- 7 weeks ago
- #live
What is this team's IDENTITY? Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow joins! #live Could we see Roman Anthony and or Trevor Story this weekend? Could bringing up vets, and sending others down, negatively impact the chemistry?
"Do you expect Roman to be at Yankee Stadium, up for this weekend series?" Breslow: "I think he, Trevor, Isiah, they are all getting very close to returning" Breslow: "We were not punishing Roman"
Coco: "Do you have full confidence in your training staff?"
"Do you expect Roman to be at Yankee Stadium, up for this weekend series?" Breslow: "I think he, Trevor, Isiah, they are all getting very close to returning" Breslow: "We were not punishing Roman"
Coco: "Do you have full confidence in your training staff?"
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SportsTranscript
00:00Craig good morning good morning how are you doing we're doing great this is an opportunity for you
00:06we're here with a whole bunch of people and I think maybe first time this season
00:09they absolutely love you Craig Breslow so I want you to soak it soak it in Craig Breslow soak it
00:17in thank you yeah no I appreciate the uh that applause obviously quite a bit different than uh
00:24when I was introduced to a live audience a couple of months ago so thank you well
00:29listen the team continues to roll here and win series and that is great I I wanted to ask you
00:36about you got guys coming back from injury Roman Trevor Story IKF um and and you've got some young
00:43guys on this team uh who have outperformed expectations you're going to have to eventually
00:49uh make some changes when it comes to roster how how difficult is that for you from a from a
00:57a balancing perspective and and do you you know where are you on the chemistry of this team as it
01:04is now and uh thinking about how you may affect that when when when you bring guys back
01:11sure I think the word that stands out is is balance um you know we want to balance bringing back
01:17really
01:17talented players that are capable of contributing and uh and helping us win more games with uh an
01:23appreciation for the identity that has merged uh emerged over the last few months um and the the
01:31belief that guys have in each other the closeness that's developed uh through the last few months
01:35and the success that the team had on the field so uh we'll we'll be mindful of that and you
01:40know I
01:40lean on on trace and other staff members to kind of help have those conversations and help understand
01:46the dynamics in the clubhouse from your perspective running the whole thing what is the identity of
01:52this team the last month and a half sure I think um you know I think off the field there's
01:59a confidence
02:00and a belief in each other I think there's uh you know you had talked about guys overachieving which
02:05means that you know there was a level of expectation that they're exceeding I don't so I don't know if
02:09that's totally fair but I think what we have is guys who understand the contributions that they can make
02:14uh to the team and understand what their roles are and uh and how they fit into that and and
02:20I think
02:20that comes from understanding their skills and their abilities and also Chad and the staff doing a
02:25really good job of walking through how each piece fits um and then on the field I think the identity
02:30has has been pitching and defense that keeps us in every single game uh and then offensively a team
02:38that is is able to grind out at bats to really put pressure on opposing defenses uh opposing starting
02:44pitchers we've seen time and time again uh the guy's ability to knock out an opposing starter
02:50in the fourth or fifth inning to get to bullpens uh and to find ways to get on base whether
02:55that's
02:55putting the ball in play using some athleticism and speed uh taking walks and then some guys in
03:01the middle of the lineup that are capable of hitting the ball out of the park so uh you know
03:05you kind
03:05of zoom out and you look and you say when you put it all together um you know we've we've
03:10had an
03:10elite starting pitching rotation an elite bullpen and an above average offense for you know the better
03:15part of the last two months Craig when you look at Trevor's story specifically um you've had a lot
03:23of guys that have stepped in at the shortstop position and contributed a lot but prior to his
03:28injury he was your everyday shortstop is that still the mindset with a guy like him when he comes back
03:34is that he gets right back into that well I think uh you know the way specifically playing time will
03:41be
03:41distributed we'll you know we'll have conversations with Trevor and and Trace and we'll work through
03:46that and we've seen you Trevor will be the first to say that he struggled uh before getting hurt this
03:52season but he was also a guy who carried our offense for months at a time last year and I
03:57don't think
03:58that we got to see a full healthy version of him he was you know he was battling through the
04:02the
04:02sports injury injury that probably limited his ability to be like the explosive athlete that that he can
04:09be but at his best uh he can run the bases really well he can defend uh and he can
04:16he can do damage
04:16at the plate and so that's what we're looking for and when he's right he's a guy that fits into
04:21uh
04:21into the middle of the lineup Craig you expect Roman to be at Yankee Stadium up up for this weekend
04:28series
04:30uh you know I think he Trevor Isaiah they're all getting very close to returning um you know at some
04:37point in the rehab process you kind of shift from like the medical perspective into a baseball
04:43perspective and the conversations now don't you know aren't about how do you feel and how are you
04:47recovering and they start to become you know how does your swing feel how's your timing are you uh you
04:53know do you feel explosive in the field and able to defend and I think we're getting there I don't
04:58want
04:58to put any timetable um you know on specifically when they'll return outside of saying that we're in
05:03communication and we're kind of taking things day to day at this point Craig earlier we play uh we
05:08talked a little bit about Roman Anthony and his comments to Chris Cotillo about uh his recovery
05:13and and maybe timetables that were different with your training staff and his own personal
05:18do you have full confidence in your training staff and does this worry you that one of your
05:22star players feels a certain type of way uh I have full confidence in in our medical staff
05:29excuse me here uh and also would want to acknowledge the humility that our staff has
05:35demonstrated in seeking outside perspectives and opinions when appropriate and um you know this
05:42this specific injury and recovery was so unique in that the diagnosis never really changed throughout
05:50but the amount of time it took to heal um ended up being quite a bit longer than we anticipated
05:55than Roman anticipated and uh you know a lot of that is just we can't precisely pinpoint how long
06:01it will be before um you know strength returns and before the discomfort completely subsides
06:07Greg it seems from the outside through what Roman Anthony has said and we have no other way to judge
06:13it
06:13that he felt that he was punished by being sent to Fort Myers and it also seems that he is
06:19still
06:19hurt by the organization's response to the injury how do you fix those problems and were
06:25you punishing him well I think you start by trying to understand whether or not there is a problem
06:31we were we were not punishing Roman Roman doesn't feel punished uh he and I have a great relationship
06:37and we communicate multiple times per day um I think you know what I had seen was Roman saying that
06:43being in Fort Myers and rehabbing sucked right and it it can it does uh both because you're not
06:52playing which is what Roman has known his entire life he's not contributing to helping us win games
06:56and uh you know the environment in at a spring training complex in the middle of the summer is
07:01not exactly the same as playing in front of 35,000 people in Boston but we reached the decision uh
07:07for
07:07Roman to go to Fort Myers together and felt like it was the thing that would get him back uh
07:12to the big
07:13leagues as fast as possible and that remained the case um but in in terms of how do you resolve
07:20the situation
07:21I don't think there's anything to resolve um you know I don't think Roman feels punished we certainly
07:27weren't looking to punish him um and I think it's really quite as simple as that
07:31but if it was the fastest place for him to get back to the big leagues why didn't he start
07:35rehabbing in Fort Myers
07:38well because the you know I think the course of the rehab changed over time and you know we've talked
07:43a lot about how this ended up taking longer than we thought um and if it were going to be
07:48short term
07:49then keeping him as close to the big league team and as engaged as possible uh would have been the
07:57right course and once we realized that this was going to take uh more time than we had thought we
08:01felt
08:01like getting the Fort Myers was the best thing that we could do Craig when you look at where
08:06you guys are I know players and managers they always say be where your feet are at don't look
08:11ahead but you as a guy in a different position you kind of always are trying to look ahead at
08:16schedule
08:16and where you are in the standings when you look at where you're currently sitting right now
08:21I know your focus is the Yankees and potentially catch them but do you still have the same focus of
08:26like what you need to do to possibly be able to put yourself in a position where you can actually
08:31win the division as well yeah I think the thing about baseball probably because you play almost
08:39every single night is a lot of the interests converge meaning that what we're going to do to try to
08:44win
08:44tomorrow's game is going to look a lot like what we're going to try to do to win next week's
08:48game
08:48um and so you know the the interests are at the front office providing trace the coaching staff the
08:56players with all of the resources information that we can and and allowing them to to use that and
09:01how they make decisions uh leading into games preparing for games and in game um and that's
09:07going to be consistent from here till the last game that we play this season a month and a half
09:12ago
09:13did you believe that this series with the Yankees at the end of August would be as meaningful as it
09:20is
09:20for this baseball team um I will say that I think the front office has had unwavering support uh for
09:29our players even at times when it may have seemed uh foolish to do so uh and the players have
09:37responded incredibly well the staff has responded incredibly well it's a great environment uh around
09:43them now looking forward and saying you know would this series at the end of August mean exactly what it
09:48looks to me like I can't sit here and say yes of course um but that that's not to say
09:54that I
09:54didn't think we were going to be in a in a good position and for these games to matter I
09:58just didn't
09:58know uh kind of the context around the extent to which they would I have to ask you the some
10:04of
10:04these same questions every week because people talk about it all the time um I uh has have your
10:09feelings changed at all when it comes to removing the interim tag from Chad Tracy uh my answer is going
10:16to
10:17sound pretty consistent with what it has been when you've asked the questions for the last uh six
10:21weeks which is to say that Chad has done a fantastic job can't you know can't imagine anyone stepping in
10:28and being more stabilizing and consistent and building a better environment around the players
10:34and what he's done we are both focused on exactly what we have to do to prepare for this big
10:39series
10:39coming up this weekend um but we have great communication when the time comes for us to have
10:44a conversation about what the future might look like I trust that uh we will both enter that um
10:50you know in in good faith and it will be a conversation uh that I think is productive um but
10:56for right now we'll keep our focus on the field the stadium may have changed do you have any favorite
11:01memories of things you were called in the bullpen of Yankee Stadium
11:07um I don't think those are appropriate for radio uh but I I certainly have a number of fond member
11:14memories pitching uh pitching uh pitching at both Yankee Stadiums actually old and and the new one
11:19all right here's here's a this might be a better one um have you been called worse things as a
11:24pitcher in Major League Baseball or as the chief baseball officer of the Boston Red Sox uh the chief
11:30baseball officer yeah unfortunately it's uh as a pitcher as a pitcher though I would have the chance
11:39to redeem myself you know usually within like 24 hours right that's the life of a reliever um yeah
11:45this one uh seems like those things can be a little bit stickier well you've redeemed yourself so far so
11:51um real quick real quick for me Craig I'm sorry about this last one for me you said balancing
11:57players that are coming back in with guys that have exceeded expectations how do you do that
12:03when you're dealing with a player like Trevor Story you say if he's healthy and right he can do
12:09x versus a guy who has exceeded maybe the expectations that they thought they you thought
12:15they were as a player sure uh I don't know that there's a perfect answer outside of trying to be
12:25uh as honest as you possibly can with everybody that's involved and and baseball is unique with
12:32the ability to option guys to the minor leagues and uh you know a lot of these decisions that we
12:37make
12:38um are are temporary and they're reversible right if it turns out that maybe there was a better way to
12:43to do things but I think it starts with being honest with players and walking through how we've reached
12:47the decision understanding that it may not be perfect or desirable to any individual but we
12:53feel like it is what's best for the team and all these things can change really quickly and then the
12:58other thing is uh you know you have to pay attention to what's happening in front of you and trace
13:01has
13:02talked about uh you know not running from the guys who have helped get us here um and I think
13:09setting
13:09that expectation up front is really really important all right Craig Breslow go get him this weekend
13:16we will talk to you again soon thank you thank you all right there another round of applause on the
13:23way out