“Every team gets better if you can bring in a starter or develop a starting pitcher who can pitch at Garrett Crochet’s level. We will be as aggressive as we can when trying to chase that down while also ensuring we are doing everything we can to develop our players internally.” – Craig Breslow
Craig Breslow has come on strong in terms of defining and shaping the Red Sox organization. He’s overhauled the front office, the scouting department, the coaches.
He’s added the best pitcher on the team in a generation. It feels like the pitching crown for the Red Sox now goes from Clemens, to Pedro, to Beckett, to Lester, to Sale, to Crochet. That’s a heck of a family tree. Two home grown and four young trade acquisitions.
Breslow made the most unexpected and ridiculous trade since the Punto deal that sent Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez, and Carl Crawford to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The hole in the lineup that Rafael Devers left was noticeable, then filled by Roman Anthony, and then noticeable again. And then the season ended.
Like Chaim Bloom’s trade of Mookie Betts, the Devers deal will define Breslow’s time in Boston. Which makes the move to .500 and then a quick playoff appearance so important in his first two seasons. The money was obviously the motivator for the deal, not Jordan Hicks or Kyle Harrison or the, I guess, the nothing that Dustin May is about to turn into as a free agent. Bloom had the magical run in 2021 with Kyle Schwarber that, when you squinted, looked like he was trying to do a 2013 rebuild. A quick collapse in 2020 followed by small moves and then the team roared back. But it didn’t happen. And it was, again, about money.
What Craig Breslow needs to do is make money work for him when he spends. The backlash of Mookie Betts resulted in a lot of money being tossed in the Devers basket. Probably too much, although John Henry’s team could afford it. So far we haven’t seen Breslow’s spending provide a huge return but the pieces are in place. Ceddanne Rafaela, Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, Brayan Bello, and Garrett Crochet were all extended. And it’s not like even “team friendly” deals are as cheap as just running through kids from the farm. Look at the Marlins! Their entire payroll is in one guy, more or less.
Which takes us back to the quote from Breslow at the top. Any team can make a great move when adding a great player. Between prospect promotions and that trade the Sox have thinned out their high-ranking farm system considerably. Which is, of course, the goal. You want the farm helping the major league team, not winning the International League playoffs.
Craig Breslow has talked about hiring a GM this winter. A Robin to his Batman. A true number 2 (coincidentally, that’s what the rotation needs as well). And we will see if that makes the difference over the last rebuild. Two minds are better than one. While the (near) top of the rotation pitcher is imperative, and keeping Alex Bregman is probably necessary too (unless there’s some other magical strategy to rotate third base again) what the team needs now is to continue to develop and integrate their farm system to the majors. And with the development of some of the pitchers we’ve seen in the majors and minors, that’s been a plan that has started to show success.
The first two drafts under Breslow appear to have been good.
There is probably not another Garrett Crochet coming, as either a pitcher or a batter of the same impact. And most of the moves will be around the edges. For a team that was disappointing in May and September, that’s not a tall order. But it’s also not “hope Patrick Sandoval (sorry Patrick, I’m sure you’re a great guy) can return.” As the Dodgers found out: Tanner Scott was a big miss and many teams were disappointed. So even edge moves can be hard, but it’s now his team and there is a too much talent to wait for the perfect player to come along when a Romy Gonzalez of the pitcher’s mound could mean the world.
