The Craig Breslow Red Sox roster building is beginning

There is a new sheriff in town for the Boston Red Sox as the Craig Breslow era has begun. The next few months will be an exciting roster-building exercise by Breslow.

The Boston Red Sox’s decision to outright defeat righty Justin Garza yesterday, the first action of the Craig Breslow administration, raised a trivia issue for the future. Breslow was the recently appointed chief baseball officer, and additional roster reshaping will happen in the coming days, weeks, and months.

Garza was not the only player who may have been a Red Sox player in the past; Adam Duvall, James Paxton, and Adalberto Monesi also made the decision to use their free agency to their advantage and are currently on the transaction wire.

Roster cleansing is the precursor to roster building, and in the case of Garza, you don’t want him—the cold calculations of the business of baseball. There will be a few more Garza’s as the Red Sox prepare to make space for Rule 5 protections, free agents, and picking through the scraps as other teams also participate in a cleansing.

The building of the roster is where the future of Breslow rests, and BSI has already provided a primer to follow the action. Commander Breslow has stated the right and expected things at his presser to soothe the angst of the Red Sox Nation.

Breslow’s background is pitching both on the professional level and the development level with the Chicago Cubs. If there is anything in the Red Sox baseball closet that needs an upgrade, it is pitching. Management has expressed that money is willing to be spent and what they must do until (and if) Breslow can resurrect the development side of pitching.

Minor transactions can have impact results

The pickings of players released or designated for assignment was a target for Chaim Bloom (remember him?), and it will be for Breslow and every other GM. The turnstile approach we saw in 2023 – especially pitching – can drive the fans to adult beverages, but think Justin Turner.

Turner was dumped by the Mets back in the day and was unemployed for a few months until the Dodgers took a chance. We collectively saw the impact of Turner last season. The Red Sox also grabbed Davis Ortiz when the Twins felt Papi was not in their future so you can see the baseball lottery ticket sometimes is a winner.

This offseason could be a precursor to short-term success or failure for Breslow based on who the Red Sox can grab or who they may add or lose via Rule 5. The free agent signings of big-ticket players may be sexy, but the work in the trenches for position pieces or finding the next Ortiz or Luis Tiant.