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Craig Breslow hired as Chief Baseball Officer
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Post by soxfan06 on Oct 24, 2023 22:46:28 GMT -5
Well maybe some lessons were learned this time around... at least this seems like a better starting point for Breslow than Bloom's directives to trade Mookie, rehire Cora, and retain the incumbent FO leadership. I sure hope the only mandate given to Craig is to go win a World Series, at any cost.
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Oct 24, 2023 22:50:16 GMT -5
Just noticing that Breslow did not get a ring in 2007 because he did not pitch in Boston, even though he had pitched in Boston in 2006 and had a fine season in Pawtucket in 2007 He actually did get a ring. He was called up for one game. Bullpen wasn't needed that night though because Clay Buchholz threw a no-hitter. View AttachmentThanks for confirming. I thought that was the case for Breslow in 2007, that he got a ring, although I didn't know it was the night of Buchholz's no-hitter. I remember in 2004 Brandon Puffer got called up for 1 day, didn't pitch ever, and wound up with a ring (although let's just say Breslow is a very different person than Puffer and the comparison ends there, lol).
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Post by DesignatedForAssignment on Oct 25, 2023 1:14:43 GMT -5
"Breslow attended Trumbull High School in Trumbull, Connecticut, graduating in 1998.[17] He was a standout in baseball and soccer, and served as team captain in both sports during his senior year.
In baseball, he was the winning pitcher in the Class LL State Baseball championship game" Wikipedia
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Post by stevedillard on Oct 25, 2023 1:51:23 GMT -5
Smart move to bring in a lefty to face solving the predominantly lefty lineup.
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Post by philsbosoxfan on Oct 25, 2023 7:22:59 GMT -5
Well maybe some lessons were learned this time around... at least this seems like a better starting point for Breslow than Bloom's directives to trade Mookie, rehire Cora, and retain the incumbent FO leadership. I sure hope the only mandate given to Craig is to go win a World Series, at any cost. And I sure hope it's not !!!
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jimoh
Veteran
Posts: 3,972
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Post by jimoh on Oct 25, 2023 7:30:35 GMT -5
He actually did get a ring. He was called up for one game. Bullpen wasn't needed that night though because Clay Buchholz threw a no-hitter. View AttachmentThanks for confirming. I thought that was the case for Breslow in 2007, that he got a ring, although I didn't know it was the night of Buchholz's no-hitter. I remember in 2004 Brandon Puffer got called up for 1 day, didn't pitch ever, and wound up with a ring (although let's just say Breslow is a very different person than Puffer and the comparison ends there, lol). Happy to be corrected on that. I see another story today saying that Breslow was on the postseason roster in 2007 after not appearing in any regular season games. I found the list for the WS and he was not on that; not sure for LDS and LCS. Seems more plausible that he might have traveled with the team as a possible emergency replacement for an injury.
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Post by umassgrad2005 on Oct 25, 2023 7:31:33 GMT -5
I wanted at minimum a guy who was GM at minimum with experience, not Assistant to GM, now President. So this is a failure for me. The Red Sox are not a good place for someone to learn on the job!
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Post by cba82 on Oct 25, 2023 7:35:21 GMT -5
Gammons still on top of his game after all these years One week after Bloom was let go. Don’t doubt the goat lol Huh? Breslow was not hired as Pitching Coordinator.
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Oct 25, 2023 7:37:13 GMT -5
Well maybe some lessons were learned this time around... at least this seems like a better starting point for Breslow than Bloom's directives to trade Mookie, rehire Cora, and retain the incumbent FO leadership. I sure hope the only mandate given to Craig is to go win a World Series, at any cost. I understand the sentiment and I agree with you on that but I've seen enough Bagwell for Andersen deals in my life that I'd prefer not to see another, so I cant commit to any cost. How about most costs, lol?
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Post by ematz1423 on Oct 25, 2023 7:37:16 GMT -5
I'm not going to pretend to say yay or nay on this signing since I don't know nearly enough about Breslow and his ability to run a baseball org. It definitely seems like a swing for the fences move though, not a ton of experience and is one of those "up and comers". Those guys are exciting to add, since if he does the job well he could be at the helm for many many years. If he does not do well this probably blows up in ownerships face though.
Let's hope that Breslow takes the pieces at hand and creates the next great Sox team though, I am sure we can all agree with that.
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Post by philsbosoxfan on Oct 25, 2023 7:44:26 GMT -5
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Post by ematz1423 on Oct 25, 2023 7:57:34 GMT -5
Sort of a puff piece on him but there is a lot to like about him after reading that. Once again not going to claim to know if he'll do good or bad, one never knows and we probably won't know for 3-4 years from now if he's doing a good job. That being said, after reading that article he strikes me as the type of guy worth taking a leap of faith on so I'll say I'm A-Okay with him being at the helm now and we'll see in a few years how he's done.
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Post by alexcorahomevideo on Oct 25, 2023 8:26:36 GMT -5
He probably gets promoted to GM. Good point, although he may wonder why Breslow got that job and not him? I mean, he was trying for the job so he must have wanted it or thought he was a damn good choice. Actually if indeed Breslow is the guy, then Romero could be very valuable given that he certainly knows the lay of the land. It's still very much an old boys league in regards to degrees. Ivy league degrees matter a lot. Not saying that he isn't qualified but in Baseball its an uphill battle if you didn't go to a Yale Harvard etc... It seems like he did a great job with the Cubs and we should be excited for some kind of change with the Sox, a lot of success will be determined by the payroll.
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Post by incandenza on Oct 25, 2023 8:32:51 GMT -5
Good point, although he may wonder why Breslow got that job and not him? I mean, he was trying for the job so he must have wanted it or thought he was a damn good choice. Actually if indeed Breslow is the guy, then Romero could be very valuable given that he certainly knows the lay of the land. It's still very much an old boys league in regards to degrees. Ivy league degrees matter a lot. Not saying that he isn't qualified but in Baseball its an uphill battle if you didn't go to a Yale Harvard etc... It seems like he did a great job with the Cubs and we should be excited for some kind of change with the Sox, a lot of success will be determined by the payroll. It is absurd how many of this generation of guys went to either Harvard or Yale. Those schools are overrepresented to a point that goes way beyond whatever could be justified by merit. (And obviously this does not apply only to baseball...)
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Post by scottysmalls on Oct 25, 2023 9:03:00 GMT -5
It's still very much an old boys league in regards to degrees. Ivy league degrees matter a lot. Not saying that he isn't qualified but in Baseball its an uphill battle if you didn't go to a Yale Harvard etc... It seems like he did a great job with the Cubs and we should be excited for some kind of change with the Sox, a lot of success will be determined by the payroll. It is absurd how many of this generation of guys went to either Harvard or Yale. Those schools are overrepresented to a point that goes way beyond whatever could be justified by merit. (And obviously this does not apply only to baseball...) Heads of Baseball by Division: AL East: NYY - Catholic U TOR - Princeton BAL - Yale BOS - Yale TBR - Virginia Tech CLE - Georgetown (then UMass Sports Management) CHW - Michigan KCR - Missouri State MIN - Trinity DET - UCLA (then Columbia Business School) HOU - Seton Hall LAA - Texas OAK - UCSD TEX - Princeton SEA - VCU NYM - Harvard PHI - Western Michigan ATL - McMaster MIA - UChicago (using Kim Ng here) WSN - St. Xavier CHC - Wesleyan MIL - Wisconsin CIN - LSU STL - Arizona PIT - Amherst (then UMass sports management) LAD - Tulane ARI - Princeton SDP - Cornell COL - Cal St. Long Beach SFG - MIT (then UC Berkeley PhD) I might have a couple of these off but honestly UMass' graduate sports management program seems more overly represented than any individual undergrad school, at least in the top jobs, things might change if you go to to the lieutenant level.
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Post by pedromartinez1999 on Oct 25, 2023 9:03:43 GMT -5
Are the Red Sox holding a press conference today on nesn?
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Post by alexcorahomevideo on Oct 25, 2023 9:52:52 GMT -5
It's still very much an old boys league in regards to degrees. Ivy league degrees matter a lot. Not saying that he isn't qualified but in Baseball its an uphill battle if you didn't go to a Yale Harvard etc... It seems like he did a great job with the Cubs and we should be excited for some kind of change with the Sox, a lot of success will be determined by the payroll. It is absurd how many of this generation of guys went to either Harvard or Yale. Those schools are overrepresented to a point that goes way beyond whatever could be justified by merit. (And obviously this does not apply only to baseball...) Agreed 100%. Its mostly just because of connections. Again, it's about who you know, not what you know. Those universities are dug into big business like ticks. UF is an excellent school with a major alumni so its not like Romero went to chopped liver University.
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Post by Guidas on Oct 25, 2023 10:08:10 GMT -5
Good luck Craig - let me say for posterity that I have no opinion on your hiring one way or the other!
I second this. Always liked him as a player, zero feel for him as an executive. Hope he loves a challenge because, given what was said by Kennedy after Bloom's departure, the emphasis will be on getting to the playoffs now at the MLB level. To that end, he's stepping into a roster-construction challenge (if not a mess) on the MLB side, including: - Needs legit #1 &2 starters (or, at the least, two #2s). - Needs a legit 2nd baseman. - Needs to sort out an OF that includes an offensively inconsistent, defensively very good RF, a defensively slightly below ave to neutral CF who had a great season ended by injury (and who could be a very good LF), a LF who is defensive substandard and who faded significantly offensively in the second half who some have pegged as a DH, albeit one currently with sub-20HR power. There's also an elite defensive CF waiting in the wings who may or may not be able to achieve a .300+ MLB OPB and who some want to play at 2nd where he is simply average defensively. - A 0.5 fWAR/2.2 bWAR C who is slightly above average defensively but who cannot maintain .300 or better OBP or a .700 OPS. - And the pen, there's always the pen. Still, a flush farm offers opportunity for 2025 and beyond, as well as stacks of trade chips, and it's a good off-season to acquire starting pitching. God's speed and best of luck Craig Breslow!
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Post by Guidas on Oct 25, 2023 10:17:42 GMT -5
It's still very much an old boys league in regards to degrees. Ivy league degrees matter a lot. Not saying that he isn't qualified but in Baseball its an uphill battle if you didn't go to a Yale Harvard etc... It seems like he did a great job with the Cubs and we should be excited for some kind of change with the Sox, a lot of success will be determined by the payroll. It is absurd how many of this generation of guys went to either Harvard or Yale. Those schools are overrepresented to a point that goes way beyond whatever could be justified by merit. (And obviously this does not apply only to baseball...) I worked for a very successful CEO who refused to hire any execs from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia or Penn. When I asked why he said, "Overpaid, over-confident, underwhelming and entitled as all hell. No thank you. I'll take hungry go-getters from state schools and off-brand schools over those people every time." His opinion, not mine.
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Post by incandenza on Oct 25, 2023 10:28:49 GMT -5
The Breslow hiring kind of intensifies my feeling about this offseason: that pitching is the desperate need but also the easy fix; whereas the offense is in better shape now but harder to improve.
They probably couldn't have gotten a better guy to make judgments about the pitching options and how to upgrade the staff. Which is good, because they've got a lot of guys with uncertain roles, and they'll need to add a couple of starters.
But it's not so clear how applicable Breslow's experience is to solving the tricky puzzle of what to do about an offense that was mediocre this season, has several question marks, and has at least one major contributor leaving as a free agent, while the free agent market for hitters is generally bleak.
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Post by James Dunne on Oct 25, 2023 10:30:51 GMT -5
It's still very much an old boys league in regards to degrees. Ivy league degrees matter a lot. Not saying that he isn't qualified but in Baseball its an uphill battle if you didn't go to a Yale Harvard etc... It seems like he did a great job with the Cubs and we should be excited for some kind of change with the Sox, a lot of success will be determined by the payroll. It is absurd how many of this generation of guys went to either Harvard or Yale. Those schools are overrepresented to a point that goes way beyond whatever could be justified by merit. (And obviously this does not apply only to baseball...) I agree in general. But Breslow's background is so much different then the usual Yale/Harvard fare that it makes him more interesting. His academic background was molecular biophysics and biochemistry rather than the usual management path, and then a long career as a player. The stereotype of those Harvard/Yale execs are that they're aloof, detached, and overly dismissive of traditional scouting and coaching. That stuff doesn't seem to apply here. ---- I kinda disagree that the offense stuff is hard to fill, to be honest. Bloom had this weird habit of having holes and then just not filling them corner outfield in 2022, middle infield this year. They're probably not going to find a star-level second baseman, but it's the sort of situation where marginal, Epstein-era type of upgrades will make a big difference. I'm less optimistic about the pitching staff in the short-term, though. I'm confident in Breslow's ability to find talent and also nurture the existing arms in a better way, but I don't think that's a short-term thing.
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Post by carl4sox on Oct 25, 2023 10:32:27 GMT -5
One of the reasons I’m most excited by his hiring is that Craig comes from the Epstein school. No better background needed.
It’ll be interesting to see what Eddie does.
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nomar
Veteran
Posts: 10,793
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Post by nomar on Oct 25, 2023 10:38:27 GMT -5
One of the reasons I’m most excited by his hiring is that Craig comes from the Epstein school. No better background needed. It’ll be interesting to see what Eddie does. It’s not like Romero is getting offered promotions from other orgs. The best thing he can hope for now is Breslow being great at his new job, the Red Sox improving, and him becoming one of the assistants that teams interview for their open POBO roles. That’s not going to happen for him right now so I can’t imagine why he wouldn’t stay put even if he’s disappointed. In a few years if the Red Sox are a perennial playoff team and guys like Gonzalez, Perales, Rafaela, etc are looking good, it will make Romero’s resume glow.
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Post by scottysmalls on Oct 25, 2023 10:43:13 GMT -5
People keep mentioning Breslow’s playing career as this big positive for him and I don’t really see that. I mean I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing but I’m not sure it’s a good thing either. Is that better than having worked in a front office for a decade? Lot of ways to skin the cat I just don’t think the playing thing is all that important.
I also think he is walking into a very good situation with young rising talent, limited bad contracts, an offseason with money to spend and the teams’ biggest hole being fillable via FA, and a fan base who hated the last guy.
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Post by asm19 on Oct 25, 2023 10:48:29 GMT -5
It is absurd how many of this generation of guys went to either Harvard or Yale. Those schools are overrepresented to a point that goes way beyond whatever could be justified by merit. (And obviously this does not apply only to baseball...) I agree in general. But Breslow's background is so much different then the usual Yale/Harvard fare that it makes him more interesting. His academic background was molecular biophysics and biochemistry rather than the usual management path, and then a long career as a player. The stereotype of those Harvard/Yale execs are that they're aloof, detached, and overly dismissive of traditional scouting and coaching. That stuff doesn't seem to apply here. ---- I kinda disagree that the offense stuff is hard to fill, to be honest. Bloom had this weird habit of having holes and then just not filling them corner outfield in 2022, middle infield this year. They're probably not going to find a star-level second baseman, but it's the sort of situation where marginal, Epstein-era type of upgrades will make a big difference. Mike Vrabel - Patriots great and now Titans head coach - was asked by a reporter once early on in the job "is there anything you've done to kind of shorten the learning curve, because you only coached for a few years before becoming a head coach," and Vrabel looks at him sideways and goes, "What my 15 years playing in the league don't count? Do you think the guy who's in a dark room cutting tape is getting better experience than when I was playing outside linebacker?" As we've seen being a former player is no guarantee of success - but hopefully Breslow's experience there is going to help when say, your team is on a knife's edge at the trade deadline and you need to figure out what to do...
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