I keep coming back to this, because there are really only one or two explanations.
1. Breslow is as smart as he thinks he is.
If that’s true, then he had to know exactly how the last 14 months were going to play out with the Devers–Bregman situation. None of this would be accidental. Anyone paying attention knew how fans would react to trading Devers for a bag of peanuts. But if you sign Bregman, and make it a one year $40 million contract you can get off of the whole thing . It created the optics needed to justify trading away a generational hitter with 7 to 8 years of control remaining. If that was the plan, then he executed his mandate perfectly:
“clear payroll, reset the books, we’ll sign a bunch of guys we ALREADY have 5 years of control over, nonetheless sign them to big extensions increase our AAV Payroll ……. so Sam Kennedy can get on the mic at fan fest, and tout how this ownership has spent $498 million.” Such a bunch of hogwash.
2. Breslow isn’t as smart as he thinks he is.
In that case, none of this went according to plan—and it shows. It exposes how outclassed he is at building a culture, understanding emotional intelligence, selling a long-term vision, and convincing BOTH ownership and elite free agents that this organization knows where it’s headed. And I sure hope the media/fan. Don’t let them off the hook.
Either way, the result is the same. Nothing about this tenure has been inspiring. At best, it’s calculated austerity. At worst, it’s gross organizational malfeasance. And so far, it’s been beyond underwhelming.