Boston Red Sox
Breslow’s ability to identify and acquire talent, especially the unheralded kind, forces us to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Craig Breslow fired Alex Cora and several coaches earlier this season. Barry Chin/The Boston Globe
July 30, 2026 | 7:43 AM
4 minutes to read
COMMENTARY
You know, I’m not sure I like this clever, savvy-dealmaking version of Craig Breslow that we’ve been seeing pretty much since the offseason.
After all, the true favorite sport in New England is not baseball or hockey or anything else. The actual favorite sport is second-guessing the so-called brain trust of our favorite teams, especially when such second-guessing proves valid.
One of the effects of the Red Sox’ extraordinary six-week roll — which may or may not still be underway — is that we had to acknowledge that Breslow knows what he’s doing, and perhaps he truly has grown into a job that he wasn’t quite ready for when he accepted it.
He’s ruining our complaining with his competence, I tell you!
Fine, I’m being facetious, mostly. It’s a blessing that these Red Sox have stopped ruining our summer, even as they’ve muted our good, old-fashioned Boston sports fan cynicism. Good thing there’s still the Jaylen Brown deal for most of you to yelp about.
It really is a staggering turnaround, for the ball club and the perception of the person who put it together.
Breslow, who is in his third season as the Red Sox’ chief baseball officer, was much-maligned, and often justifiably, during the first two years of his tenure and a few months into his third. He was 0 for 2 at executing productive trade deadlines, for one thing. His decisions were easy to doubt. He practically invited doubt.
Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has noted the Red Sox have a “window of contention.”
When the Red Sox got off to a miserable start this season, firing longtime manager Alex Cora after 10 wins in their first 27 games and still wallowing 14 games under .500 (32-46) after a loss to the Rockies on June 24, it was more than fair to ask whether the next seismic change should be Breslow’s own departure.
Then came a plot twist that even the most optimistic among us could not have anticipated: The Red Sox became a juggernaut. The starting rotation suddenly morphed into a tribute to the ’90s Braves, the defense dazzled, and the offense hit … well, enough to stack win upon win upon win.
Entering Wednesday, the Red Sox had gone 23-5 since that aforementioned June date, including a 15-game winning streak that tied a franchise record set in 1946, when 27-year-old Ted Williams led the American League champions to 104 wins.
So many of Breslow’s moves that were greeted with doubt by the media and fan base have turned out to be good-to-excellent decisions. I already mentioned in a recent column that Willson Contreras is the most productive hitter to change teams in the offseason, and Sonny Gray has been one of the most successful pitchers that joined a new team.
The early-season loathing of the deal with that sent talented lefthander Kyle Harrison to the Brewers for what seemed like three utility infielder types suddenly has rotated approximately 178 degrees from its perception two months ago. After a brutal start, slick-fielding third baseman Caleb Durbin has had the most drastic positive turnaround in the fans’ perception since, oh, probably John Lackey in 2013.
Breslow has won some seemingly little moves, the kind that when they are executed warrant a line or two in a notebook or the transactions agate, but not much more. The mid-December challenge trade with the Nationals that sent out Luis Perales and brought in lefty Jake Bennett looks like a big win. And the January signing of 35-year-old reliever Tyron Guerrero — who hadn’t pitched in the majors since 2019, when he had a 6.26 ERA for the Marlins – has been a masterstroke.
Breslow’s ability to identify and acquire talent — especially the unheralded and overlooked kind — has had another interesting effect: It forces us to give him the benefit of the doubt.
My initial reaction Saturday night when word broke that Breslow had traded promising lefthander Connelly Early to the Nationals for 25-year-old infielder Curtis Mead was something along these lines: “Wait, that’s all he got?”
I really enjoyed watching Early pitch. But the more I read up on Mead — a late-blooming prospect with power and a surprisingly low strikeout rate — the more I got it.
It’s such a bummer that a fastball from the Athletics’ Jack Perkins busted Mead’s wrist on his second plate appearance with the Red Sox, and not just because it made all of us old-timers flash back to the Tigers’ Vern Ruhle ending Red Sox rookie sensation Jim Rice’s season the same way in 1975.
Curtis Mead’s debut with the Red Sox was cut short after he was hit by a pitch in the fourth inning, eventually forcing him from the game. – Scott Marshall
The Red Sox didn’t just need Mead, who hit 17 home runs for the Nationals this season. They needed Mead plus at least one more righthanded bat in a lineup obviously in need of reinforcement despite the team’s excellence lately.
It’s going to be fascinating to see how the presumably emboldened Breslow navigates the hours leading up to Monday’s trade deadline. The degree of difficulty is high — it’s a seller’s market for bats, as the Early/Mead deal demonstrated. And there’s pressure on Breslow to succeed at this deadline after his first two were duds and get genuine help for a team that deserves it.
All indications suggest that the Red Sox are looking for an upgrade at shortstop. Put me down as in favor of sending Marcelo Mayer and assorted other pieces to the Angels for Zach Neto. Mayer was born to play for the Angels (derogatory), and Neto can give the Red Sox some pop in a younger, healthier Trevor Story kind of way.
I’d also like to see the Red Sox pick up George Springer from the Blue Jays to join the outfield/designated hitter mix.
Whomever Breslow acquires, here’s hoping the newcomer makes it to at least three plate appearances. It’s the least we can ask.
