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Red Sox CBO Craig Breslow joins live! "Hot seat"? IKF comments? "Overpay" for a bat? "Too reliant on analytics"?
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00:00and it is craig buzz breslow who joins us here this week on the front office report hello craig
00:07hello how are you doing doing good how are you doing i am good thank you it's been quite a
00:13week
00:13um i wanted to start with because we've been talking about a lot um the comment which was
00:21made by ikf about the difference this team finds when playing on the road and playing at fenway park
00:30well uh i'm sure maybe you've spoken to him about it um what what did you make of of of
00:38that comment
00:39sure um you know i think what i made of it is obviously our performance on the road has been
00:47better than at home that's not uh the way that we drew this up it's also not indicative of the
00:52good
00:52red sox teams that i've seen or been a part of and we need to figure out how to win
00:57at home so i think
00:58everybody is is trying to think about what some of the differences might be and one thing that that
01:04stood out was uh just how kind of intimate the environment is on the road um players are a little
01:11more isolated from kind of the outside world from some noise but they're they're closer together
01:19right they're spending more time together in the clubhouse uh they're traveling to and from the
01:22field together they're going out to dinners and and so you know i think izzy was pointing that out
01:27and you know i think it it's a good reminder to think about how we can replicate that if possible
01:33in any way well you said that at fenway there are a lot of people around that they don't know
01:39what does that mean yeah um you know i think it's probably just the nature of fenway park and
01:49being in a big market and uh all that goes on every day um you know i i don't know
01:56that that izzy was
01:57talking particularly about any specific individuals but that's probably a better question for him
02:03well i mean fenway has been a big market for a long time other teams have not had an
02:09issue when it comes to chad tracy was on this radio station yesterday saying it was the media
02:15there's a lot of media around i mean there are certainly many teams that have performed well
02:21at fenway park and big market to me sounds like kind of an excuse
02:28i don't think uh anybody's looking for excuses i actually think we're
02:33trying to dig into any differences and if there are uh we want to figure out how we can overcome
02:40them
02:42sometimes though the answer isn't very clear and you know we went out last night and played well and
02:48if we can string a few more of those together then then maybe we won't be talking about you know
02:53why we
02:53we struggle at home relative to our success on the road paraphrasing what theo epstein said in the
02:58podcast last week uh there's there's too much of a reliance on analytics in the game right now do
03:06you agree or disagree uh i think it probably depends on well someone defines analytics that's not intended
03:15to be evasive but what i would say is we we try to make and at the red sox we
03:19try to make decisions
03:20using as much information as we can and some of that information comes in the form of analytics some is
03:28some is more subjective some is more uh evaluation some is makeup and background and references we try to
03:36put all of that information together to make the best decisions that we can and you know that's a
03:41combination of what some of the objective stuff tells us and also what some of the more um
03:49kind of subjective stuff does craig does it concern you at all when you start to hear your manager
03:56and some players talking about big market and where they might be when it comes to like mental toughness
04:02of playing in an environment like this and how do you evaluate a guy to know if he can handle
04:09what
04:09comes with it yeah uh i think what it what it does for me at least is to make sure
04:19that we have the
04:20support in place for our players um mental performance and mental skills is it's a growing
04:27space in sport that's been around for a while but it's probably a little bit more uh formally recognized
04:32and we want to make sure uh that we're supporting our players physically and we do that and we've always
04:38done that but also uh kind of mentally and emotionally um and then the second part of that question how
04:45do you
04:45evaluate it uh you know i think it's a lot more difficult to do in players who are further away
04:52from the big leagues right but then as guys get closer to the big leagues or guys are in the
04:56big
04:56leagues you can evaluate how they've performed on these types of stages uh you know whether that's
05:02in other big markets talking to uh their previous coaches and managers or teammates you try to get as
05:08clear a picture of the the total player as you can wanted to give you a forum to address a
05:15couple of
05:15things that were in the globe piece this week do you feel like you need an interpreter when it comes
05:21to when it comes to talking to those around the team yeah what i'd say about that is you know
05:29the
05:29the only opinions about my communication with players that matters to me are those of the players that are
05:38currently on our roster what we could test it out if you want on on on the show this morning
05:45because
05:46let's say for instance that if you wanted to tell chad tracy that he had food stuck in his in
05:54his teeth
05:54my guess would be that you might say something like data acquisition informs us that a reasonably
06:05productive tooth maintenance plan with average brush velo will only be successful at reaching
06:13approximately 40 percent of the oral cavity matrix would there be yeah so that's how that's how i would
06:21have that's how i would have done it at like my first reaction the alternative the alternative would
06:27be hey chad you have food stuck in your teeth okay all right i like it so you could just
06:32let him know
06:33that he's got a little piece of romaine or something stuck in there as a as opposed to going at
06:38it the
06:38other way yes yeah yeah uh craig i was we theo did this podcast we hadn't heard much from him
06:48and
06:48there's been a lot of speculation as to his thoughts on the organization's decision to move on from alex
06:54corey was he supportive of that decision you know i think that i'm not going to speak to specifically
07:02how any individual felt about this outside of uh you know this was something that we deliberated over
07:08for a really long time we understood the significance of the decision um you know and then ultimately i
07:14felt like the organization uh john tom sam theo mike uh supported where we landed yes roman anthony uh
07:24greg hill the host of this show a champion in this market for many years uh reported that there was
07:30a
07:30tear not a sprain sam kennedy came on and said that dr hill needs to go back to medical school
07:36and that
07:36he was wrong and it was a partial it was a sprain not a tear why the need to minimize
07:43the injury and
07:44has there been any future communications with roman anthony after he spoke with rob bradford last week
07:49once again reiterating it was indeed a tear and not a sprain yeah i think um i think this became
07:54something that probably didn't need to just in terms of uh medical uh wording and technical definition
08:03so uh sprain could be anything from uh some irritation stretching of of the ligament to a tear
08:14the diagnosis didn't change that's not a moving target um you know i think sam reported kind of the way
08:19that it was relayed to him um and then have i talked to roman since then yes i talked to
08:27roman
08:27almost every day uh and you know i think that the most important thing here is that he's doing what
08:33he can to get back on the field and uh we we are not trying to mislead or be evasive
08:38with respect to
08:38the injury that he had obviously he felt that way i mean he spoke with rob bradford and immediately said
08:44that i have this this i mean he was it was clear as day when roman anthony spoke about it
08:49but he was
08:49bothered by the way it was described to greg on this show yeah i'm not gonna speak for roman um
08:57i spoke
08:58to roman and uh you know i think our our conversation was great and productive as it has been for
09:06you know
09:06the last two years so there's not a problem when it comes to the player in the organization
09:14with regard to this misdiagnosis or or maybe not a misdiagnosis the way the medical information is
09:21shared with fans uh but there is there's no problem between between roman and the organization
09:29craig i know david ortiz had a golf tournament talked about how john henry is kind of upset
09:35where this team is and we asked uh alex core about this i'll obviously ask you about it
09:41you know do you feel like when you look at this team and how poorly you guys are performing do
09:47you
09:48feel like there's an a chance if you moved on from alex core that john henry might make a decision
09:52and
09:53that you know you could potentially be on the hot seat if you don't get things turned around
09:59uh you know i i've been asked that question a decent amount over the last couple of weeks and
10:03my answer really doesn't change which is i'm spending my time um you know working with our
10:11with our coaches working in the office to think about how we get our season on track that's the
10:16most important thing um that's always going to be the most important thing and you know hearing about
10:22john um relaying that you know he is uh frustrated or disappointed disappointed with where the organization is
10:30today uh i don't think that's surprising we're in we're in last place in the division we're not
10:35playing up to our expectations uh i think we're all frustrated and disappointed with that buster only
10:41said yesterday that uh the organization is desperate use the desperate word for a right-handed bat and
10:49willing to overpay for it are both of those things true uh you know probably not a surprise that i'm
10:57not
10:58going to get into specific pursuits outside of saying that uh if there are opportunities to improve
11:04our roster we are going to pursue those uh you know exactly what those look like or where they end
11:10up
11:10i don't know right now craig with your background do you feel at this point um it's more confident
11:16in your ability to evaluate talent on the pitching side than the offensive side not that you're not
11:23confident there but do you feel that pitching is your strength um i don't think it's quite i don't
11:31think it's quite that simple in in terms of um you know any individual's ability to like evaluate players
11:39or scout players like there's going to be a ton of um of variance in in that just in terms
11:45of you know we
11:46we can look at players and sometimes we and often predict what we think they're going to be and
11:52sometimes we get that right and sometimes we don't um you know i think specifically as it relates to the
11:56development of of players more experience with developing pitching than developing hitting but
12:04that's why i you know do everything i can to bring in the best support around me and around our
12:09players
12:10uh and create the best environment for our players so that we can uh that they can thrive craig uh
12:15if
12:16just quickly on the ikf thing because it's been the number one story are there more people from your
12:22analytics department around the team at home than on the road no so the analytics team travels with you
12:30wherever you go uh no i think it's the opposite that there are not analytics teams that are uh you
12:39know
12:39groups of people that are teaming the clubhouse and grabbing players um you know in the from
12:45people from the front office don't don't bring information to players we try and get information
12:52to coaches information that they need so that they can determine if how and when they want to use that
13:00information uh with with our players that's to me that's that's coaching uh you know that's not that's not
13:05our job any concern that you are drowning the clubhouse in spreadsheets uh no like i said because
13:15i've never seen a spreadsheet in the clubhouse um you know when it comes to how do we want to
13:22provide
13:22information to players what is the right time what is the right amount we rely on our coaches uh because
13:28they're interacting with our players every single day craig this is interesting because you know
13:33obviously when i played the analytics weren't a big thing obviously when you played i'm not sure
13:38if they were big we're always having this conversation and i know we bust your chops call
13:44you brez bot when you allow these players or you're working with these players are you a person that leans
13:51more on go with what your gut is telling you or are you somebody who is more in line with
13:58the
13:59analytics um when it when you're talking to your players uh well like i said um and this i i
14:08am very
14:09rarely having an analytical conversation with a player when we talk to coaches and we try to assess
14:16you know where a player is and what their performance looks like um we use we use both but i
14:22think
14:22the way that i the way that i'd kind of tease this out is i would say the objective information
14:28tells us exactly how a player has performed it tells us exactly who a player has been we can't
14:33argue with a walk rate or a strikeout rate or a home run rate that a player has right like
14:39that's
14:39that's undisputable where we need a lot more uh appreciation for the the player his personality
14:49what's going to land what's going to resonate is in trying to influence anything if we're trying to
14:54work through something if there's a swing change that needs to be made we want to add a pitch we
14:59have to rely on our coaches who are with the player every single day to help us to help us
15:03answer the
15:04question of how and so you know to me this is the objective information tells us that helps tell us
15:11exactly what's happening uh maybe to some degree it can help us tell why but then if we're going to
15:17if
15:18we all agree that we're going to try to move a player toward a you know in a particular
15:21direction we're trying to get them to swing and miss a little bit less or get them to swing at
15:26pitches pitches are going to play it a little bit more we need to rely on our coaches to answer
15:29the
15:29question of how we do that um how does the organization feel about uh caleb durbin or others
15:36who are going outside the organization to get help when it comes to hitting the baseball
15:43yeah this is nothing new um you know players who have guys that they uh they see in the off
15:50season and build very close and trusting relationships with and want to carry that into
15:55the season um that's been going on for i don't know probably 15 or or 20 years i can remember
16:02some of
16:03my teammates bringing whether it was uh strength coaches or hitting or pitching coaches or athletic
16:09trainers in in the cities um and we are we're welcoming of that uh this is about the players
16:15and this is about supporting the players and giving them everything they need and so most often we work
16:21together and we collaborate and we want to make sure that there's consistency so a player never feels like
16:26they have to choose between what their guy is telling them and versus what the boston red sox are telling
16:31them yeah and to be fair on that you could probably confirm it but i i've been told that alex
16:36bregman had his own hitting guy around all season long last year is that is that accurate
16:43yep yeah okay manny would be a great addition manny ramirez right i've seen him on social media and
16:49working with his kid seems like he'd be a great hitting coach pedro brought in nelson who could forget
16:54but uh craig just on the uh the way in which you want you like i guess the way your
17:00organization is
17:03standing why is there this defense of analytics constantly it it's pervasive in everything you say
17:12and it's clear by the people that were let go and those that remain that that was a real sticking
17:18point
17:18and ikf made those comments and you're saying it's because he's afraid of a big market and that even
17:23though he played in new york and that has nothing to do with analytics i guess i did not say
17:28that i did
17:29not say that so it so it could have to do with i didn't say that no i didn't say
17:33that he was afraid
17:34of a big market well no the team i mean i don't know who spoke with him but he spoke
17:37after the game
17:38he said there's a lot of people around here at home that are on the road and then the next
17:42day chad
17:42tracy went on the afternoon show and said he was talking about how big of a market it was and
17:46akf sort of reiterated that which to me seemed totally counter to what he was actually saying
17:51after the game the other night at fenway park okay all all i was was reinforcing was i did not
18:00say
18:00that ikf is afraid of a big market i know but the team for some reason is okay with that
18:06being the
18:06messaging as opposed to saying that there is somehow more people around the the clubhouse talking about
18:12what you should or shouldn't do on a 2-2 count on a wednesday when it's you know a wind
18:17out to right
18:20field yeah i'm not um to be totally i'm not i'm not certain like it doesn't sound to me like
18:28the
18:28team was the team was okay um accepting that big market was the reason over analytics like i'm i'm
18:38saying to you that analysts are not in the clubhouse telling players what pitch to swing at 2-2 with
18:46wind um that's that's just it's not happening well that real quick just to if you could pick one
18:53reason from for you based on your analysis why is this team so bad at fenway park and not necessarily
19:00the same on the road yeah i wish i had a clear answer that we could point to and say
19:06if we just do
19:08this then we will be more successful at home outside of this obviously being if we score more runs at
19:13home
19:13and we give up fewer um you know we look at the overall performance and the pitching has been
19:18pretty consistent we haven't hit at home uh the same way that we have on the road we've actually been
19:23a very good offensive team uh on the road that hasn't been the case at home uh and i think
19:30we're
19:30going to need more than than 30 games to to dig into that uh but my guess is it's not
19:35any one thing
19:36um it's probably the combination of a few and quickly jeff passens reporting that the team has
19:41a big gap between how they view jaron duran and how other teams view him are you obviously i know
19:47you
19:47won't talk about specific players but your predecessor heim bloom was criticized for an inability to make
19:52a move when the team needed to make one do you feel like you are able to make a trade
19:58from your big
19:58league roster if it were to improve the team in the long run possibly hurt the team this year
20:04uh you know i'm not sure that we are at a place today where we should be willing to to
20:10make moves
20:11that hurt our 2026 team or chances if there is an opportunity to improve kind of both the short and
20:18long-term outlook right now uh and that requires trading players from our major league roster then then
20:24yes we have to be we have to be willing to do that craig breslow not sure where this ranked
20:29on things
20:29you wanted to do today but i appreciate i appreciate you taking the time and coming
20:35on with us and talking this morning i'm uh i'm about to walk into the trace's office and the first
20:40thing i'm gonna do is look at his front tooth and see if i can see any food so i'll
20:44let you guys
20:44give it to him straight just be basic be like bro a little romaine in your tooth bro like just
20:51make it
20:51just make it basic all right craig thank you okay you got it all right that is craig breslow
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