Craig Breslow: Red Sox CBO

R

radsoxfan

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Smart guy and probably somewhat of a quick riser in the FO ranks. It may work out famously, I don't really have any idea.

But the error bars on his early tenure are frighteningly large. He has so little experience, hopefully he's a quick learner.

I suppose ownership thinks he will be kept in check from above (them) and below (all the underlings they refuse to fire) until he gets his sea legs.
 
Petagine in a Bottle

Petagine in a Bottle

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While it’s true that he’s inexperienced- that’s largely the case of any young up and comer. There are a lot of pluses here (knows the market, familiarity with organization, respect of players, worked in the FO of a similarly rabid market, Theo, etc.) If you really value experience, you end up with a Neal a Huntington or Allard Baird. I think this is largely the way the business of baseball is moving.
 
YTF

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radsoxfan said:
Smart guy and probably somewhat of a quick riser in the FO ranks. It may work out famously, I don't really have any idea.

But the error bars on his early tenure are frighteningly large. He has so little experience, hopefully he's a quick learner.

I suppose ownership thinks he will be kept in check from above (them) and below (all the underlings they refuse to fire) until he gets his sea legs.
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That last sentence reads as though his (sea) legs have already been cut out from beneath him.
 
John Marzano Olympic Hero

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I think I like this hiring (assuming he accepts), there are a lot of positives: seemingly smart dude, played ball, comes from a decent organization.

The one negative is that he’s never done the job before. The last two guys who didn’t have a ton of experience finished last in their division six seasons out of the eight that they were here. In the other hand, the guy prior to those two without any experience turned out to be the best GM the team ever had.

So I think I’m mostly happy about this (assuming that he takes the job), though I do feel a bit bad for Eddie Romero. He should throw a Gatorade jug.
 
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radsoxfan

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YTF said:
That last sentence reads as though his (sea) legs have already been cut out from beneath him.
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Haha, perhaps.

I get the sense, for better or worse, this is a job with a lot of ownership meddling from above and holdover input from below. Probably a big reason so many people declined their overtures.

That's certainly a negative in some ways, but for someone as inexperienced as Breslow, maybe it will work out OK in the short term.

Clearly they are valuing his long term potential instead of trying to find a steady hand Day 1.
 
chawson

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First thought, I wonder if hiring Breslow kind of insulates the front office from the degree of criticism they'd get hiring a true outside candidate.

Second, despite their public position that the search for Bloom's replacement would be long and thorough, is it possible that ownership prioritized Breslow, and that other potential candidates were aware of that? I don't think we'll know, but it would help explain some things. Including why Cora's job was never in question, given that they know each other pretty well.
 
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TheYellowDart5

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Would've been nice to get someone who's done roster building but if not that, at least Breslow is someone with experience improving an organization's pitching development, which the last FO struggled with at both the major league and farm system level. I worry that the issue that in part sunk Bloom — win now but without ownership's full resources or support — will still be an issue. I don't know that Breslow points in any direction given his lack of resume on the GM side of things. Makes me think the next step is finding an AGM on another team to give them the full GM job and do the roster building but working under Breslow who's in charge of org-wide philosophy. It's an investment in the future and Breslow is gonna need time given the lack of high level pitching talent in the org and available on the market beyond Yamamoto. It's all on whether ownership understands that and gives him that time, and whether Cora can get on board with that.
 
DennyDoyle'sBoil

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Hank Scorpio said:
One thing I remember about Craig Breslow from his playing time here, is Joe Castiglione once gushing about how brilliant he is. Hopefully that translates to him being a successful COBO/HOBO/POBO (whatever we're calling it). I do think this affirms the need for an 'experienced' GM, even if it's promoting one of Romero/O'Halloran/Groopman. But I also wonder if this hire will lead to at least some of that trio to seek other opportunities.
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I seem to remember in game threads there were a lot of jokes about how smart he was. "They must not teach the cutter at Yale," stuff like that.
 
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Return of the Dewey

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It’s certainly not a great determinative factor, but I like the idea of someone who has lived his life around Sox fans. He grew up in Trumbull, and I don’t know if he was a fan, but he at least was at least within the frontlines of Sox/Yankee rivalry. Plus, he played within it. I know the FO is not supposed to make decisions based upon fandom, but I do think it should be a factor in decision making. I think it’s one of the many things that Theo was good at.
 
simplicio

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I like that their choice is a former pitcher going into an offseason where the foremost need is pitching.

Maybe he can call in Koji to help recruit Yamamoto.
 
AB in DC

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RSG sure has a particular type they're looking for -- Theo, Bloom, Breslow all fitting the young, brainy, and analytics-minded mold.

Let's home he does better than the last CBO named C_ai_.
 
GPO Man

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Let’s see what he can do here. I like his pitching mind and the potential ability to rebuild the staff. Hopefully in three years, he still has his job and the Sox are in the postseason.
 
soxhop411

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View: https://twitter.com/redsoxstats/status/1716990551034073483?s=46

The Cubs were lacking in those areas, particularly on the pitching side. Homegrown pitchers who were either drafted or signed as international free agents by the organization - and then made their debuts between 2013 to 2019 — accumulated a total of 178 1/3 innings during that time.


In 2023 alone, the Cubs accumulated 417 1/3 innings from pitchers who debuted after spending a full year in Breslow's program. That doesn't include Cubs closer Adbert Alzolay, who developed a nasty slider in 2020 at the alternate training site, a pitch Breslow pointed to as "proof of concept" of their methods having staying power.


When the Cubs did an organization-wide assessment of their pitching development after 2018, they found some concerning trends. Very few pitchers they were drafting were increasing velocity and some were even slowing down. That's a thing of the past.


In 2023, Cubs minor-league pitchers (accounting for all full-season levels) were tops in average fastball velocity and second in” stuff" metrics.
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RG33

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This is the greatest LOOGY the Sox signed for HOBO in team history, I believe.
 
Bernard Gilkey baby

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Will Caesar Crespo join the front office, too?

I don’t doubt his analytical abilities or intelligence. But that’s not what the Red Sox have been missing.

I’m most interested in seeing if he’s aggressive. Is this a guy who can sign stars? Sorry to be a radio listener here, but I’m missing the players that we’d stop whatever we were doing just to watch.
 
SouthernBoSox

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I’ve thought about this a ton and I think the new CBO having player experience is as almost a prerequisite.

There was a massive player divide and disconnect to the FO under Bloom and this seems counter to that.

The unknowns are massive
 
67YAZ

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Well, it’s only 4 years…

High risk, high reward. Will be very interested to see what he negotiated for FO structure given the number of key holdovers. How many high level positions did he carve out? How many more positions down through the operations? How many people will he bring over from Chicago?

There’s going to be a ton of learning & adjusting on the fly this year, but probably a deeper, more thorough overhaul next winter once Breslow has a grasp on things.

I’m going to predict that agents will leak Red Sox “interest” at every turn this winter (more so than usual) because Breslow is an unknown quantity. Every rumor will seem like something the new guy might do! Should be a wild ride.
 
StuckOnYouk

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Love that snippet about the cubs pitching in the minors doing a complete 180 during his tenure.
Give me some of that.
 
AlNipper49

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I can remember going to school in CT and reading about his Trumbull, CT teams. In other news, I kind of feel old.
 
JM3

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SouthernBoSox said:
https://x.com/redsoxstats/status/1716990551034073483?s=46

I posted a few weeks ago about this and was contested. Very few teams get more out of homegrown pitchers than the Cubs right now.
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I mean, it's still not true. But these things take time, & they should be soon.

As I mentioned, 4 of their top 5 guys in innings were not home grown. For comparison purposes, 3 of the Red Sox top 5 guys in innings this season were home grown.
 
SouthernBoSox

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JM3 said:
I mean, it's still not true. But these things take time, & they should be soon.

As I mentioned, 4 of their top 5 guys in innings were not home grown. For comparison purposes, 3 of the Red Sox top 5 guys in innings this season were home grown.
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What’s not true? He’s drastically drastically increased the pitching pipeline of the Cubs to the point where they had a significant contribution from home grown players after going a decade with none.

What’s not true?
 
JM3

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SouthernBoSox said:
What’s not true? He’s drastically drastically increased the pitching pipeline of the Cubs to the point where they had a significant contribution from home grown players after going a decade with none.

What’s not true?
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I'm too lazy to look into every pitcher on the roster on my phone right now, but including the homegrown guy with 40 innings & above, they have 387 homegrown innings this year.

The Red Sox, who have been slammed for their lack of pitching development, had 441 innings from homegrown pitchers with 40+ innings.

You keep making statements about their homegrown MLB pitchers which are factually untrue to the point I feel obligated to correct them... even though I'm in favor of this hire.

You just said "very few teams get more out of their homegrown pitchers than the Cubs right now".
 
JimD

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Cautiously optimistic about this hire. It could be great - I mean, who saw Billy Beane becoming a great executive based on his background as a failed prospect? Breslow is described as having strong beliefs and convictions, and supposedly he was hired by Theo to help shake up the Cubs' player-development process, so he might be just what this team and their group of long-term veteran executives need right now. We can hope.
 
JM3

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Three of the 4 homegrown Cubs pitchers with 40+ innings have been great, though, & they combine for 8.0 bWAR. Which is better than the 7.0 bWAR for the Red Sox 4some, but isn't going to be on the level of other teams.

But anyway, in 1-2 years I think your statement will be correct for the Cubs, & hopefully getting there for the Red Sox.
 
JimD

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Cautiously optimistic about this hire. It could be great - I mean, who saw Billy Beane becoming a great executive based on his background as a failed prospect? Breslow is described as having strong beliefs and convictions, and supposedly he was hired by Theo to help shake up the Cubs' player-development process, so he might be just what this team and their group of long-term veteran executives need right now. We can hope.
 
nvalvo

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StuckOnYouk said:
Love that snippet about the cubs pitching in the minors doing a complete 180 during his tenure.
Give me some of that.
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They made a borderline ace out of a number five pick with a 92 mph fastball. They’re doing something right.

I think this is kind of insane, but I like it better than any of the options other than Romero, whom I’d have probably picked. Definitely not playing it safe!
 
Yo La Tengo

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Bold move.

I like it. Breslow knows what he doesn’t know.

He is landing in a strong spot- Sox are positioned for success starting next year.
Do it!
 
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