Boston Red Sox
“Theo was an all-forms-of-information guy,” an unnamed evaluator said of Epstein’s style.
Theo Epstein become a part-owner of Fenway Sports Group and a senior adviser to its holdings in 2024. Michael M. Santiago
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As the Red Sox sit in fifth place with losses in six of their last nine games, questions remain about the direction of the franchise.
The Red Sox’ use of analytics is among the topics. According to The Boston Globe’s Tim Healey, the former Red Sox GM-turned adviser has concerns about the team’s approach.
“Theo Epstein has been disappointed by the Sox’ intense analytical direction under [Craig]Breslow, multiple league sources said,” Healey wrote. “A minority owner and adviser who led the franchise to two World Series titles as GM, Epstein has long been a mentor to Breslow, hiring him to the Cubs’ front office and helping him get the Sox job.”
Beslow said in the piece that Epstein “remains a sounding board and valuable resource.’ Epstein returned to the Red Sox last year after an eight year stint as the Cubs’ president of baseball operations and several years as a consultant.
Epstein has three championships as an executive – two with the Red Sox and one with the Cubs. An unnamed evaluator who was with the Red Sox while Epstein was GM said Epstein brought a balanced approach to the job.
“Theo was an all-forms-of-information guy,” the evaluator said. “He didn’t just live on Carmine [their internal database at the time]. He listened to people.”
Breslow was asked about his reliance on analytics in the piece. He said that he seeks information from multiple sources.
“I — we — try to use information to make decisions, try to make consistent decisions, disciplined decisions,” Breslow said. “If you are blindly following a model and knowing that the model is imperfect, you are going to make mistakes.
“The job that I have is to synthesize all of the information sources that we have. And we want to constantly improve all of that information, including a bunch of our models.”
Last year’s Wild Card loss to the Yankees was the Red Sox’ first playoff appearance since Breslow was hired in 2023. With the Red Sox at the bottom of the AL East standings at the beginning of June, Breslow said he doesn’t think about the fate of his job status.
“When you talk about analytics — I can be very practical,” Breslow said. “Which is to say, OK, is thinking about job security going to make me better at my job or worse at my job?” Breslow said. “I don’t know how it would make me better. So I focus on all the things that are part of this job and ultimately get us where we want to go.”
Khari A. Thompson
Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.
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