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

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

8 minutes ago, notin said:

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

Tell Breslow to leave the keys in the desk…

CBO Notin. It has a good ring to it.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

13 minutes ago, notin said:

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

Tell Breslow to leave the keys in the desk…

Alicia Keys?

[Yaz Fan Since 67]

On 6/27/2026 at 3:42 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'm frankly stunned to read this, then doubly stunned when the next poster agreed with you.  

How anyone can say his offseason was impeccable is beyond me.  He added Contras and built a very good starting rotation. That's it, that's the list.  You are what your record says you are.

We all knew going into spring training that this was not a contending lineup.  They had zero hitters that scared anyone, they put way too much stock into unproven talent and people like Trevor Story who has never produced here.  I had serious concerns about the pen outside of Whit and Chapman, they are worse than I even imagined and it just ain't that hard to find decent 6th inning guys. 

When someone uses Durbin as an example, a player who has hovered around the Mendosa Line all season and proclaims "it doesn't get any better than that" I really don't know how to respond.  

The question is what now? I firmly believed all season that with the turnover at the GM spot, and given how candidates rejected the Red Sox over this, they had no choice but to keep him.  But he is responsible for this last place roster and now I believe he simply must go. 

,

[Alex Mayes]

8 hours ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

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

I actually think that's now overblown. Yes, the team struggled to get applicants and Breslow wasn't their first choice, but it seems that Alex Cora's presence as the manager may have been one of the driving factors in that. I don't have any first hand accounts of that but the fact that Cora essentially got Bloom fired and was well known to be in Henry's ear was likely a deterrent to anyone who would have applied. You saw the same pattern with Breslow this year before Cora was fired. He was taking veiled shots in the media and hadn't yet moved on to getting shirts made that had quotes from Breslow on them like he did Bloom, but it was probably coming. Breslow is an intelligent man, saw what was starting to happen, likely talked to Bloom because they are friends, and instead went to Henry and co first.

I've said since the day he was fired that when Breslow is let go, Cora is likely leading the pack to replace him as POBO/GM/whatever the title is. In hindsight, they should have just promoted Toboni to the position instead of refusing to give him the GM title under Breslow and losing him to the Nats.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Breslow literally said he needed to add more bats last winter, which he failed to do.

Many of us posted all offseason our concerns with the batting order, especially after the one that faced the Yankees in the playoffs.

And then the season began and continues with the worst offensive team any living Red Sox fans can ever remember seeing. 

(Yet, there were a few who bought into the Brez blab that Boston could win with pitching and D... and more than a few who predicted 90-plus Ws).

Overall, the rotation has been good, but we all know the club probably won't even finish .500 unless they add some legitimate big league lumber. The question remains: is it even worth the cost at this point? It's July.

[notin]

13 hours 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.

And what exactly were those expectations and from whom?

And if your only problem was expectations, why did you repeatedly call him a flop and “Little Anthony” and refuse any positive commentary on him?  

[UtahSox]

15 minutes ago, Yaz Fan Since 67 said:

I'm frankly stunned to read this, then doubly stunned when the next poster agreed with you.  

How anyone can say his offseason was impeccable is beyond me.  He added Contras and built a very good starting rotation. That's it, that's the list.  You are what your record says you are.

We all knew going into spring training that this was not a contending lineup.  They had zero hitters that scared anyone, they put way too much stock into unproven talent and people like Trevor Story who has never produced here.  I had serious concerns about the pen outside of Whit and Chapman, they are worse than I even imagined and it just ain't that hard to find decent 6th inning guys. 

When someone uses Durbin as an example, a player who has hovered around the Mendosa Line all season and proclaims "it doesn't get any better than that" I really don't know how to respond.  

The question is what now? I firmly believed all season that with the turnover at the GM spot, and given how candidates rejected the Red Sox over this, they had no choice but to keep him.  But he is responsible for this last place roster and now I believe he simply must go. 

,

2 thoughts first on Breslow second on ownership.

1- I tend to agree, that Breslow must go. I’ll explain why…..ownership has definitely put a divider between him and them and you can see the divider being built from the day he fired Cora. Dead man walking sign to me. 

My analysis: His errors of commission: He botched communication with Diva Devers, He continues to overvalue Narvaez, undervalues Masa, should have never signed Roman/Campbell to extension deals yet. (My stance on signing Roman to that deal has never waivered).

Errors of Omission: should have traded Mayer and Duran. Breslow went into offseason needing a big bat via free agency/ trade. WC40 offset the AB bat but we needed 1 More big bat…. His “models and analytics” drastically underestimated the value of productive bats.

A decent year 1 return on WC40, Sonny, Bennett, and Ranger doesn’t make up for the fact that he created the offensive catastrophe by not signing a big bat. Durbin is far from a success story so far, has shown promise as of late. Breslow still hasn’t course corrected on bat, despite saying management saying things like “we are willing to take on money in a longer contract”..

conclusion he needs to be fired: Adios Amigo

2- We need management/ownership to focus a little bit more on 2027 season, less on having cap flexibility and value add contracts in 2031. 

[UtahSox]

12 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Breslow literally said he needed to add more bats last winter, which he failed to do.

Many of us posted all offseason our concerns with the batting order, especially after the one that faced the Yankees in the playoffs.

And then the season began and continues with the worst offensive team any living Red Sox fans can ever remember seeing. 

(Yet, there were a few who bought into the Brez blab that Boston could win with pitching and D... and more than a few who predicted 90-plus Ws).

Overall, the rotation has been good, but we all know the club probably won't even finish .500 unless they add some legitimate big league lumber. The question remains: is it even worth the cost at this point? It's July.

Amen 100% agree

[UtahSox]

40 minutes ago, Alex Mayes said:

I actually think that's now overblown. Yes, the team struggled to get applicants and Breslow wasn't their first choice, but it seems that Alex Cora's presence as the manager may have been one of the driving factors in that. I don't have any first hand accounts of that but the fact that Cora essentially got Bloom fired and was well known to be in Henry's ear was likely a deterrent to anyone who would have applied. You saw the same pattern with Breslow this year before Cora was fired. He was taking veiled shots in the media and hadn't yet moved on to getting shirts made that had quotes from Breslow on them like he did Bloom, but it was probably coming. Breslow is an intelligent man, saw what was starting to happen, likely talked to Bloom because they are friends, and instead went to Henry and co first.

I've said since the day he was fired that when Breslow is let go, Cora is likely leading the pack to replace him as POBO/GM/whatever the title is. In hindsight, they should have just promoted Toboni to the position instead of refusing to give him the GM title under Breslow and losing him to the Nats.

I don’t think it’s overblown. In my industry you have 2 types of management 1. Fear of making mistakes asset preservation management. 2. Celebrating the wins/ taking risks asset acquisition management. What do you think has shifted in Boston? And what type of management directive are Red Sox following since 2020? 
 

Dodgers have bad contracts everywhere, Tucker might be the worst value add all time, but they focus on the wins and keep pushing. Padres definitely have some clouds looming on their balance sheet, but they have increased love/ interest in that team year after year because they take chances. Guess which type attracts good talent?

[Hitch]

16 minutes ago, notin said:

And what exactly were those expectations and from whom?

And if your only problem was expectations, why did you repeatedly call him a flop and “Little Anthony” and refuse any positive commentary on him?  

Old Red seems to have issues keeping a consistent line on most things tbf. 

Apart from his obsession with Moon. He's very consistent with that. 

[Alex Mayes]

35 minutes ago, UtahSox said:

I don’t think it’s overblown. In my industry you have 2 types of management 1. Fear of making mistakes asset preservation management. 2. Celebrating the wins/ taking risks asset acquisition management. What do you think has shifted in Boston? And what type of management directive are Red Sox following since 2020? 
 

Dodgers have bad contracts everywhere, Tucker might be the worst value add all time, but they focus on the wins and keep pushing. Padres definitely have some clouds looming on their balance sheet, but they have increased love/ interest in that team year after year because they take chances. Guess which type attracts good talent?

At the time it was absolutely something to worry about. Now though, I think it's still a pretty attractive job to people. I also think the fact that you now have Henry out in public frequently, making sure to be seen is a huge indicator that things are changing within FSG again. I believe Ortiz when he says he's talked with John and John is worried about what's going on. Papi is employed by the team and he wouldn't have said it, and then doubled down on it, without knowing John is okay with that getting out. That was followed by Olney echoing the same thing. Then you have Kennedy who is ever the optimist, essentially saying, 'yeah, things are bad here and we are going to have to do some real searching for what the correct path forward is.' That's telling to me.

Your point about the Dodgers and Padres is accurate. They attract the talent and, at least with the Dodgers, that talent gets them to the World Series year after year. I think the reason Boston isn't attracting the talent right now is mainly Breslow. Every agent knows that he's following a very limited scope of algorithms to make his decisions so if their guy doesn't fit into those systems, they don't even engage. Once you have a POBO/GM who understands the value of analytics along with the human intangibles, things begin to correct themselves. 

[drewski6]

12 hours ago, Alex Mayes said:

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.

But they do have full time jobs for both players due to Romans injury.....So I dont think its 100% fair to be like Jeff Passan had some incredible wisdom/foresight and we should have listened.

I agree that Breslow is set to end on a whimper, but I dont agree with that this belief is married to a debate about when and where we should have traded Duran.  Not necessarily saying we shouldnt have traded Duran but I am saying that we dont need to look too far beyond the standings and the stories of less than stellar leadership and making the culture/locker room toxic

[drewski6]

1 hour ago, Alex Mayes said:

I actually think that's now overblown. Yes, the team struggled to get applicants and Breslow wasn't their first choice, but it seems that Alex Cora's presence as the manager may have been one of the driving factors in that. I don't have any first hand accounts of that but the fact that Cora essentially got Bloom fired and was well known to be in Henry's ear was likely a deterrent to anyone who would have applied. You saw the same pattern with Breslow this year before Cora was fired. He was taking veiled shots in the media and hadn't yet moved on to getting shirts made that had quotes from Breslow on them like he did Bloom, but it was probably coming. Breslow is an intelligent man, saw what was starting to happen, likely talked to Bloom because they are friends, and instead went to Henry and co first.

I've said since the day he was fired that when Breslow is let go, Cora is likely leading the pack to replace him as POBO/GM/whatever the title is. In hindsight, they should have just promoted Toboni to the position instead of refusing to give him the GM title under Breslow and losing him to the Nats.

Maybe, I think they should have made Cora the CBO.  Part of that is because I am a Celtics fan and I didnt thin Brad was a great coach, but thought he was great when he kind of "failed up into a promotion"

[drewski6]

But of course Im open to the obvious counter : just because Brad went from coach to front office, doesnt mean it would work for Cora....Because they are two different people , and two different sports, and two different organizations....But I was down to give Cora a try, and I do believe he would have done well in that role, and I do agree that was a big contributing factor to Breslow kicking him to the curb.

[Old Red]

1 hour ago, notin said:

And what exactly were those expectations and from whom?

And if your only problem was expectations, why did you repeatedly call him a flop and “Little Anthony” and refuse any positive commentary on him?  

Did you see the pre-game on Saturday on a National TV network who talked about the BIG 3 and said they flopped? It’s everywhere, it’s everywhere that people are calling little Anthony, Mayer, and KC floppers. Whether you like that, or not that’s what’s out there. You can cry all you want that I haven’t said anything so called positive about little Anthony. He looked like a little leaguer in the outfield, and stood there too many times with the bat on his shoulders taking strike three before he got hurt, but he did draw some walks, so Whoopie. little Anthony it will be.😭

[Old Red]

1 hour ago, Hitch said:

Old Red seems to have issues keeping a consistent line on most things tbf. 

Apart from his obsession with Moon. He's very consistent with that. 

Thanks for the shoutout.

[notin]

1 minute ago, Old Red said:

Did you see the pre-game on Saturday on a National TV network who talked about the BIG 3 and said they flopped? It’s everywhere, it’s everywhere that people are calling little Anthony, Mayer, and KC floppers. Whether you like that, or not that’s what’s out there. You can cry all you want that I haven’t said anything so called positive about little Anthony. He looked like a little leaguer in the outfield, and stood there too many times with the bat on his shoulders taking strike three before he got hurt, but he did draw some walks, so Whoopie. little Anthony it will be.😭

Calling Anthony a flop is just either ignorant or short-sighted and any national broadcaster saying that is clearly an idiot.  Hes 22 years old , has 433 plate appearances and a career OPS .804.  Thats not flopping by any means and anyone saying so clearly had much higher expectations.  Odd that you say you don’t like  the expectations put on Anthony but you clearly side with the ones who have them.  And if your comeback is you only care about this year, calling a player a flop based solely on 130 PA is even worse.  
 

Fun point - never answered whose expectations? Ours? Why does that bother anyone? Breslow’s? I could see the issue but I don’t know what his expectations were.  This off-season the front office seemed to talk up Abreu as their potenetial breakout star more than Anthony.  The WBC guys loved Anthony, but who cares? That impacted nothing and he backed everything up in that tournament anyway…

[notin]

25 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

But they do have full time jobs for both players due to Romans injury.....So I dont think its 100% fair to be like Jeff Passan had some incredible wisdom/foresight and we should have listened.

I agree that Breslow is set to end on a whimper, but I dont agree with that this belief is married to a debate about when and where we should have traded Duran.  Not necessarily saying we shouldnt have traded Duran but I am saying that we dont need to look too far beyond the standings and the stories of less than stellar leadership and making the culture/locker room toxic

They kind of needed to trade Duran if the plan was to acquire a “big bat.”  And cries that they “overvalued him” always come from the same people who get critical f the Sox don’t get enough back in trades…

[Bellhorn04]

26 minutes ago, notin said:

Calling Anthony a flop is just either ignorant or short-sighted and any national broadcaster saying that is clearly an idiot.  Hes 22 years old , has 433 plate appearances and a career OPS .804.  Thats not flopping by any means and anyone saying so clearly had much higher expectations.  Odd that you say you don’t like  the expectations put on Anthony but you clearly side with the ones who have them.  And if your comeback is you only care about this year, calling a player a flop based solely on 130 PA is even worse.  
 

Fun point - never answered whose expectations? Ours? Why does that bother anyone? Breslow’s? I could see the issue but I don’t know what his expectations were.  This off-season the front office seemed to talk up Abreu as their potenetial breakout star more than Anthony.  The WBC guys loved Anthony, but who cares? That impacted nothing and he backed everything up in that tournament anyway…

Anthony does not meet the criteria for a flop.  But the injuries are deeply concerning to say the least, especially since they both seem to be connected with swinging the bat. 

[Old Red]

22 minutes ago, notin said:

Calling Anthony a flop is just either ignorant or short-sighted and any national broadcaster saying that is clearly an idiot.  Hes 22 years old , has 433 plate appearances and a career OPS .804.  Thats not flopping by any means and anyone saying so clearly had much higher expectations.  Odd that you say you don’t like  the expectations put on Anthony but you clearly side with the ones who have them.  And if your comeback is you only care about this year, calling a player a flop based solely on 130 PA is even worse.  
 

Fun point - never answered whose expectations? Ours? Why does that bother anyone? Breslow’s? I could see the issue but I don’t know what his expectations were.  This off-season the front office seemed to talk up Abreu as their potenetial breakout star more than Anthony.  The WBC guys loved Anthony, but who cares? That impacted nothing and he backed everything up in that tournament anyway…

You can make all the excuses you want for little Anthony, it doesn’t matter if he’s 22, 32, or 42. It doesn’t matter if he has 433 AB, 1433 AB, or 5000 AB. He’s getting judged on what he’s doing now, or before he hurt his pinky doing that pinky swear with Mayer. What he did last year doesn’t matter. What he did in the WBC doesn’t matter. It’s what he did before he got hurt THIS Year in the games that was counting. You just can’t comprehend that. Just because other people don’t agree with you you call them idiots, and like I’ve been telling you there are many,  many out there. No one is saying little Anthony won’t be a good ball player, but at the moment, this year so far he’s been a major disappointment, and a flop. It’s everywhere. It’s everywhere.🤫

[Old Red]

5 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Anthony does not meet the criteria for a flop.  But the injuries are deeply concerning to say the least, especially since they both seem to be connected with swinging the bat. 

I’m just reporting what is being said out there. I know many on here can’t stand to hear one of the Golden Boys being criticized, but I go to many different venues to get as many different views, and opinions that I can, and there is not one who hasn’t criticized little Anthony before he got hurt, and getting hurt again has just added to the frustration along with the record of the team. As I keep saying here, and now.

[JoeBrady]

13 hours ago, Alex Mayes said:

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

It's is kind of a big deal.  At the TDL, it would've made more sense to value Duran closer to his 9.0 bWAR.  By the end of the season, even a 4.9 would seem slightly optimistic.  But I don't really believe Passan anyway.

[JoeBrady]

3 hours ago, Yaz Fan Since 67 said:

How anyone can say his offseason was impeccable is beyond me. 

What moves did you disagree with?

[Old Red]

18 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

What moves did you disagree with?

The one where they didn’t land a BIG bat. A BIG bat would have helped the team more than Ranger has.

[moonslav59]

16 hours ago, Alex Mayes said:

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. 

Nobody said anyone was the backbone of the 2026 team, except maybe about Crochet. He was viewed as a major foundation piece for the extended future, but anyone who knows baseball would never say he will be the star or 2026 in just his 350th to 1,000th PA of his career.

There was a ton of hope Anthony would turn out to be great, but nobody was certain it would begin in year 2 of his career.

 

[Alex Mayes]

47 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

It's is kind of a big deal.  At the TDL, it would've made more sense to value Duran closer to his 9.0 bWAR.  By the end of the season, even a 4.9 would seem slightly optimistic.  But I don't really believe Passan anyway.

I acknowledged I misspoke, but the point remains pretty much the same. If he was worth 9 bWAR at the deadline and you could have gotten a front line starter PLUS a top four prospect, you should have done it. 

Passan is the most trusted voice in the sport for a reason. 

[moonslav59]

46 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

What moves did you disagree with?

The only one I can disagree with is the one not made: for another big bat.

Perhaps the Oviedo trade, which an injury makes look unsuccessful, could have been done with additional players to get a better bat than we have now.

Suarez, Gray and Contreras have been very good to great moves, so far.

The Durbin, Seager & Monasterio trade is looking better than it did a few weeks back.

IKF and Coulombe look okay or decent.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, notin said:

They kind of needed to trade Duran if the plan was to acquire a “big bat.”  And cries that they “overvalued him” always come from the same people who get critical f the Sox don’t get enough back in trades…

The one "undo" might have been Duran+ Jh Garcia + Travieso for a better bat.

(No Oviedo)

[Alex Mayes]

1 minute ago, moonslav59 said:

Nobody said anyone was the backbone of the 2026 team, except maybe about Crochet. He was viewed as a major foundation piece for the extended future, but anyone who knows baseball would never say he will be the star or 2026 in just his 350th to 1,000th PA of his career.

There was a ton of hope Anthony would turn out to be great, but nobody was certain it would begin in year 2 of his career.

 

You're right, no one was certain it would begin in year two but Breslow put a roster together with him as the main offensive weapon heading into his year two season.

I'm a huge Anthony fan and expect him to be a star so I think that we're on the same page, but he had a lot of pressure put on him when Breslow failed to acquire another bat to pair with him and Contreras.

[Alex Mayes]

2 hours ago, drewski6 said:

Maybe, I think they should have made Cora the CBO.  Part of that is because I am a Celtics fan and I didnt thin Brad was a great coach, but thought he was great when he kind of "failed up into a promotion"

I agree with you 100%. I said when they inked Cora to the extension that they purpose of that was to get his timeline to match up with Breslow's so when they moved on from Bres at the end of his contract, Cora could slide into that position. if they knew Cora would accept the position today, I think Breslow would be gone already.

I think it's telling Cora is still interacting with Sox things on social media and has been seen out with members of FSG since his firing. He still owns his house in Boston as well. Anecdotal, but something to pay attention to.