Maybe we’re seeing that Red Sox boss Craig Breslow does know what he’s doing
We know without requiring a full rehash that the Red Sox’ post-Theo Epstein baseball bosses have had a short shelf life.
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No one among Ben Cherington, Dave Dombrowski, and Chaim Bloom made it to five full seasons in the leading front office role (their official titles varied), the first two having no leeway despite assembling beloved and dominant World Series champions.
The turnover and periodic tumult over the last 15 years, or since Epstein left to rescue the Cubs in the aftermath of the chicken-flavored collapse in 2011, has made me wonder something as this season’s Red Sox battle to turn a months-long debacle into a delight.
Do you think Red Sox ownership contemplated firing chief baseball officer Craig Breslow at any point this season?
And, related to that, is it possible that it’s a blessing they didn’t?
I almost wrote here that there were points where moving on from Breslow would have seemed valid. But the reality is that it was more than “points” — it was basically the entire stretch from the second week of the season, when they had won two of the first 10 games, through, oh, let’s say June 24, when an 8-6 loss to the feeble Rockies dropped the Red Sox record to 32-46.
When Alex Cora — the manager of the champion 2018 Red Sox wrecking crew that won 119 games (playoffs included) — was fired April 25 after a 10-17 start, it felt like both a power play and a desperation move by Breslow.
I’ll admit it: I thought the Red Sox should have moved Cora upstairs and sent Breslow packing when all of that went down.
Breslow’s future seemed to be in doubt in early June, when colleague Tim Healey reported that Epstein, who endorsed Breslow for the job in October 2023 and currently is a senior adviser for Fenway Sports Group, was disappointed by what he believed to be an overemphasis on analytics by the current baseball operations staff.
But Breslow went nowhere. And suddenly, much to the surprise of anyone with clear eyes that watched this team over the season’s first three months, the Red Sox began climbing out of the massive ditch they were stuck in, and they haven’t quit climbing. Since that 32-46 valley, they have won 14 of 16 games, including all nine on their pre-All-Star break road trip.
They are not yet back to ground level, carrying a 46-48 record into the second half. But with the American League stuck in a lousy parity this season, the Sox find themselves a half-game back of the Twins and Mariners for the third wild-card spot.
We’ll have a better sense of who these Red Sox really are once they are through this upcoming 10-game homestand against three AL East foes: Rays, Orioles, and Blue Jays.
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So much about this season is still to be determined. But we can say now: Breslow had a far better offseason than the consensus among us recognized as it was unfolding, and as the season was well underway.
Willson Contreras, acquired from the Cardinals, is the most productive hitter (20 homers, .921 OPS that ranks eighth in the majors) to have changed teams in the offseason.
Sonny Gray, also acquired from the Cardinals, is the most effective starting pitcher not named Dylan Cease to change teams. Gray is tied for second in the majors with 11 wins and fifth with a 2.51 ERA, and should have been an All-Star.
Another starter, Ranger Suarez, signed to a $130 million deal as a free agent, was named an All-Star but is sidelined with a groin strain.
In 34 combined starts, Gray and Suarez are 15-4 with a 2.84 ERA in 187 innings. That’s some A-plus rotation building by Breslow.
Regarding the full roster, the best on-field, in-season turnaround has been pulled off by Caleb Durbin, who had a .479 OPS on May 24 and has been at .907 in 39 games since while playing a stellar third base. The Durbin trade, which sent talented lefty Kyle Harrison to Milwaukee, looked brutal for the first couple of months. Now? If he keeps playing like this, he’s going to lock down third base, as well as a place as a Fenway favorite.
Durbin’s recent success parallels a pending change in perception regarding how Breslow fared in the offseason, and how fit he is for the job. His offseason was hardly flawless — the Red Sox needed at least one more productive righthanded bat, with too many utility-types still in the lineup on a daily basis. And it appears the window to get anything of value for Jarren Duran has been slammed shut.
Breslow was underqualified for the job when he got it, and we should have expected a learning curve, not that such a thing is allowed in this market.
Maybe he is the right person for the job after all. His offseason was, on the whole, impressive. And it wouldn’t have been fair had he been fired in those miserable early months.
Now for the next test, which will provide further clues to what he’s learned along the way: He needs to have his first good trade deadline. At the very least, hopefully he now knows not to accept pitching discards from the Dodgers.
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