It's Red Sox Offseason Season And Craig Breslow Keeps On Telling Us The Team Is Prepared To Make Big Moves
This is the second time now for Craig Breslow.
As the Red Sox' offseason officially gets underway, the team's Chief Baseball Officer has once again told the fans in no uncertain terms that some big moves are coming. And they should be.
We should all plan on holding him and the team to their word(s).
In the hours after the season ended, there he was, alongside Sox CEO Sam Kennedy, acknowledging the team had entered its "window of contention."
We won't even count that one as part of this exercise. But a few days after that, on the '310 To Left' Podcast, we bookmarked this one.
"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?"
“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.”
Not taking a step back... needle-moving pitching moves... love it.
Then this weekend, with Sean McAdam, Breslow threw it out there that the team was preparing to make additions this offseason.
“We’re definitely closer (to our goal) when you think about the season we just had,” said Breslow. “But we’re also not where we want to go yet and adding the wins that take you from 89 to 90 to 91 to 92 are really hard. On the field, we saw some of our key players take a step forward in terms of development and performance.
“We also have needs that we’ll likely address via external acquisitions. From a (front) office standpoint, we’ve made some really difficult but necessary decisions to get our operation focused on what matters, which is winning major league baseball games. We’re in an improved position to acquire the right players and make them better.
“All that said, this isn’t the time to pat ourselves on the back. We have work to do.”
Again, this is not some podcast host calling for the Red Sox to make moves - this is the team's Chief Baseball Officer telling you that the team is going to make moves.
Bringing back the opting-out Alex Bregman would be a start. Then you have to find your No. 2 starter behind Garrett Crochet. But that's just to get you back to where you were a year ago. Breslow has said it's not about staying put, it's about getting better.
Does that mean Kyle Schwarber? Or trading Jarren Duran for more pitching? Everything should be in play, based on Breslow's repeated comments about improving.
He just saw his team knocked out of the playoffs by a division rival in the Yankees. We all watched another AL East rival lose in the seventh game of the World Series. The team they lost to - they spend a lot of money—something Dodgers' manager Dave Roberts lauded before the Fall Classic Starter.
“Our ownership puts it (revenue) back into players, a big chunk of it. That’s the way it should be with all ownership groups.”
If I could afford it, I'd fly a small plane carrying a banner of that quote over Fenway Park for the next three months.
I'm with Hogdale on this - you should feel good about these repeated comments from Breslow. But the Red Sox have a nasty habit of being "close" to making the big moves without actually making the big moves. The Interest Kings have certainly earned that moniker over the years.
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But let's think about this.
You have, among other things, the best defensive center fielder in baseball. Your right fielder won a Gold Glove, too. You have a superstar in the making in Roman Anthony. You have a legit Ace in Crochet. You have a stable of good, not great, young arms behind him. You have a manager that players want to play for. You have a shit ton of money to spend. Not to mention, you're set to play in an ultra-competitive division.
And now you have, for the second time in a few weeks, the team's Chief Baseball Officer volunteering to the fans that he plans on making the team better.
I'm calling it - this should be a No Excuses offseason for the Red Sox. And they've set that bar themselves with the comments of the guy in charge of building the next World Series winner in Boston.
A HUGE offseason starts this week. Let's make sure we all hold him to it.
Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox. Getty Images.