ryan, and the Red Sox should be at the front of the line asking what it would take to pry him from Minnesota. Reports had Breslow talking to the Twins about Ryan at the deadline.
But if it's not Ryan, Breslow is still admitting here that they need a front-line starter, not depth. True free agents Dylan Cease, Framber Valdez, or Ranger Suárez will all be expensive, but could slot in behind Crochet.
This is a big offseason for the Red Sox. A significant first step is getting Breslow to acknowledge that the team needs to improve and add a top-of-the-rotation starter. In his own Craig Breslow Way, he did that this week.
Now, as Red Sox fans, we need to hold him accountable for his own words.