Since news of Chaim Bloom's dismissal broke on Sept. 14, the Boston Red Sox haven been without baseball ops leader in the front office. That changes with the news that they are hiring Craig Breslow as the head of baseball operations. The club announced on Wednesday that Breslow has accepted the position and that his official title will be chief baseball officer, the same as Bloom's.
"We feel strongly that Craig is the right person at the right time to lead our baseball department. Craig's understanding of the game is remarkable," Red Sox owner John Henry said in a statement. "What convinced us to bring him aboard in this capacity was his highly strategic philosophy and his grasp of what it takes operationally in today's evolving game to excel at the highest level in player acquisition, development, and execution at the major league level. We are excited to welcome him back."
In that same statement, Breslow said:
"I couldn't be more excited to return to the Boston Red Sox, an organization that means so much to my family and to me. I am humbled by the opportunity to lead baseball operations and to work alongside so many talented people. I'd like to thank John Henry, Tom Werner, Mike Gordon, and Sam Kennedy for entrusting me with executing the vision we share for this organization. I know firsthand how special winning in Boston is, and I look forward to once again experiencing that passion and success with our fans."
The name will likely be a familiar one for baseball fans, specifically Red Sox fans. Breslow, 43, spent parts of 12 seasons in the majors as a reliever with parts of five seasons in Boston. He was an integral member of the bullpen for the 2013 World Series champion Red Sox, pitching to a 1.81 ERA in 61 regular-season appearances. He also made 10 appearances in the playoffs that season, posting a 2.45 ERA in 7 1/3 innings.
Breslow last pitched in 2017 for Cleveland and Minnesota. The Yale graduate joined Theo Epstein's front office with the Cubs in January 2019, taking the title Director of Strategic Initiatives for Baseball Operations. After the 2019 season, Breslow was promoted to Director of Pitching/special assistant to the president and general manager. After the 2020 season, he was promoted again, this time to assistant general manager/vice president of pitching.
Going from just joining a front office in 2019 to running one of the sport's marquee franchises before the end of 2023 is a meteoric rise for Breslow. It also could be part of a recent trend in front offices. For years, teams started to get further away from hiring former players to run the baseball ops side, but more recently the Rangers hired Chris Young and just a few weeks ago, the White Sox hired Chris Getz in such a role. It isn't a full-blown pivot or anything, as the Mets just hired David Stearns, for example, but it's certainly notable.
The Red Sox won the World Series in 2018, made the ALCS in 2021 and have finished in last place each of the last two years.
