Playing 9 innings with the Red Sox: In hindsight, Craig Breslow got a lot of things right last offseason
Breslow signed three players who were recently named to the American League All-Star team.
Playing nine innings while thinking those early extensions for Ceddanne Rafaela and Brayan Bello look pretty good right now …
1. Beginning in spring training, we’ve spent so much time this Red Sox season parsing the various ways chief baseball officer Craig Breslow bungled the Rafael Devers situation that it’s led to overlooking a bunch of things he got right.
I realized this Monday when I made my weekly appearance on a Maine sports radio show I’ve been going on for more than a decade. For the second week in a row, the first question the hosts asked was whether Breslow’s job would be in jeopardy if the Red Sox do nothing to aid the roster at the trade deadline and flounder in the second half.
It’s not a crazy question in one sense: Ownership, pretty much since Theo Epstein left after the 2011 season, has been unpredictable in when it would make changes in front-office leadership, as Ben Cherington, Dave Dombrowski, and Chaim Bloom can attest. If this team pulled a Wile E. Coyote and heads straight off the cliff in the second half, I suppose it’s plausible that ownership could point a scapegoating finger Breslow’s way.
But that seems about as likely as Will Clark and Will Flemming co-starring in “Step Brothers II: The Bay Area,” for one reason:
Breslow had a mostly excellent offseason.
He traded for the single thing the Red Sox needed most, a legitimate top-of-the-rotation starter, then got Garrett Crochet locked up on a long-term deal. He also signed closer Aroldis Chapman, who has been as reliable as he is electrifying. He signed Alex Bregman, the right thing to do even if Breslow’s handling of the pursuit led to alienating Devers.
That’s three players signed this past offseason that were named to the American League All-Star team this week, which is remarkable. And catcher Carlos Narvaez, swiped from the Yankees in what we thought was a minor deal but has turned out to be a crucial one, should have been a fourth.
No, not everything has worked. Walker Buehler entered Thursday night’s start against the Rays with a 6.20 ERA. But as someone who was all-in on that move, it would be hypocritical to gripe about it now.
But the All-Star roster is confirmation enough for me that Breslow has done good work this season.
2. As someone who grew very tired a generation ago of Dan Duquette trying to fill the No. 2 spot in the rotation behind Pedro Martinez with one scar-armed ex-ace or another, I am all-in on trying to acquire Joe Ryan from the Twins. The 29-year-old righthander would be a perfect fit behind Crochet in the rotation. Ryan is 8-4 with a 2.76 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 104⅓ innings, and is a lot of fun to watch.
3. The highly credible Jon Morosi reported that the Red Sox are one of the teams “monitoring” Ryan. Morosi later reported that the Twins — who entered Thursday three games back for the final wild card — would have to “be out of the AL postseason picture and completely overwhelmed by an offer.” Sox fans should be rooting for a Twins collapse. Ryan is worth a steep — even “overwhelming” — price.
4. In 86 games from 2022-24 with the White Sox, Romy Gonzalez had minus-0.7 WAR, a 65 adjusted OPS, and a .222 batting average. The Red Sox claimed him on waivers in January 2024 to no fanfare. With these Sox, he has been a revelation, especially against lefthanded pitching — he slashed .302/.362/.517 against southpaws last season, and has mauled them this year at an absurd .412/.468/.750 clip in 77 plate appearances. Nice find, Breslow.
5. Breslow should have been able to get more immediate major league help than just reliever Jordan Hicks in the Devers trade with the Giants. But we should be cautious about judging Kyle Harrison’s performance at Worcester. I think all of us — including the front office — underestimates how challenging it is for a pitcher to tweak his repertoire and alter pitch shapes after throwing a certain way for so long.
6. Connor Wong has in essence been the victim of a no-hitter with runners in scoring position this year. The last man standing from the Mookie Betts trade is an unfathomable 0 for 27 with three walks in such situations. I wonder if any trade with the Twins might include taking on Christian Vazquez’s contract.
7. Have to feel good for Trevor Story, who has managed to avoid catastrophic injury this season — feel free to pause here and knock on wood — and is enjoying his most prolonged hot streak as a member of the Red Sox. Since June 1, a span of 34 games, he’s hitting .311 with eight home runs and a .901 OPS in 138 plate appearances.
8. Speaking of hot streaks, I’d like to apologize for suggesting that Rafaela should become the Red Sox’ super-utility guy and cede center field to someone else. Rafaela, who has a .972 OPS and nine homers since June 1, is clearly capable of being the Gold Glove-caliber starting center field and bottom-of-the-order hitter on the next excellent Sox team.
9. Roman Anthony, over his last 12 games entering Thursday: .392/.446/.549. I imagine I’m in the heavy consensus here, but after watching how level-headed and confident he remained as he adjusted to the big leagues, I believe every syllable of the hype that preceded his arrival. His at-bats are already the most interesting thing about this team from game to game.
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