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Red Sox CBO Craig Breslow joins live from Ft. Myers, FLA |The Greg Hill Show!
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00:00Here at JetBlue Park, it is Craig Breslow, Chief Baseball Officer of the Boston Red Sox.
00:05Good morning.
00:05Good morning.
00:06Where does this rank on your list of the things you would least like to do today?
00:10Well, there's the bottom of the list.
00:12Okay.
00:13And a pretty big gap.
00:14Okay.
00:15Oh, then it's down below that.
00:18Well, we appreciate you joining us here.
00:21And we've had a lot of great interviews this week and a lot of talk about from the guys
00:27that we've been talking to about the vibe here and the vibe.
00:31I think it was Peyton Tolley who said the vibe is high.
00:35Are you feeling a different vibe here this season?
00:38Well, I think every year has a little bit different vibe, but it's a good group.
00:42It's very business-like, balanced with some strong personalities.
00:46I'm sure you've seen that over the course of the week.
00:48Tolley maybe at the top of the list.
00:50But, no, some of the new guys that have come in.
00:52Did you shave USA into your chest there?
00:55I didn't.
00:56Okay, you haven't yet.
00:57I didn't.
00:58But, obviously, he did.
01:00And that went over very, very well.
01:03But some of the new guys that have come in have strong personalities, but they've also
01:07blended in.
01:07And, you know, Sonny and Wilson in a very different way.
01:11Ranger.
01:11I don't know if you guys have had a chance to talk to him at all.
01:13We haven't.
01:14But, no, it's a really likable group.
01:17And it's also one that seems to have come together.
01:19And they're just prioritizing the work that we need to do here.
01:22Yeah.
01:22Craig, when you start to look at, because we've had this discussion of, like, how you
01:26want to build your team personnel-wise.
01:30We're starting to see a lot more athletic guys.
01:33Is that something that you are focusing on, especially, like, with the new baseball in
01:382026, where you're starting to see, you know, some of these guys, they almost look like football
01:42players in the way that they move.
01:44Is that something that the Red Sox are kind of honing in on when it comes to personnel?
01:49I think we've seen a bit of a shift throughout the industry where, you know, a lot of the
01:54rules that have been introduced are prioritizing action, balls in play.
01:58And so, with that, we want, you know, we want athletic defenders, guys that have a bunch of
02:03range, can get to balls.
02:05Really aggressive and athletic base runners take advantage of opportunities to get stolen
02:11bases, to advance, and also, given our ballpark, you know, the number of doubles that get hit
02:16there, and also the ability to score from first on extra base hits.
02:20So, yeah, I think it's an intentional strategy that we're taking here.
02:24I think, you know, there are some naysayers out there and people who look at the offseason
02:29and go, all right, where's the offense going to come from?
02:32And when I say offense, I mean the long ball.
02:36Is it an approach from you where you're like, listen, we can win with pitching.
02:41Alex Gora was saying he thinks this team can score two or three runs and win baseball games.
02:47Is that kind of a philosophy thing from you when it comes to that approach?
02:52Well, we went into the offseason recognizing a need to improve the roster.
02:58And offensively, the ability to hit the ball out of the park, that was one path.
03:01And it was a stated path, right?
03:03But when we weren't able to find common ground on some of those opportunities, we still needed
03:09to work backwards from that stated goal of improving the roster.
03:13And I think the thing about pitching and defense is it gives us a chance to win every single
03:17night, right?
03:18You kind of wake up and you show up at the ballpark thinking, you know, whether we've got
03:21Garrett or Sonny or Ranger or Brian or whoever ends up in the fifth spot, they're going
03:25to keep us in the game and we're going to, you know, we're going to take balls that are
03:29put in play and we're going to convert them into outs.
03:30And that gives us a chance.
03:31And I think that's something that the coaching staff and the players like really resonate
03:36with.
03:37So, yeah, it's an intentional strategy to lean into the ability to keep runs off the
03:41board.
03:41Greg, is it a, we've had a lot of people this week discuss how this is your vision,
03:47that this offseason is about you and that you are averse to long, big deals for free
03:54agent bats that, you know, guys like Alonzo, the offer wasn't what it was and that it's
03:58not the organizational approach.
03:59It's Craig Breslow's approach to not get mired in bad contracts.
04:04Is this something that the organization has asked of you or is this your approach to free
04:10agency?
04:11Well, I push back on the notion that this is my vision and not the organization's.
04:16I think the organizational position is the same as mine, which is how do we build the
04:20best roster we can and give ourselves a chance to compete for the World Series?
04:24And there are a bunch of different ways to do that.
04:27And this flavor, this brand of baseball that we're going to play, it's a little bit atypical
04:32from the traditional Red Sox, you know, slugging the ball out of the park.
04:36But again, the game has started to evolve and change.
04:39And there are now rules in place that favor stolen bases and base running and putting the
04:44ball in play.
04:44And we need to evolve alongside it.
04:46And there was an era for basically the first 15, 20 years of this ownership, if they wanted
04:51a player, I always think of David Price, right?
04:54They misread the Leicester situation.
04:56They're like, we need to get a lefty ace.
04:58And they blew everybody out of the water with the David Price contract.
05:01And obviously, some years were pretty bad.
05:03But you won a World Series.
05:04You don't win in 2018 without David Price.
05:06And then there has been, now the Red Sox have been like proud to be in second place.
05:11Or we were close and he decided that he didn't want to be here.
05:14Or we're not really that competitive for guys that clearly would fill a need.
05:19Do you feel like if you said, John Henry, we need X, can we do it, that you have that
05:25support?
05:26Or is this a change organizationally regarding your philosophy?
05:30No, I feel like we have that support.
05:32And I think the job that I have is to try to do everything we can to win in 26
05:37and also
05:38win in 27 and 28 and 29, right?
05:40And so I was here in 13, which is a great season.
05:43But in 2012 and 2014, we finished in last place.
05:46That's also what we're trying to avoid while we're winning the 2013 World Series.
05:51And so sometimes committing long term, you end up, you can interfere with that, is what
05:56you're saying.
05:57It can.
05:58Sometimes that can be the building block.
06:00That can be the foundation for long term sustainability, right?
06:02It's, you know, it's getting harder and harder to find, you know, the perfect player.
06:0930 teams are trying to do the same thing.
06:10Every front office is, you know, is really smart and looking for the same incremental
06:15advantage.
06:16We've, you know, we don't get points for being different.
06:19We get points for being right.
06:21Craig, when you start to look at it, because in baseball, there's so much analytics.
06:25There's so much projection of what guys.
06:27He's not an analytics guy.
06:29Not into that at all.
06:31No, no.
06:31But there's a lot of that, you know, in all sports nowadays.
06:34Equations on the wall.
06:35But I think one of the things that are, that's kind of related to all sports more than anything
06:41is projection of certain guys, especially when they get, let's say, you know, north of
06:4630, 31, 32 years old.
06:49Do you start to look, especially at hitters, differently when they're in that range and
06:54maybe they want a little bit longer term of a deal?
06:57It's, you know, with the new model of the kind of the whole projection world of professional
07:03athletes.
07:05You have, you have to look at the projections.
07:08You also have to recognize that every projection system is imperfect, right?
07:12And the second that we have perfect projections, this, this, this, this job becomes very easy.
07:19So, yeah, there are certain elements of, you know, of a hitter's profile or a pitcher's
07:23profile that we think might age better or worse than others.
07:27But, and that's, you know, that's constantly a bet that we, we have to make, you know, but
07:32there are players that are incredibly effective and successful deep into their 30s and beyond.
07:37I mean, our, our closer at 38 years old is as good today seemingly as he was at any other
07:42point.
07:43And so our job is to try to both find the guys who are going to be effective deep into
07:48their
07:48careers and also do everything we can from like a support standpoint in the, in the training
07:52room, you know, in the, in the weight room and with our coaches to, to continue to get the
07:57best out of each of them.
07:58I think like Wiggy, Curtis brought up, Wiggy's a big Pete Alonzo guy.
08:03Like specifically on that, what we're kind of trying to get to is the fans will say, why
08:08is Pete Alonzo not wearing a Red Sox uniform right now?
08:11What's the reason?
08:13Sure.
08:13And, and I'm not going to get into those specifics.
08:15If you were going to give us one, like one word, like one, one word, why?
08:19Yeah.
08:20I mean, I, I, I'm not going to get into the specifics of any individual free agent pursuit.
08:26Um, you know, Pete is a, is a very good player who I'm sure is going to have a, you
08:30know, a
08:30good season, uh, in, in Baltimore.
08:32Um, but we've got 65 guys in camp right now that deserve our attention.
08:37And that's where our heads are.
08:38So, so then who tried, who would you keep it to the Red Sox and who would you look
08:43projection wise as that guy to be, all right, we would like him to be our 30 plus home run
08:51guy.
08:51You know, who is that guy that you or guys that you would like to see maybe have that
08:56ability that could be that for this Boston Red Sox team this year?
09:00Sure.
09:00There are a few guys that I think are capable of going out and hitting 30, 30 home runs.
09:04Now, what I would say is if we don't have someone who hits 30 home runs and we fall short
09:09of our goals and the reason is because nobody hits 30 home runs.
09:12And I think the criticism would be fair to say, well, we didn't have enough power in
09:15the lineup.
09:17We've got to find ways to win games.
09:18That's what I'm going to keep coming back to.
09:20But, you know, to answer your question directly, um, you know, Trevor Story hit 25 last year.
09:25I don't think in a, in a season that he's been completely healthy and gotten, you know, 400
09:29plus at bats, he ever hasn't hit 20.
09:31Uh, the brave hit, what, 22 in 110 or 115 games as a 25 year old guy.
09:36We think that there's another level for him.
09:38He promised, he promised Wiggy 30 when he was on the show the other day.
09:40There you go.
09:41So he's the guy.
09:42I think Roman promised 30 this morning.
09:44Yeah.
09:44Okay.
09:45How many did Tully promise?
09:47He wants outs.
09:49He said he wants outs.
09:50It's all about outs for him.
09:52Yeah.
09:52He was really quiet and shy.
09:54It was very odd.
09:54I bet.
09:55I bet.
09:56He had lost his voice with the presentation yesterday.
09:59Oh, man.
09:59But as, but as a pitcher, that's where you made your money.
10:02You must be fired up about this pitching staff.
10:04It's an exciting one.
10:05I think it's got, um, it's got both quality and it's got depth, right?
10:10So, um, you know, we, we ran into, uh, some, some struggles last year toward the end of the
10:14season when Lucas got hurt and, um, you know, Brian struggled a bit and we saw that in the
10:18playoffs where after Garrett, there wasn't quite the same pitching depth that, that we
10:22had needed to get through, uh, to get through the series.
10:25And so, you know, now if we were to go into a post-season with Garrett followed by, you
10:29know, some combination of Ranger and Swan and Sonny and Brian, and, you know, what we
10:32saw from, from guys like Connelly and Peyton last year, we feel a lot better about, uh,
10:35not just, you know, kind of the quality and the top heavy nature, but also the depth.
10:39And like I said, you know, I think if you were to ask Alex or the coaches or, or, you
10:44know, the position player group, like they're going to, they're going to show up at the
10:46park every day, knowing that there's a chance for us to win the
10:48game.
10:49Craig, you, uh, you're a player.
10:50So, you know, both sides of this, the no trade clause has been a subject of conversation after
10:55the Bregman decision where he signed with the Cubs, as opposed to retaining his, uh,
10:59or retaining here, you guys retaining him with the Red Sox.
11:01Is there a policy on that?
11:03And why is that an important, uh, clause to keep out of contracts from the organization's
11:08perspective?
11:09Sure.
11:10So again, avoiding like any, you know, conversation or details about any individual negotiation.
11:14You know, I mean, what I would say is we, we try to approach every one of
11:17these situations uniquely.
11:19Um, we try to balance what is best for the organization with, you know, what, uh, you
11:24know, with what ultimately could, could get us the player.
11:26Um, and I don't think it makes a ton of sense to blanket any situation with just like a single
11:31kind of principle here.
11:32Do you ever feel the urge to comment when you see an Instagram post that is Bregman Endeavors
11:40together?
11:41What is Instagram?
11:43Sounds like Belichick now.
11:45I like it.
11:47Okay.
11:47So that you just, that's social media.
11:49I mean, that's still yesterday.
11:51I learned very early on.
11:53It was best for me to, to remove myself from any social media presence.
11:58You and me both.
11:59Craig, how do you walk that line?
12:01Cause we, we, we had Cora on maybe yesterday or the day before.
12:05And he said, the one thing that he really had to learn was the, the relationship.
12:12Sometimes I get too close to players, fall in love with players, especially as a former
12:17player, you, you still, no matter what, you might be in front office, but underneath all
12:22that, you're still a former player.
12:24And, you know, you maybe want to lean a little towards how they think, how do you walk the
12:28line of not getting caught in the emotions of being a former player when you're talking
12:34to guys when it comes to contracts and things of that nature?
12:37Yeah, it's, it's very hard, but I think you have to separate, um, the emotion, the human
12:42element, the relationship that you might have with a player, the empathy and compassion
12:46that you want to show them.
12:47And I think in my, in my situation, the, the similar and shared experiences, right?
12:52I've kind of been on, on that side of things.
12:54You have to separate that from, you know, I have to go to bed at night knowing that I
12:57did what I believe to be was best for the organization.
13:00And if you do that, then I think you can have relationships and you can get attached to
13:04players, um, where you run into trouble is when one leaks into, into the other, right?
13:09This is, this is a business and you're competing against three other sports franchises in this
13:16city for attention.
13:17So when the Patriots make it to the Superbowl, is that added pressure for the Boston Red Sox
13:22and for you, it could be, I suppose, um, you know, there's pressure to perform in Boston
13:30because the fan base is incredibly passionate and has really high standards and expectations
13:34for its sports franchises.
13:36Um, that's, that's what makes this job so compelling and, and so exciting.
13:41Uh, you know, is, is we want a fan base that is frustrated and disappointed alongside us
13:46when we fall short.
13:47Um, so I, I think there is enough pressure in this job, uh, and, and we owe it to our
13:52fans to compete for a world series championship, irrespective of what happens to the Patriots
13:56or the Celtics or the Bruins.
13:57All right.
13:58Well, we appreciate you taking the time as always.
14:00You know, what?
14:01Yeah, just as the last one for me, uh, um, Greg, I'm sorry.
14:04I just, cause I'll, I'm always fascinated as a former player, like the behind the scenes
14:09and how the construction of training camp or practice goes, how much, cause I remember
14:15when I played a lot of what we became as a football team and, um, was built in training
14:22camp for us.
14:22How much is built here in spring training of what your, your baseball team will ultimately
14:29become?
14:30I think a lot of it, most of it even, um, because this is a unique six week period where
14:37players
14:38are, uh, getting to know one another, they're getting to know the coaching staff.
14:42It's maybe removed a bit from the pressure of, of competition every single day.
14:46And this is where teams start to form their identity, right?
14:49And we talked about, you know, pitching and defense and base running potentially being
14:53the identity of, of this team, but, um, you know, that alongside the relationships, they
14:57start to build now.
14:58And so this is a chance for guys, you know, they go golf together and they fish together
15:01and they go out to dinner together.
15:02And, uh, you know, we spend so much time, um, away from our families with each other that
15:07this, I think kind of becomes the foundation for what the team will go on to be over the
15:11next six months.
15:12And Craig, sorry, one last one for me.
15:14The, I, the potential for a lockout at the end of this season is the worst kept secret
15:20in major league baseball.
15:21Uh, how has that impacted your roster building approach and what are your thoughts on it in
15:26general?
15:27Sure.
15:29I don't know that it has changed our approach to roster building dramatically.
15:33We, we came into 2026 thinking we needed to improve the roster.
15:37There were some obvious opportunities to do that.
15:40And we're focused on prioritizing 2026.
15:43We want to have the best season we possibly can for, for the organization and for our fans.
15:47Um, there's a ton of uncertainty entering 2027.
15:50Sure.
15:50Um, I think I, I know better than to comment on where I think that's going to land, but
15:55our focus is pretty firmly on doing everything we can to build a winner in 26.
15:59Did any players negotiate, obviously not specific ones, try, has there been an attempt by,
16:04from the player's side negotiating guarantees or anything related to, in the event of a
16:09lockout, my contract would be X.
16:10Well, what we've seen, um, you know, in, in looking at the way that contracts are structured
16:14is some different mechanisms to probably account for that, whether it's, uh, you know, lower
16:19salaries or signing bonuses, that type of thing.
16:21Yeah.
16:22Interesting.
16:23All right.
16:23Thanks for taking the time.
16:25Big event here tonight.
16:26Red Sox have a big event here tonight at the park to kick off the stadium, which, uh,
16:31I am lucky to be invited to.
16:33There is a Western theme.
16:35You seem like, uh, you know, fun party guy, a theme guy.
16:39Um, what are you wearing?
16:41Uh, I picked out my nicest khakis and quarters over tonight.
16:45No boots.
16:46No, no, uh, 10 gallon, 10 gallon hat.
16:49Maybe see how quickly we can get something delivered.
16:51We got to get the Larry Lucchino rest in peace when he had that cowboy outfit.
16:55Remember that Ken?
16:56Bizarre.
16:57Oh yeah.
16:58All right.
16:58So, all right.
16:59So you're going to try is what you're saying in theme or no, you're not going to go in theme.
17:04We'll see.
17:04We'll see.
17:05Do you have an extra pair of, I do not have an extra pair.
17:07I don't think they would fit you.
17:09They probably wouldn't fit you.
17:10Little thing.
17:11All right.
17:11That's Craig Breslow from spring training.
17:13We will be right back.
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