Currently, the Boston Red Sox are settled and entirely secure with their non-conventional and unorthodox front office configuration. Following their dominant 2018 World Series win over the Dodgers, manager Alex Cora saw a steady decline of direction and consistency in the front office, which eventually reduced the available talent on the field.
Cora maintained the trust and respect of the Fenway faithful by being creative with a lineup that was often plagued by injuries to key starting players. Since the firing of Brian O’Hallaran in 2022, the Boston Red Sox have essentially been without a General Manager.
At least in the title anyway, the job no longer exists in the organization, unlike the system that has been in place with the New York Yankees for the past 27 years. The Yankees have an order of authority trickled down from Hal Steinbrenner and the majority ownership group to General Manager Brian Cashman. Cashman makes the moves and calls the shots. Sure, there is undoubtedly a running dialogue with field boss Aaron Boone, but somehow, almost organically, the Red Sox have established a system of management that appears much better. A system that is not autocratic or top-down.
The Red Sox have become an organization of brilliant baseball minds and a team of specialists who work together collaboratively to build the best possible brand on the field. The Boston Red Sox are once again a team that big-time players absolutely wish to play for. Compared with New York, if this past offseason is any indication, it is becoming clear that the Red Sox will have more depth. They will have a better lineup, top to bottom, and the Red Sox will ultimately be a better team than the New York Yankees in 2025.
As mentioned, the Boston Red Sox have been without an official GM since 2022. At that point, Chaim Bloom had already been hired as the Chief Baseball Officer (CBO), and he continued as the top shot-caller in building a competitive Red Sox roster. Any hopes of Bloom being the second coming of Theo Epstein in terms of bringing another World Series Championship to Boston were essentially squashed after the team’s subpar performance during his five-year tenure.
The Red Sox did make it to the ALCS during the strangely configured 2021 COVID-influenced season, but the overall performance resulted in a team finishing under .500 in four of those five years. John W. Henry, Tom Werner, and the Red Sox majority ownership group are to be commended for not panicking and rocking the boat entirely following Bloom’s firing in 2023. The system was not in disarray. There were many notable prospects and young players on the roster who were on the cusp of stardom.
What was needed was an upgrade. The CBO position remained the unofficial decision-making seat in the Front Office, as Craig Breslow was hired to take it on immediately after the 2023 regular season. Breslow and Bloom were Yale University baseball teammates in the early 2000s. Looking at their CVs after that time offers a lens into just how substantial the Boston Red Sox’s upgrade to the position of Chief Baseball Officer was.
Not to undermine the efforts required to obtain a degree from Yale, but optically, the differences between the two former teammates are quite striking. Chaim Bloom graduated from Yale in 2004 with a degree in Classics (Latin and Ancient Greek). His playing days ended after he graduated from the prestigious Ivy League institution.
Before being drafted out of Yale by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2002, Craig Breslow graduated from Yale with a degree in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry. Breslow pitched in almost 600 MLB games over a 12-year career, exceeding the respected 10-year mark that players strive to earn for a lifetime pension. He pitched for seven MLB clubs over that tenure, the longest being five years with your Boston Red Sox.
Breslow has built strong relationships over the years, and with a resume of this magnitude, one can anticipate or even expect a strong ego-driven disposition and personality. The fact that he couldn’t possibly present in a manner more opposite to that description is the defining factor that has led to the Red Sox’s ship being corrected and put back on course. Breslow does not wish to assign or assume the position of GM; he takes advice and offers it to Cora daily.
Breslow commands respect, but he doesn’t demand it. His discussions with player agents are seasoned, skilled, and nuanced. He will have the upper hand when discussing player contracts and options with an agent like Scott Boras. He will also entice bright, cerebral students of the game to suit up and play for the Boston Red Sox. If we were to poll players on what team is moving in the right direction in the American League East in 2025 and beyond, the Boston Red Sox would come out ahead and on top of the New York Yankees every time.
Most baseball fans have likely never heard of Craig Breslow, and that is just how the Chief Baseball Officer of the Boston Red Sox would like it. Rest assured though, it was the working relationship that Breslow has built with Cora and the entire Red Sox organization that led to the star power signings of this past offseason. A starting rotation that is full of aces one through four. It is a closer-by-committee situation in the bullpen with the potential for three or four “lights-out” relief pitchers to be called upon for high leverage.
Finally, a lineup that is at the top, particularly with the recent signing of Alex Bregman, and is arguably the strongest in all of baseball. These are scenarios that are not put in place by accident. Players want to play for the Boston Red Sox more than they do the New York Yankees, and this offseason has proven this point. The American League East is looking to be strong once again in 2025. Look for the Red Sox to be at the top of it.
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