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Red Sox Decline Craig Breslow’s Option

By Steve Adams | October 31, 2014 at 1:08pm CDT

The Red Sox announced that they’ve declined their $4MM club option on left-hander Craig Breslow. The 34-year-old Breslow will instead receive a $100K buyout and become a free agent.

Breslow struggled in 2014 but is just one season removed from a 2013 campaign in which he posted a 1.81 ERA in 59 2/3 innings. The 2014 campaign wasn’t as kind to Breslow, however, as he saw his ERA spike to 5.96 despite an increase in strikeouts. Breslow’s command also worsened (his 4.6 BB/9 was the worst full-season mark of his career) and he saw his fastball velocity dip from an average of just under 90 mph to 88.4 mph.

Prior to this season he’d been a fairly reliable relief arm, having pitched to a 2.82 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 373 2/3 innings from 2008-13. That stretch of success will likely generate some interest on a market for lefty relievers that is fronted by Andrew Miller but also includes Zach Duke, Joe Thatcher and Neal Cotts, among others.

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Boston Red Sox Newsstand Transactions Craig Breslow

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11 Comments

  1. Huff's dog

    11 years ago

    Really? Im not a Sox fan, but seems like a bad move IMO. He was a really good reliever for quite some time, expect for this season. If Tim Lincecum got 18 MM after 2 bad seasons, isn’t 4 MM, even for a RP, a good deal after just 1 bad year?

    Reply
    • Marc

      11 years ago

      The problem is the bad year came at age 34. You don’t normally “bounce back next year” at that point.

      Reply
    • d-blaque12123

      11 years ago

      There are much younger arms in the farm that can serve as a LH reliever. Those 4 Mills can go towards starting pitching/3B.

      Reply
    • JB381

      11 years ago

      Tommy Layne is a much better option than Breslow at this point.

      Reply
    • Rally Weimaraner

      11 years ago

      A velocity drop that large combined with such poor results is generally indicative of impending disaster/DL time and not a bounce back.

      Reply
      • Marc

        11 years ago

        The velocity only dropped 1 mph, but I agree he’s declining.

        Reply
        • Rally Weimaraner

          11 years ago

          Breslow lost 1.4 MPH on his fastball from 2013 to 2014, that a large single season drop.

          Reply
          • Marc

            11 years ago

            An 88mph fastball isn’t bad for a lefty reliever that primarily throws offspeed and sinkers. The problem is he got shelled and missed locations consistently.

            Reply
  2. Luis Vasquez

    11 years ago

    I don’t understand why they trade Miller and Lester

    Reply
    • Leebo

      11 years ago

      That’s a fun question to answer. I’ll share what I’ve gathered from reading a variety of articles about Miller.

      For starters, Andrew Miller wasn’t cost controlled going forward after our miserable season. In return, they got Rodriguez. He has the highest ceiling on the team… At least in terms of guys who you believe have a shot at their ceiling…unlike Webster. Rodriguez projects as a possible 1 and a probable 2. And he’s cost controlled. I know Owens is close, but he projects as a 3. Still plenty of value in this, but at the end of the day you need a 1 and a strong 2 (aka Lester Lackey 2013).

      Reply

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