Craig Breslow

Red Sox Have Offered Top Baseball Operations Job To Craig Breslow

By Anthony Franco | October 24, 2023 at 6:15pm CDT

The Red Sox’s search for a new baseball operations leader is accelerating, with one candidate pulling ahead of the pack. Alex Speier of the Boston Globe and Chris Cotillo of MassLive each indicate that Cubs assistant general manager Craig Breslow is the favorite.

Speier reports that the Sox have already offered the position to Breslow, although there’s no indication he has yet accepted. Cotillo suggested this evening that the hiring process was gaining steam and the job could be filled imminently.

Breslow, 43, is a Yale graduate who spent 12 seasons in the majors as a reliever. While he spread that across seven organizations, he’s best known for his time with the Sox. The New Haven native pitched 211 innings across five campaigns with Boston, turning in a 1.81 ERA for the 2013 World Series club.

After concluding his playing career in 2018, Breslow signed on with the Cubs as their director of strategic initiatives for baseball operations. He shed that wordy title when he was named director of pitching one season later. The following year, the Cubs bumped him to AGM in Jed Hoyer’s front office, a title he has held for the last three years.

Boston fired chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom as the season was winding down. They haven’t announced the specific title of the person they’re planning to bring in as head of baseball operations. Since Breslow holds the AGM title, the Red Sox could offer him a bump to general manager — either as the leader of the front office (as seems increasingly likely), or as the second-in-command under a newly minted president of baseball operations.

Cotillo suggests the Sox could still bring in two new front office hires, utilizing the president/GM structure that has become commonplace around the league. They don’t need to make both additions simultaneously. The Tigers, for instance, left the GM role vacant for an entire season to afford incoming president of baseball operations Scott Harris time to choose his top lieutenant.

Even if there’s agreement on a hire in the next few hours, the Red Sox aren’t likely to make a formal announcement tonight. MLB dissuades teams from releasing noteworthy news on the day of postseason games. With two scheduled off days between tonight’s NLCS Game 7 and the first contest of the World Series, it’s possible a hire is finalized tomorrow or Thursday.

Thad Levine No Longer A Candidate In Red Sox Front Office Search

By Mark Polishuk | October 24, 2023 at 10:02am CDT

As the Red Sox continue their search for a new head of baseball operations, Twins general manager Thad Levine is no longer in the running, according to Jeremy Nygaard of Twins Daily. Levine was told yesterday by the Sox that he was no longer a candidate, MassLive.com’s Sean McAdam reports (via X).

The news comes as the Red Sox have apparently taken a next step in their selection process, as the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier writes that club has moved onto a second round of interviews. Cubs assistant GM Craig Breslow is believed to have advanced to this second round, though it isn’t known how many other candidates might also be getting a second sitdown with team brass. As per The Athletic’s Chad Jennings, “information is spotty” on the situation, but Red Sox assistant GM Eddie Romero and Breslow could both still be candidates. Four other candidates known to have sat down for an initial interview remain in the process for now — Red Sox assistant GM Michael Groopman, Red Sox VP of player development/scouting Paul Toboni, former Pirates GM Neal Huntington, and former Phillies/Giants manager Gabe Kapler.

The 51-year-old Levine has been Minnesota’s GM since the 2016-17 offseason, working as the top lieutenant to chief baseball officer Derek Falvey (who turned down an interview offer from the Red Sox). Levine has over two decades’ worth of experience working in the front offices of the Twins, Rangers, Rockies, and Dodgers, though he hasn’t yet gotten the chance to call the shots in a baseball operations department. There have been a couple of close calls, however, as the Rockies and Phillies considered Levine for their most recent GM openings were respectively filled by Bill Schmidt and Dave Dombrowski.

Falvey, Kim Ng, Jon Daniels, James Click, Michael Hill, Sam Fuld, Brandon Gomes, and Mike Hazen are among the prominent executives who have declined to interview for the Red Sox job, yet it appears as though the club is satisfied enough with its current list of candidates to progress into what might be a final stage of the hiring process. Breslow may or may not be the frontrunner, as reports have indicated that the Sox definitely see him as a candidate for some kind of front office role, if perhaps a GM working under a president of baseball operations moreso than a PBO himself.

Latest On Red Sox, Craig Breslow

By Nick Deeds | October 19, 2023 at 6:02pm CDT

The Red Sox have been searching for their next head of baseball operations since firing chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom last month. It appears that search is beginning to pick up steam, as The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney reported earlier today sources have indicated the Red Sox are in “advanced discussions” with Craig Breslow, who currently serves as assistant GM and senior vice president of pitching for the Cubs, after he interviewed with the club for their top baseball operations job.

That being said, Sean McAdam of MassLive.com pumps the breaks on those rumors, relaying that sources have indicated Mooney’s characterization of the talks “may be premature.” Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, meanwhile, stakes out something of a middle ground between those two reports, noting that a source described Breslow as “a leading candidate” for the top job with the Red Sox, while simultaneously noting that the process isn’t yet approaching the finish line. Speier goes on to note that the Sox have been conducting first-round interviews this week, and that the search appears to be approaching its second round.

Both Mooney and McAdam suggest that, while Breslow’s initial interview was for the job at the head of the Red Sox baseball operations department, Boston may look to hire a more experienced president of baseball operations to lead the department while installing Breslow as the new president’s number two in a GM role. While McAdam suggests that such an arrangement could allow Breslow to “grow into the No. 1 role after a few years,” Mooney adds that if the Red Sox look to add two executives without making Breslow the top decision maker, the Cubs would be in position to make a “substantial offer” for Breslow to stay in his current role with Chicago. Breslow sits below president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer and GM Carter Hawkins in the Cubs’ front office chain of command, alongside fellow assistant GM Ehsan Bokhari.

The Cubs have seen significant developments in their player development apparatus on the pitching side during Breslow’s tenure with the club, which began in 2019. The 2023 season in particular saw many of Chicago’s younger arms take impressive steps forward, with left-hander Justin Steele emerging as a candidate for the NL Cy Young award, Adbert Alzolay establishing himself as a quality closer and younger arms like righty Javier Assad and Jordan Wicks flashing mid-to-back of the rotation potential with solid seasons of their own.

Breslow, of course, is far from the only candidate in the mix for the top job in Boston. Though high-profile candidates like former Astros GM James Click and former Rangers president of baseball operations Jon Daniels have declined the opportunity to interview for the position, other experienced candidates like former Pirates GM Neal Huntington and current Twins GM Thad Levine have reportedly interviewed for the position. The Red Sox are also considering a number of internal candidates, including assistant GMs Eddie Romero and Mike Groopman, as well as VP of amateur scouting & player development Paul Toboni.

Red Sox Interview Three External Candidates In GM Search

By Leo Morgenstern | October 17, 2023 at 3:09pm CDT

The Red Sox’s search for a new general manager to replace Chaim Bloom might be picking up steam. As Alex Speier reports for the Boston Globe, the team has already interviewed at least three high-profile external candidates for the position: Twins GM Thad Levine, Cubs assistant GM Craig Breslow, and former Pirates GM Neal Huntington.

On Monday, Rob Bradford of WEEI reported that Huntington and Levine were under consideration, while Joel Sherman of the New York Post suggested Breslow as another candidate. However, it was unclear if the interest was mutual. Several rumored contenders have already declined to interview with the Red Sox, including former Rangers president of baseball operations Jon Daniels, former Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill, Phillies GM Sam Fuld, and Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes. Another rumored candidate, Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen, shut down any speculation that he would take a job in Boston when he signed a multi-year extension with Arizona.

Levine, Breslow, and Huntington join Red Sox executive VP and assistant general manager Eddie Romero Jr. as candidates known to have interviewed, although Speier suggests that Romero isn’t the only internal candidate to take a meeting about the position. Other rumored internal candidates include Romero’s fellow assistant GMs, Raquel Ferreira and Mike Groopman, along with other VPs in the organization, such as Ben Crockett, Mike Rikard, and Gus Quattlebaum.

Of the four names known to have interviewed, Levine is the only one currently working as a general manager, but even so, he isn’t the top decision-maker in the Twins organization. He works under president of baseball operations Derek Falvey, who, funnily enough, declined an interview with the Red Sox himself (per Chad Jennings of The Athletic). While Levine is surely enjoying his team’s recent success, he might enjoy the chance to be the chief baseball executive for a new organization, especially one that typically runs a much higher payroll than Minnesota. Similarly, Huntington might be tempted by the Red Sox’s budget after so many years with the low-spending Pirates and Guardians. Meanwhile, Breslow and Romero are presumably interested in the chance to run their own front office.

Earlier this month, Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy expressed that he isn’t working under a deadline to hire a new GM. More specifically, he would not commit to having a new executive in place by the annual general managers meetings in early November. He told reporters (including Chris Cotillo of MassLive), “We plan to take our time. We plan to be very deliberate… We’re not going to let any deadline or timeline put constraints on the process.”

In other words, while the Red Sox seem to have accelerated their search in recent days, they could still take a while to name a new GM. If nothing else, they will presumably do their due diligence and consider brand-new candidate Kim Ng before making a decision. The team has not yet expressed interest in the former Marlins GM, but given her success with Miami this season and her apparent desire to run her own front office, she could be a good fit for the role.

Red Sox Notes: Imanaga, Breslow, Turner, Jansen, Rafaela

By Mark Polishuk | September 23, 2023 at 2:25pm CDT

NPB standout Shota Imanaga will be posted for Major League teams this offseason, and MassLive.com’s Sean McAdam reports that the Red Sox have “heavily scouted” the Japanese left-hander. Imanaga has a 3.17 ERA over eight seasons and 990 2/3 innings with the Yokohama DeNa Baystars, though North American fans might know him best from his work with Japan’s national team in this year’s World Baseball Classic. Imanaga had a 3.00 ERA over six innings and three appearances, and was the starting pitcher (earning the win) in Japan’s gold-medal game victory over the United States.

MLB Trade Rumors readers are also familiar with Imanaga from our NPB Players To Watch series, as Dai Takegami Podziewski has regularly written about the southpaw as Imanaga looks to be on the verge of heading to the majors. Imanaga will draw plenty of attention from pitching-needy teams, and the Sox certainly figure to make rotation upgrades a major part of their offseason plan under their next head of baseball operations. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the top name available among NPB pitchers this winter, but with at least ten MLB clubs (including the Red Sox) interested in Yamamoto’s services, it is possible Imanaga might be something of a solid backup plan for teams that either can’t land Yamamoto or can’t afford his big price tag.

Quick Hits: Cubs, Breslow, Orioles, Hitting Coaches, Guardians, Tito

By Darragh McDonald | December 30, 2021 at 11:30am CDT

In an article at The Athletic, Sahadev Sharma makes five predictions for the 2022 Cubs, including one that Craig Breslow will emerge as a candidate for a future team president role. Breslow retired from pitching and joined the Cubs’ front office prior to the 2019 season as director of strategic initiatives and was promoted to assistant general manager after the 2020 campaign. Sharma points out that Breslow is from the same area of Connecticut as Mets’ owner Steve Cohen, which could have made him a nice fit for the lengthy front office search the Mets’ underwent in recent months, which concluded with the hiring of Billy Eppler as general manager. However, the Mets never actually reached out to Breslow, according to Sharma.

Some other notes from around the league…

The Orioles announced in November that they would be hiring two co-hitting coaches, Matt Borgschulte and Ryan Fuller. Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun profiled both of them this week to discuss their respective journeys. Borgschulte spent some time at Southeast Missouri State, where he worked with Dillon Lawson. The two will now be division rivals in the MLB, as Lawson recently became the Yankees hitting coach. During their time there, the school’s program developed a reputation as being at the forefront of using technology to improve pitch recognition using occlusion training, “where video of a pitch is cut off after around 20 feet, forcing a hitter to use that early portion of the ball flight to decide what type of pitch it is and whether to swing,” as Meoli describes it. Fuller, meanwhile, has been largely focused on biomechanics and swing planes. He was hired by the Orioles prior to the 2020 season with the aim of being the hitting coach in Low-A. However, after the pandemic wiped out the minor leagues that year, he ended up at the Orioles’ alternate site, working with players who were on the cusp of the majors. Successful showings from players like Cedric Mullins, DJ Stewart, Ryan Mountcastle and Austin Hays helped Fuller’s approach take hold in the organization, leading to his new position working with the big league club. The ability to maximize the potential of their young hitters figures to be an important detail for the Orioles in the coming years. The club has had five straight losing seasons and is firmly in the basement of the AL East, with their four division mates having each won at least 91 games in 2021. However, their rebuilding process has led to stockpiling young talent, with Baseball America placing them second only to the Mariners in their most recent Organization Talent Rankings. Turning those prospects into productive major leaguers will be key to helping the club climb out of the AL East basement.
Terry Francona stepped away from his managing duties for health reasons in July but seems to be on the path to return to the dugout to helm the Guardians in 2022. He recently spoke with Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe and provided some more details about his situation. “I had my hip replaced in August. That was a piece of cake. Four weeks later, they went in and redid my toe,” Francona said. “They put a rod in, two pieces of bone and eight screws. Technically, I’m still on crutches, but I haven’t been using my crutches for a while. I’m in a boot.” Tito then goes on to detail how he’s been managing this multitude of injuries since chasing down a fly ball as a 22-year-old and has since had over 40 surgeries in the subsequent 40 years. “Twelve on each knee. That’s the majority,” he said. “I’ve had my toe done twice. Both hips. Both shoulders twice. Left elbow. Hernia. Neck. Back. Disk surgery. I’ve had four or five surgeries on my wrist and fingers, but they are just little ones. I don’t count those. Then I had the blood clot procedures. The last surgery, they put two stents in my legs and one in my stomach and I have better circulation now than I have in a long time.” Despite all of that, Tito played parts of 10 seasons as a player and has now managed parts of 21 seasons. And if all continues according to plan, he should be back for a 22nd.

Central Notes: Ross, Cubs, Twins, Martin

By Sean Bavazzano | December 23, 2021 at 2:28pm CDT

In a piece for The Chicago Tribune, Meghan Montemurro recaps David Ross’s first full season managing the Cubs. The turbulent season saw Ross’s Cubs cruise through the early months before a midseason collapse led to a July fire sale. The skipper notes that he was prepared for the club to eventually retool with younger players, but that even he was surprised by the exodus of Cubs veterans on July 31. Ross quipped “I don’t think in my mind I ever thought it was going to be one day,” referencing how the retooling effort was seemingly confined to a single day. The leaner club finished with a 71-91 record and a fourth place finish, a far cry from the team’s first place performance in 2020. Still, Ross relishes the chance to grow as a manager now that Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, and Javier Baez likely won’t be holding down the fort with him. The manager’s open-mindedness, combined with his year one success, is part of why Montemurro reminds that Ross is likely to maintain control of the dugout for some time. Ross is guaranteed to be the Cubs manager through 2022, with a 2023 club option, but there is mutual interest in extending those terms. With some contention-minded moves already made, a David Ross extension would be another sign the club is looking to make the playoffs with a new core in place.

Some more from baseball’s central divisions…

The Cubs are ramping up their efforts to develop homegrown pitching reports Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. The organization was hit with a number of pitching injuries in the minor leagues, with most of the team’s best pitching prospects sidelined at some point this year after last year’s cancelled minor league season. President Jed Hoyer is reluctant to attribute these injuries to increased workloads however, acknowledging that there are a number of ways the organization can help its players better stay on track. To that end, the Chicago organization has hired former MLB pitchers Craig Breslow, Daniel Moskos, and Danny Hultzen to further develop the game plans used by young pitchers as they come up through the system. Under Vice President of Pitching Breslow’s watch, the Cubs pipeline has already started showing improvement. Despite the swath of recent injuries, many of the players who were healthy enough to pitch this past season found improved velocity under the new pitching regime. More work will need to be done before any young player can be fast-tracked to the Majors, but the authors note that any homegrown Cub who breaks through to the big leagues as a pitching fixture will be the first to do so since Jeff Samardzija debuted in 2008.
Hopping to the AL Central, where the Twins are dealing with a rare prospect surplus on the heels of their Byron Buxton extension. Writing for The Athletic, Dan Hayes and Aaron Gleeman discuss whether top shortstop/center field prospect Austin Martin can be flipped to acquire a pitcher that will help a Twins rotation short on experience. It would be a short stay in the Minnesota system for Martin, a top-30 prospect who was just acquired in July’s Jose Berrios deal, if he’s dealt. Hayes reasons that the Twins have a dire need for pitching, and speculates that acquiring Luis Castillo or Tyler Mahle of the Reds, or Frankie Montas of the A’s would provide a more immediate benefit to a team looking to contend. Neither writer is convinced Martin should be traded, considering the two players ahead of him on the depth chart (Buxton in center field and top-30 prospect Royce Lewis at shortstop) are hardly locks to stay healthy or productive. Still, with the Twins surprising inactivity in the free agent pitching market, both writers agree a lot of work needs to be done to have the pitching staff match a strong position player group.

Cubs Promote Craig Breslow To Assistant General Manager

By Steve Adams | November 30, 2020 at 10:36am CDT

The Cubs announced a series of promotions in their baseball operations department Monday, with former big leaguer reliever Craig Breslow being elevated to assistant general manager. He joins Randy Bush (another former big leaguer) and Jeff Greenberg, who was promoted to AGM status earlier this season, in that role. Breslow has also been named the organization’s vice president of pitching.

This will be the 40-year-old Breslow’s third full season in the Cubs’ front office. He retired after the 2017 season and joined the Cubs as their director of strategic initiatives prior to the 2019 season. He spent the 2020 season as the Cubs’ director of pitching and as a special assistant to president of baseball ops Theo Epstein and GM Jed Hoyer. Greenberg has been with the Cubs since 2012, with prior titles including director of baseball operations and, more recently, director of pro scouting. With Epstein stepping away and Hoyer ascending to president of baseball ops, Breslow and Greenberg will take on a larger role in the front office.

Notably, none of today’s promotions include an appointment to general manager. Hoyer said at last week’s press conference that he expected to hire a new GM from outside the organization, emphasizing the importance of allowing for new voices, ideas and perspectives to complement the continuity elsewhere in the front office.

Some notables from the Cubs’ many other front-office promotions: Chris Moore was named vice president of research and development; Matt Dorey was named vice president of player development; Louie Eljaua was named vice president of international scouting; and Alex Suarez was named senior director of international player development and operations.

Cubs Announce Player Development Changes

By Dylan A. Chase | October 17, 2019 at 12:00pm CDT

According to a release from the club’s media department, the Cubs have constructed a new player development leadership structure within their baseball operations department.

Matt Dorey, formerly Chicago’s director of amateur scouting, will serve as senior director of player development. 2020 will mark Dorey’s ninth year in the Cubs organization and 13th in professional baseball. Dorey previously coached at Washington State before entering the pro ball, PD side of the game.

Bobby Basham will be working with Dorey as director of player development. Formerly a pitcher in the Reds and Padres minor league ranks, Basham has worked in a variety of roles since gaining employ with the Cubs in 2012, including time spent as a major league scouting coordinator, assistant director of advance scouting and major league strategy, and assistant director of minor league operations. It stands to reason that Dorey and Basham will be combining to handle some of the tasks Jason McLeod vacated when the latter moved into a senior vice president of player personnel role this offseason following several years in Chicago’s player development area.

Other notable changes this morning include the naming of former big league Craig Breslow as the club’s new director of pitching–a title similar to the one the Orioles gave Chris Holt recently, as notes Joe Trezza of MLB.com (link). While Breslow’s Yale background would likely position him as the most intelligent person in many a room, the club’s new director of hitting, Justin Stone, cuts an impressive intellectual figure in his own right. Stone is the founder Elite Baseball Training in Chicago, a “technology-infused baseball and softball instructional company”. He has been working with the organization since 2018 as a biokinematic hitting consultant–a modern baseball job title if ever there was one.

Additionally, Jeremy Farrell has been promoted from minor league field coordinator to a new role as Chicago’s assistant director of player development, where his years of experience as an infielder in the Pirates and White Sox systems should come in handy. Jaron Madison, who, like McLeod, worked with Cubs GM Jed Hoyer during the latter’s time as San Diego’s GM at the turn of the decade, has been named as special assistant to the president/GM.

Although the men and women working in player development are not always appreciated by fans for their efforts in fostering, honing, and instructing organizational talent, hires like these are often critical in a team’s quest for continued, year-over-year success. These moves are likely pointed toward re-positioning Chicago’s farm as a top-shelf feeder system after recent rankings tagged the Cubs with bottom-third organizational evaluations; Fangraphs pegged the club with a 20th-ranked system, while only two Chicago youngsters, Nico Hoerner and Miguel Amaya, landed inside MLB.com’s “Top 100” list.

Cubs Hire Craig Breslow As Director Of Strategic Initiatives For Baseball Operations

By Steve Adams | January 14, 2019 at 10:24am CDT

The Cubs announced Monday that they’ve named former big league reliever Craig Breslow director of strategic initiatives in their baseball operations department. That, it seems, will put an end to a playing career that dates all the way back to the 2002 season for the 38-year-old Breslow, who spent the 2018 campaign pitching in the Blue Jays’ minor league ranks.

Per the Cubs’ release, Breslow “will help to evaluate and implement data-based processes throughout all facets of Baseball Operations” and will also “support the organization’s pitching infrastructure in Player Development and the major leagues.”

A Yale graduate with a degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry, Breslow has long been heralded as one of the game’s brightest minds. The lefty spent parts of 12 seasons in the Major Leagues, pitching to a combined 3.45 ERA with 442 strikeouts against 226 walks in 570 2/3 innings. That body of work was spread out over seven organizations, including the Red Sox, Twins, Athletics, Indians, D-backs, Padres and Marlins.

Breslow enjoyed what was arguably his most successful season in the big leagues with the Red Sox back in 2013, when he tossed 59 2/3 innings of 1.81 ERA ball for the eventual World Series champions. That season marked Breslow’s lone year of postseason experience, assuredly making the ring he won all the more treasured.

Few, if any, can match Breslow’s combination of education and a playing career that spanned more than a decade and a half, so he’ll being a unique blend of skills and experience to a Cubs front office that is already regarded among the game’s most progressive groups. Best of luck to Breslow in the next chapter of his baseball journey.

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