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Fans don't hold back their thoughts/feelings on Breslow and the deadline! Why isn't Joe Ryan a Red Sox? Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow joins live!

Transcript

00:00And Craig Breslow joins us this morning.

00:03Craig, maybe a little bit unfortunate timing this morning

00:07because we are with an unruly crowd of Red Sox fans here.

00:13Let me introduce you to them.

00:18Guys, Craig Breslow, the Chief Baseball Officer of the Boston Red Sox.

00:23Hi.

00:24Good morning.

00:25Good morning, Craig.

00:26Why is Ken tackling people?

00:28Good morning.

00:28Good morning, Craig.

00:29Good morning.

00:33Appreciate you taking the time, as always.

00:35And you said, I'm going to start with this because you said last night

00:39that you went into the deadline with the mindset that no prospect was off the table

00:46and no player was untouchable.

00:49So how is it that Joe Ryan is not on this roster today?

00:56Yeah.

00:56You know, while I am not going to get into too much detail about specific pursuits,

01:02everything that I said last night is true.

01:04And, you know, we approached the deadline trying to identify impact additions that could bolster this team,

01:12and given what we have been able to do on the field and the promise of a playoff push and deep, you know, postseason run.

01:25And we weren't able to line up.

01:26But in order to add impact players, particularly impact starting pitching,

01:32we had to take the position that we'd be willing to talk about anybody in our system, and we were.

01:38But that doesn't guarantee that you're going to line up with another team in order to get a deal across the line.

01:42So then would you disagree with Ken Rosenthal, who characterized your efforts to get Joe Ryan as feeble at best?

01:53I would strongly disagree with that, yes.

01:56Okay.

01:57Do you understand the chasm between your messaging and the fan base?

02:02It just feels like every year there is this promise of a new, driven, competitive,

02:12and just a new way in which that you feel that you will be competitive and aggressive at a deadline.

02:19And year after year, fans are let down.

02:23I don't understand how all these teams that you're competing with for a playoff spot in the division

02:29were able to find matches on deals that improve their team, but you were unable to.

02:35I understand the frustration and disappointment from our fan base and walking out of the deadline

02:44without making a big splash, especially relative to what some of the other teams have been able to do.

02:53But that doesn't change what our intentions were going into this deadline,

02:58what we were willing to do and offer.

03:02And I don't think it changes the willingness that we have shown to be aggressive

03:07and get uncomfortable in making big additions to our team.

03:12That didn't happen this deadline, but it certainly happened over the offseason.

03:19And we've talked a lot about being competitive and making a playoff run

03:26and the standard that our fans have come to expect from us

03:31and doing everything that we can to honor that.

03:33It doesn't always work out because we can't always make other teams line up with these types of things,

03:41but it did not change what we were willing to do

03:44and every path that we were pursuing to try to bolster this team.

03:49Both you and Sam Kennedy on this show and elsewhere said how aggressive you wanted to be

03:55when it came to improving this team at the deadline.

03:58Do you feel now, this morning, that you were aggressive in what you did to improve this baseball team?

04:06I think we were aggressive in the conversations that we were having

04:12and what we were willing to do.

04:16Like I've said, though, that doesn't guarantee that we get a deal done.

04:21But I also recognize that our additions and our team, we're going to be,

04:31I am going to be defined by what happens from today through the end of the season.

04:37And we brought in Dustin May and Steven Matz, two important arms that we feel like

04:41are going to help our rotation and our pen.

04:43And we need to continue to play well and win games and get ourselves into the postseason.

04:51So you believe that this team, as currently composed, is a team that should go deep in the playoffs?

04:58You believe that, yes.

05:00Craig, when it comes to where the power lies at trade deadline, is it you?

05:05Does the buck stop with you?

05:06Do you get to make the final decision?

05:08Or is it John Henry and he needs to sign off on everything you do?

05:11Who gets to make those decisions?

05:12Who has final say?

05:15Well, ultimately, John, as the principal owner, can weigh in.

05:22And if he wanted to say we are or aren't going to do something, he clearly has that authority.

05:28However, John leaves baseball operations decisions to the baseball operations group.

05:35And I have yet to strongly advocate for something and have John stand in the way of it.

05:41So that did not happen yesterday.

05:43He didn't stand in the way of anything getting done.

05:47So, Craig, if that's the case, then is he frustrated, just like fans are frustrated,

05:52that you didn't do anything to bring in impact players that could impact this team

05:58to make a real deep postseason run?

06:01I can't speak for how John feels, but I can speak for myself, which is that when we had

06:11very clear priorities for the deadline and we weren't able to achieve those, there is

06:16a feeling of frustration and disappointment.

06:19But at the same time, I do think that we made our team better.

06:22I think we have a really good young team.

06:24And I think that's going to play out over the next two months.

06:29Is there a danger that the players feel let down, that the players felt like they were

06:34in a position with an ad where they could be very, very competitive?

06:40I think, frankly, I think that there is a risk in that I've been in a clubhouse during the

06:47trade deadline and I've seen the impact of what new faces and additions can bring.

06:53I don't want to ignore the fact that we are bringing in a starter and a reliever.

06:58And I've had a handful of conversations with guys last night and wanted to make sure that

07:05they understand what our efforts were, how, you know, we tried to make additional additions.

07:12We weren't able to do that, but how much we believe in this team, which is a theme that

07:18I think has been consistent going back to spring training.

07:20Craig, where's the $20 million you saved on Devers right now?

07:25Who gets that money?

07:27What is that money doing today?

07:30Yeah, well, we talked about this at the time of the trade.

07:34The trade deadline is not free agency, right?

07:38And so having some financial flexibility doesn't always guarantee you a better outcome at the

07:44deadline.

07:44But our intentions are absolutely to aggressively invest in the Red Sox and the guys that we're

07:52able to put on the field.

07:54And just on John Henry, I know you said you're not going to speak for him, but he's part of

07:59the Economic Reform Committee.

08:01We heard a couple times this week about a confrontation with Rob Manfred and Bryce Harper about the potential

08:09of a salary cap.

08:11How does John Henry and how do you balance his role in trying to reshape the economics of

08:17baseball with building a championship team?

08:19My goal, and again, I cannot speak for John, my goal is pretty simple, and that's to do

08:26everything I can to build a championship team on the field that I don't anticipate changing.

08:33And if and when there are different constraints, you know, as imposed by Major League Baseball,

08:39we'll operate within those to do everything we can to bring another World Series to Boston.

08:44So how close were you when it comes to Joe Ryan?

08:49Without being able to speak about specific pursuits, this isn't someone who is currently

08:56on our team, we felt like we were very aggressive in pursuing a number of controllable starting

09:03pitchers.

09:04Ultimately, controllable starting pitching didn't get traded, but it wasn't because we were unwilling

09:10to talk about anyone in our system.

09:13Craig, when you go back to what Curtis asked in the beginning about losing the fan base, Alex

09:18Cora spoke about it, but last weekend, Fenway was filled with Dodgers fans.

09:22When you look at that, when John Henry looks at that, does that worry you?

09:25That moving forward, that Red Sox fans are selling off their tickets to the opposing fan

09:29base and not showing up?

09:32Well, certainly when Fenway is packed with Red Sox fans, it's an electric environment.

09:39We appreciate it.

09:40We appreciate it.

09:41Our players appreciate it.

09:44That's the environment that we're trying to create and maintain and know that that is

09:49a consequence of the team that we've got on the field.

09:53But the 26 guys that we're going to put on the field tonight are going to do everything

09:58they can to provide that level of competition and entertainment for our fans.

10:03And we're going to do everything we can to compete at a high level.

10:08We've got a really good, young, athletic, dynamic team that I think is exciting to watch.

10:14And we've got a bunch of young players that are now in the upper levels of the minor leagues

10:20that should be impacting this team in the near future.

10:22But we want Fenway to be a very, very difficult place to play for opposing teams.

10:28And we're going to do everything we can to make sure that happens.

10:30No disrespect to the two arms that you got, and you mentioned a couple times that you

10:35believe you improved the team there.

10:38But when you say we are going to aggressively go after an impact arm and you don't end up

10:47getting it, whatever the reason is, do you feel like you let down the fans on this?

10:53I feel frustrated and disappointed that we were not able to walk out of the deadline room

11:02with a controllable impact arm that we set out to add.

11:11That's, I think, the way to characterize this.

11:13But I'm not sure there was anything more we could have done in order to get us closer

11:17or ultimately over the line.

11:20I thought the big reason, one of the big reasons you were brought in after Haim was let go was

11:26that Haim was too resistant to make a trade.

11:29Haim wasn't willing to make a Chris Sale deal and other things.

11:32And you came in, executed the Sale deal, and there was a feeling that you were going to be

11:37more aggressive.

11:38Is it possible that you overrate the prospects that you have in these negotiations?

11:43And that's why the Yankees and Astros and Blue Jays and Rangers were able to improve their team

11:49and the Red Sox were not outside of a couple fringe guys?

11:54We really like our minor league players.

11:59Is it possible that we like them more than other teams?

12:02Sure, probably because we acquired them, we have relationships with them.

12:07But I do think that we have a number of conversations inside the office in our deadline room about

12:17what our goal is and what we're trying to accomplish.

12:20And that's to win the World Series.

12:22And we have to be willing to get uncomfortable with trading some of our young players in order

12:27to do that.

12:28And I think the most important thing is that we were.

12:32It just didn't work out this deadline.

12:36Is it an intentional focus of the team?

12:38And it's okay to say it because I think it would help fans and others understand it.

12:42Is it, when it comes to prospects, what you're talking about,

12:45is it a focus of this team to hang on to them because of the control factor?

12:51And it is a financially responsible way to manage personnel going forward?

13:01I don't think that this was a control thing.

13:05Like I said, if it were about finances or holding on to our players at all costs,

13:11then we would go into a conversation with another team saying,

13:16hey, we're not going to talk about this player.

13:17This player is untouchable.

13:18We wouldn't trade this guy.

13:19We go into a deadline thinking we would like to avoid trading these guys if at all possible.

13:25But by the time Thursday rolled around and we were aggressively pursuing adding impact players,

13:35we weren't unwilling to talk about anyone in our system.

13:38If that was going to get a deal done, we were willing to include these guys.

13:43It just, like I said, it didn't work out.

13:45And I think, you know, there's strong evidence of that willingness when we talk about what it took to get

13:51Garrett Crochet to the Red Sox.

13:53You know, there were a number of guys there that I think we could have taken the position we'd have been unwilling to trade.

14:00But we didn't because of the need of our major league team.

14:02So why does it work for other teams, though, in the case of Merrill Kelly or you name the player?

14:09Why does it work for those teams and you can't make it work?

14:15The short answer is another team who's trading a player has to like our players more than they like another team's players.

14:25If that doesn't always work out, I don't think that's an indictment of talent.

14:29I think each team values players a little bit differently.

14:33There are trades that come across where I'm sure we all say, oh, that seems like a really heavy return or a really light return.

14:40But the reality is, you know, the value is in the eye of the beholder.

14:45And we have to figure out ways to line up with other teams in order to get trades across the line.

14:49All right, Craig Breslow, well, proof will be in the pudding.

14:53And I appreciate you taking the time this morning.

14:56And we will catch up with you again next week, I am sure.

15:01Sounds good. Thanks, guys.

15:02All right. That's Craig Breslow, the chief baseball officer of the Boston Red Sox.

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