Craig Breslow: Takeaways From Introductory Press Conference With Red Sox
Craig Breslow was hired to become the new leader of the Red Sox front office. Since Breslow has never been a GM before, I really wanted to watch his introductory press conference just to see the way that he thinks. Believe it or not, a lot of these guys reveal important information when getting introduced. Sometimes they mean it, sometimes they don’t.
What I’m essentially going to do is provide you with spark notes so you don’t have to watch the 45-minute presser like I did. You’re welcome in advance.
1: One big takeaway Breslow provided right at the beginning is the fact that he’s a nerd. Not just a nerd. A nerd who happens to be a jock. Honestly, that’s a huge sigh of relief. That was one of the biggest problems with Chaim Bloom. Everything was about the numbers with Bloom and you could tell that he had absolutely no feel for what was actually going on. We provided 100 examples as to why he needed to go. Just Google an image of Bloom. That guy is such a LOSER. Breslow is not that. I thought it was very important that he addressed himself as a jock who happens to be smart.
With Breslow, he made it clear that he’s smart but is also an athlete. Someone who understands the game beyond just an analytical approach. This is really what you need to know. I have no idea if Breslow is going to be good at the job but I can guarantee he will carry himself differently than Bloom did. The Red Sox will trade more prospects under Breslow. That seems like a given.
2: Breslow was asked about how he feels about where the team stands right now. I didn’t love his answer to that question. He basically said (and I’m paraphrasing) “There are so many great things happening with the Red Sox. I’m still learning everyone so I can answer that question better down the road”.
I hate that. How do you not know? Maybe he was just hiding his plans but it didn’t seem that way. I would have answered that question very differently because the truth of the matter is, this team is good. Bloom was just a dope and never understood the concept of a 40-man roster. The fact that he didn’t give any insight to the roster outside of mentioning the young core was alarming.
3 : It sounds like Breslow would like input on lineups. He talked a lot about optimization. I’m not sure how I feel about that. I personally would leave the lineup card up to Alex Cora. He’s the best manager in the sport. However, Cora and Breslow were teammates and it seems like those two have a mutual respect for each other. It’s pretty obvious that Cora did not respect Bloom.
4: The Red Sox clearly valued Breslow’s pitching background. Sam Kennedy even admitted that the franchise hasn’t properly developed pitching. I feel pretty confident in saying that this is the primary reason why Breslow got the job.
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