Red Sox's Craig Breslow Era Is Set to End With A Whimper

[Alex Mayes]

At the risk of sounding like a broken record as of late, the Boston Red Sox are awful in 2026. It’s a shame coming off a postseason appearance in 2025 that should have pointed president of baseball operations Craig Breslow in the right direction. Even the free-agent signings believed they were coming into a situation where they would “breeze to get to the playoffs," at least according to Isiah Kiner-Falefa. He even went on to say that his goal with signing in Boston was to be a bench player for a championship team, so even those who weren’t with the organization last year saw the direction the team should have been headed.

“Should” is the operative word in that sentence. 

We’re now no longer in ‘well it’s still early’ territory, and the Red Sox are what they are as we approach the halfway point of the season. In an effort not to mince words: They are a sub .500 team that struggles at home and seems to be allergic to hitting with runners in scoring position. It’s the end of June and the season already feels lost. The team can’t keep up in a middling American League Wild Card race and, even if they somehow managed to limp their way into that third spot, they’d be certainly eliminated in short order. 

With all of that being said, the most obvious path forward for the Red Sox is to let Craig Breslow go sooner than later.

Breslow is an excellent pitching coordinator. He’s drafted and developed some of the best arms that the organization has seen in years, but that’s about as far as his credentials go. He terminated most of the scouting department during the first 18 months of his tenure and the big-league club has suffered mightily from it. The team that is on the field day in and day out for the Red Sox can’t function properly as a major-league team. There’s far too many utility players with everyday roles, there’s almost zero power outside of Willson Contreras, and the bullpen has been incredibly leaky outside of Aroldis Chapman and Garrett Whitlock. 

I’m not going to sit here and rehash the firing of Alex Cora and the majority of his coaching staff, but that gave us a bit of a peak behind the curtain as to the true feelings of Fenway Sports Group’s opinion of Breslow. The morning after the firings, Breslow sat at a table next to Sam Kennedy and said that the decision to move on from Cora and crew was a mutual decision. Within seconds, Kennedy pinned the decision solely on Breslow. Ownership signed off on it, of course, but they essentially looked at Breslow and said, “Okay, you can do this, but just know there’s no one else to be the fall guy if things don’t get better.” To absolutely no one’s surprise, things have arguably gotten worse. Garrett Crochet and Roman Anthony have spent significant time on the injured list, Jarren Duran looks like a shell of himself at the plate, and the catching situation is maybe the most confusing roster dilemma in all of baseball.

Speaking of the catching situation, it paints a clearer picture for how Breslow didn’t learn anything from the drama that surrounded Rafael Devers last season. It was reported time and time again that Devers wasn’t spoken to about his changing roles, then when he was approached about possibly moving to first base he was combative because he felt he had been disrespected and blindsided. Now, Carlos Narvaez has spoken to The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey about how his playing time has been diminished but he hadn’t been told anything by either Chad Tracy or someone in the front office. Breslow recognizes that communication isn’t a strong point of his, but it’s gotten to the point that, according to Boston Globe’s Tim Healey, multiple officials within the organization believe that Breslow would benefit from having a “baseball interpreter” to convey his overall message to the players.

This shouldn't need to be said, but the freaking President of Baseball Operations shouldn’t need someone else to convey his message and vision to the team. If Craig Breslow can’t effectively communicate, then he doesn’t need to be in a position of leadership with the team.

What should be the final nail in the coffin for Breslow is the fact that his past two trade deadlines have been absolutely abysmal. I took at look at those deadlines to see if we could figure out what direction Breslow is going to take in 2026 and came up with the following: He struggles to pick a lane and ends up putting the team in a much worse position because of it. To add onto that, ESPN’s Buster Olney went so far as to say that “someone in ownership” was picking up the phone to talk trades with other clubs. While it shouldn’t come as a surprise that ownership has to be involved to sign off on any big trades that occur, they shouldn’t have to be the ones making the calls to get conversations started. Ownership should only be involved at the finish line of a trade, since they need to approve the money moving in each direction. If they don’t trust their front office chief enough to let him negotiate his own trades, why does he still have a job? If he can’t handle one of the most important aspects of his role, he doesn’t need to occupy space in the front office anymore.

Fenway Sports Group has publicly backed Craig Breslow so far this season, and they pretty much have to publicly. They can’t come out and say that they are considering firing him; that’s not practical nor the way you run a business. Remember, they made similar comments around this same time about both Chaim Bloom and Dave Dombrowski during their eventual final seasons with the team. It finally seems like John Henry is frustrated with the direction of the Red Sox if both Sean McAdam and David Ortiz are to be believed. If that’s the case, then the difficult decision needs to be made to move on from Craig Breslow now. If they wait much longer, they run the risk of a trade deadline that is mishandled and delay the ability to start looking for his replacement prior to the 2027 lockout. The time to act is now.

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[JoeBrady]

I seriously doubt Breslow is going anywhere.  No one is going to like to hear it, but his off-season was almost impeccable.  He added Gray, Contreras, Suarez, Durbin, and Bennett.  It doesn't get any better than that.  The only value-added move he could've made, as unlikely as it would have been, would've been to sign Schwarber.

[bobo52]

Agree totally - if you actually look at Breslows moves - they have been fantastic.  The problem is that Trevor Story and Roman Anthony haven't performed/are injured and Duran, Durbin, Mayerhave underperformed so far - looking for a reversion to the mean.  

[Brock Beauchamp]

1 hour ago, bobo52 said:

Agree totally - if you actually look at Breslows moves - they have been fantastic.  The problem is that Trevor Story and Roman Anthony haven't performed/are injured and Duran, Durbin, Mayerhave underperformed so far - looking for a reversion to the mean.  

Welcome to Talk Sox!

[Alex Mayes]

On 6/27/2026 at 2:42 PM, JoeBrady said:

I seriously doubt Breslow is going anywhere.  No one is going to like to hear it, but his off-season was almost impeccable.  He added Gray, Contreras, Suarez, Durbin, and Bennett.  It doesn't get any better than that.  The only value-added move he could've made, as unlikely as it would have been, would've been to sign Schwarber.

I don't disagree that his offseason moves have worked out incredibly well and are realistically the only reason that the team has won many of the games they have this season.

The most damning thing to me is the overvaluation of Duran and his refusal to move him when it was obvious to anyone paying attention he wasn't ever going to be a 7 WAR player again. He created this outfield logjam and refuses to fix it, that alone should be fireable. While I never would have been a fan of the contract Bregman got with the Cubs, Breslow clearly thought Bregman was bluffing and got caught slipping there too. 

If he could only work in the offseason, I think he'd be safe but the past two trade deadlines have proven he has zero feel for the market and shouldn't be trusted to handle it. That's likely why members of FSG, presumably Theo, are the ones making calls about trades instead of Breslow. That, along with the Duran situation, are the main reasons I think he's likely gone after this season. I'd like to see it happen before then, but realistically if they do end up letting him go it will probably be in September like the other two POBOs before him.

[JoeBrady]

19 hours ago, Alex Mayes said:

The most damning thing to me is the overvaluation of Duran and his refusal to move him when it was obvious to anyone paying attention he wasn't ever going to be a 7 WAR player again.

• You don't know if was a refusal to move him, or if no one offered a fair deal.
• The idea that he didn't recognize that Duran was not a 7 WAR player is pretty far afield.  Do you know why?  It's because there are almost no 7 WAR players.  3 players in the past three years have averaged 7 fWAR.
• There is an odd idea, among a lot of fans, that other GMs look at an fWAR score and decide that's what a player is worth.  I'm about 99.9% sure that no one thinks like that, outside of rotisserie, and not usually even then.  My guess is that most GMs thought of him as a 3.5 WAR LF.
• Then there is the matter of kind of needing him.  One can easily make the argument that he was going to be a better DH than Yoshida.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, JoeBrady said:

• You don't know if was a refusal to move him, or if no one offered a fair deal.

While true, I have to think someone offered us more than what he's worth, now.

That is how GM are scored- fairly or unfairly.

[JoeBrady]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

While true, I have to think someone offered us more than what he's worth, now.

That is how GM are scored- fairly or unfairly.

1-I don't think we know what Duran is worth.  Players go up and down all the time.

2-How many people predicted the season he is having?

3-Even if people were inclined to write off Duran completely, he'd still be having a great off-season.  Every team in BB has a player that is under-performing.  They don't get fired for it.

[vegasbob]

On 6/29/2026 at 2:02 PM, Alex Mayes said:

I don't disagree that his offseason moves have worked out incredibly well and are realistically the only reason that the team has won many of the games they have this season.

The most damning thing to me is the overvaluation of Duran and his refusal to move him when it was obvious to anyone paying attention he wasn't ever going to be a 7 WAR player again. He created this outfield logjam and refuses to fix it, that alone should be fireable. While I never would have been a fan of the contract Bregman got with the Cubs, Breslow clearly thought Bregman was bluffing and got caught slipping there too. 

If he could only work in the offseason, I think he'd be safe but the past two trade deadlines have proven he has zero feel for the market and shouldn't be trusted to handle it. That's likely why members of FSG, presumably Theo, are the ones making calls about trades instead of Breslow. That, along with the Duran situation, are the main reasons I think he's likely gone after this season. I'd like to see it happen before then, but realistically if they do end up letting him go it will probably be in September like the other two POBOs before him.

It's a small point but if Breslow had 

moved Duran and then fragile Anthony got injured, as he did, Breslow would have been  blamed for not knowing that would happen. 

Why was Anthony so slow to start and do indecisive that he had to check his swing ?

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, vegasbob said:

It's a small point but if Breslow had 

moved Duran and then fragile Anthony got injured, as he did, Breslow would have been  blamed for not knowing that would happen. 

Why was Anthony so slow to start and do indecisive that he had to check his swing ?

That's part of keeping Duran.  IMO, he is and probably will be a better DH than Yoshida.  But he also provides really good insurance had any of the three regular OFs gotten hurt.

[Alex Mayes]

2 hours ago, vegasbob said:

It's a small point but if Breslow had 

moved Duran and then fragile Anthony got injured, as he did, Breslow would have been  blamed for not knowing that would happen. 

Why was Anthony so slow to start and do indecisive that he had to check his swing ?

Calling Anthony fragile is crazy. He's had two injuries in two seasons, the most recent one being an injury so unique that doctors who deal with hand injures struggled to wrap their heads around it. 

He was slow to start because the league adjusted to him, as it does to every single rookie that gets called up. Calling a check swing indecisive is a weird reach as well. Check swings happen all the time and indecision isn't the likely culprit. 

[Alex Mayes]

8 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

• You don't know if was a refusal to move him, or if no one offered a fair deal.
• The idea that he didn't recognize that Duran was not a 7 WAR player is pretty far afield.  Do you know why?  It's because there are almost no 7 WAR players.  3 players in the past three years have averaged 7 fWAR.
• There is an odd idea, among a lot of fans, that other GMs look at an fWAR score and decide that's what a player is worth.  I'm about 99.9% sure that no one thinks like that, outside of rotisserie, and not usually even then.  My guess is that most GMs thought of him as a 3.5 WAR LF.
• Then there is the matter of kind of needing him.  One can easily make the argument that he was going to be a better DH than Yoshida.

A fair deal is Dylan Cease, the top pitching target of Breslow in the offseason, and Salas, That deal was on the table and Craig said no. That's on him.

I'm aware that a 7 WAR player is rare, but that's the confirmed value that was placed on him at the deadline last year. If other GMs saw him on a 3.5 WAR LF but Craig didn't, that's a huge issue. It's further proof he can't read the trade market and values.

[moonslav59]

4 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

1-I don't think we know what Duran is worth.  Players go up and down all the time.

2-How many people predicted the season he is having?

3-Even if people were inclined to write off Duran completely, he'd still be having a great off-season.  Every team in BB has a player that is under-performing.  They don't get fired for it.

No, we don't know his value. I have yet to hear one name of a player offered for him.

I do think his value has gone down from last winter. Do you disagree?

I suggested many Duran trades over the years, but have never been for handing him away, no matter what the offer. My guess is I valued him more highly than any GM, but maybe it was Brez who said no to some decent offers. We may never know.

[moonslav59]

18 minutes ago, Alex Mayes said:

Calling Anthony fragile is crazy. He's had two injuries in two seasons, the most recent one being an injury so unique that doctors who deal with hand injures struggled to wrap their heads around it. 

He was slow to start because the league adjusted to him, as it does to every single rookie that gets called up. Calling a check swing indecisive is a weird reach as well. Check swings happen all the time and indecision isn't the likely culprit. 

Great points.

One I'd like to add, his "slow start" still leaves him second on the team in OBP,which is what we need from our lead off hitter.

[Old Red]

36 minutes ago, Alex Mayes said:

Calling Anthony fragile is crazy. He's had two injuries in two seasons, the most recent one being an injury so unique that doctors who deal with hand injures struggled to wrap their heads around it. 

He was slow to start because the league adjusted to him, as it does to every single rookie that gets called up. Calling a check swing indecisive is a weird reach as well. Check swings happen all the time and indecision isn't the likely culprit. 

Two injuries are two long injuries in two years is definitely not a good start.

[Old Red]

23 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Great points.

One I'd like to add, his "slow start" still leaves him second on the team in OBP,which is what we need from our lead off hitter.

Whoopie he got some walks, but  he was being counted on for a lot more production than just walking. 1 HR, and 4 RBI is a flop, and thus little Anthony.

[Alex Mayes]

10 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Two injuries are two long injuries in two years is definitely not a good start.

An oblique strain and a torn tendon are injuries that take time to heal. Maybe the team’s focus on insanely quick bat speed could be more to blame than the player. 

[Alex Mayes]

9 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Whoopie he got some walks, but  he was being counted on for a lot more production than just walking. 1 HR, and 4 RBI is a flop, and thus little Anthony.

Once again, the league adjusts to rookies. This isn’t something new. He didn’t have time to adjust back before the injury. He was starting to, but then was shut down. 

[Old Red]

Just now, Alex Mayes said:

Once again, the league adjusts to rookies. This isn’t something new. He didn’t have time to adjust back before the injury. He was starting to, but then was shut down. 

I understand, and agree with that, but to much expectations shouldn’t have been expected, and that’s where I have the problem with.

[Alex Mayes]

47 minutes ago, Old Red said:

I understand, and agree with that, but to much expectations shouldn’t have been expected, and that’s where I have the problem with.

We agree there. That was one of my biggest complaints with the offseason. They looked at a 21 year old and said, “you are the backbone of this team.” It was incredibly shortsighted and out far too much pressure on him to perform. 

[vegasbob]

2 hours ago, Alex Mayes said:

Calling Anthony fragile is crazy. He's had two injuries in two seasons, the most recent one being an injury so unique that doctors who deal with hand injures struggled to wrap their heads around it. 

He was slow to start because the league adjusted to him, as it does to every single rookie that gets called up. Calling a check swing indecisive is a weird reach as well. Check swings happen all the time and indecision isn't the likely culprit. 

I respect your writing  and enjoy the detailed thoughts.

Anthony is fragile because he has missed chunks of his only 2 seasons so far.  That's documented and still 

A check swing is the perfect example of a player changing their mind mid-pitch...serious case of indecision 

[JoeBrady]

2 hours ago, Alex Mayes said:

I'm aware that a 7 WAR player is rare, but that's the confirmed value that was placed on him at the deadline last year.

Where was this confirmed?

[JoeBrady]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I do think his value has gone down from last winter. Do you disagree?

No doubt it's gone down.  But I only consider values at the time trades were being discussed.

[JoeBrady]

23 minutes ago, vegasbob said:

A check swing is the perfect example of a player changing their mind mid-pitch...serious case of indecision 

That's not indecision, because swings aren't really a conscious decision.  It's not like he is deciding between two different entrees.

[Alex Mayes]

36 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

Where was this confirmed?

From Jeff Passan in December: The buzz: The Red Sox are valuing Duran more like the seven-win player of 2024 than his 4-win version in 2025. Either way, his addition can instantaneously make a team better, and Boston can hold out for a big return because the Red Sox don't have to deal him. At some point, though, the Red Sox will have to move Duran or Wilyer Abreu. Keeping full-time-quality players for less than full-time roles rarely works out well.

So not at the deadline, during the offseason. My mistake for attributing it to the deadline.

[Alex Mayes]

28 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

That's not indecision, because swings aren't really a conscious decision.  It's not like he is deciding between two different entrees.

Great way to put that. 

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

On 6/29/2026 at 3:02 PM, Alex Mayes said:

I don't disagree that his offseason moves have worked out incredibly well and are realistically the only reason that the team has won many of the games they have this season.

The most damning thing to me is the overvaluation of Duran and his refusal to move him when it was obvious to anyone paying attention he wasn't ever going to be a 7 WAR player again. He created this outfield logjam and refuses to fix it, that alone should be fireable. While I never would have been a fan of the contract Bregman got with the Cubs, Breslow clearly thought Bregman was bluffing and got caught slipping there too. 

If he could only work in the offseason, I think he'd be safe but the past two trade deadlines have proven he has zero feel for the market and shouldn't be trusted to handle it. That's likely why members of FSG, presumably Theo, are the ones making calls about trades instead of Breslow. That, along with the Duran situation, are the main reasons I think he's likely gone after this season. I'd like to see it happen before then, but realistically if they do end up letting him go it will probably be in September like the other two POBOs before him.

Who would you replace him with as any GM with good credentials doesn't want the job?

[notin]

4 hours ago, Old Red said:

Whoopie he got some walks, but  he was being counted on for a lot more production than just walking. 1 HR, and 4 RBI is a flop, and thus little Anthony.

He was the leadoff hitter.  Does that sound like they wanted RBIs from him?

 

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

8 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Who would you replace him with as any GM with good credentials doesn't want the job?

You do remember that Breslow was the 11th pick.

[notin]

1 minute ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

You do remember that Breslow was the 11th pick.

All right.  All right.  You talked me into it.

Tell Breslow to leave the keys in the desk…