Boston Red Sox
Breslow faced some tough questions about the state of the team and his role in what has transpired this season during a recent radio interview.
Craig Breslow has had to answer plenty of difficult questions regarding the roster he assembled last offseason. AP Photo/David Zalubowski
June 26, 2026 | 6:08 PM
4 minutes to read
Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has been adamant that he will not wave the white flag on his team’s last-place season.
The Red Sox have been swept by divisional opponents twice in June and are coming off an embarrassing series loss to the Colorado Rockies.
Breslow said he still believes Boston can turn things around, as he expressed in an interview on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” Friday morning.
“We have to win a lot of baseball games and we don’t have a ton of time to do it,” Breslow said of the 33-46 Red Sox, who are last place in the American League East and five games back of the A.L.’s third wild-card spot. “I believe that we’re capable of doing it. It’s going to require more consistent play on the field. But I see no reason that with the pitching that we have and the consistency of the starting pitching, with the strength of the backend of the bullpen, we can’t get ourselves in a position where we do win these games.”
However, Breslow — whose job security is likely up in the air despite public backing by team president Sam Kennedy earlier this month — acknowledged there’s a reality where Boston fails to string wins together as the August 3 trade deadline approaches.
“We’re constantly assessing where we are in terms of what’s happening in Fenway Park and with our team on the field, and what’s happening around us. But we have to be realistic about where we are, and it’s true that we can believe in the roster that we have,” Breslow said. “We can believe in our players and know that we’re capable of playing better baseball, and also that we’re not where we expected to be. That’s incredibly frustrating and disappointing, and we’re going to have to be realistic about what is best for the organization.”
There is still time remaining before the organization needs to make a decision about buying or selling at the trade deadline. The team has several attractive options if they do choose to sell (Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras, etc.). But the clock is ticking, and the path the front office should take becomes clearer by the day, which is selling.
The on-field product continues to be much of the same as it was dating back to April. Strong starting pitching and relief outings coupled with a lack of offense lead to a loss, then rinse and repeat.
Despite the consensus among fans and some in the media, Breslow won’t concede the season just yet.
Breslow detailed what the decision will look like whenever the time comes in the coming weeks.
“The conversations are pretty regular and fluid, and we’re constantly assessing where we are relative to the rest of the league,” he said. “But in terms of a direction, I will make a recommendation, the one that I think is best for the organization, and sit down with Sam [Kennedy], John [Henry], Tom [Werner], [Fenway Sports Group president] Mike Gordon, [FSG part owner] Theo [Epstein], and kind of state the case for why I think one direction is the right one for us.”
Breslow said there are a lot of things the Red Sox will need to do on the field if they want to make a postseason run in 2026. He noted continuing to pitch quality starts, driving in runners in scoring position, and properly working counts will likely be how they win more games.
He admitted, however, that he might not have assembled the best possible team ahead of the season in a moment of reflection amid a dismal first half.
“I think we improved our roster relative to the team that finished the season in 2025,” Breslow said. “Again, this comes down to what happens on the field. This is the big leagues and we’re measured by the success that we have on the field. And right now, we’re falling short.
“We can believe in the players, we can believe in the roster, but ultimately we have to look back at the decisions we made and question where we might have been able to do things better.”
On the topic of his job security, Breslow was asked whether or not he talks to owner John Henry about the safety of his role in the organization.
Breslow said he does not, and explained he simply focuses on his job description.
“I don’t have conversations with John [Henry] about my job,” Breslow said. “My focus is on doing the things that I was brought in here to do. Things like built a strong internal pitching development pipeline, to try and work through the defensive struggles that we’ve had … to modernize the front office and make sure that we can compete with 29 other teams, and doing everything we can to put our players in a position to win Major League Baseball games.”
Ending his interview by reiterating his optimism about a season turnaround, Breslow pushed back on the notion that his last-place squad can’t and won’t improve over the next month.
“I think things can change. We’ve seen that things can change,” he said. “I think more than that, though, is that we’ve got a group of players and coaches that are committed to doing what we can to give ourselves a chance for that to change.
“If you walk through the clubhouse or through the coaches’ room, that’s what you see. It’s guys who feel like it’s an honor and a privilege to put on a Red Sox uniform, who want to go out and compete at a level that makes the fanbase proud, and that’s something I share with them.”
Kaley Brown
Kaley Brown is a sports producer for Boston.com, where she covers the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox.
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