Last offseason, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow earned high marks for his moves.
Last offseason, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow earned high marks for his moves.Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff
Playing nine innings while believing that Dustin Pedroia will make the Hall of Fame someday …
1. Say this for Craig Breslow: He knows how to pivot with the deftness of an old-school NBA big man.
Last offseason, after free agent lefthander Max Fried turned down a Red Sox offer to sign with the Yankees, Breslow quickly executed an alternate plan, trading a flock of appealing prospects to the White Sox for lefty Garrett Crochet.
It was a bold and decisive move, and not quite the no-brainer it’s portrayed to be after Crochet became everything the Red Sox could have imagined during his first season in Boston.
After an overpowering first half during his breakthrough with the 2024 White Sox, Crochet went 0-6 with a 5.12 ERA and 1.37 WHIP after the All-Star break, albeit with a 13.7 K/9 rate.
There was some risk in making that deal, and it proved the best move of Breslow’s A-plus first offseason as the Red Sox’ chief baseball officer, when he added two other 2025 All-Stars (closer Aroldis Chapman, and — sigh — third baseman Alex Bregman) and plucked starting catcher Carlos Narváez in what was thought to be a minor deal with the Yankees.
2. Well, here we are, one enjoyable Red Sox season that left us wanting more later, and Breslow has pivoted again. Deftly enough, but with valid questions remaining about whether this team will be improved over last year’s edition once the season begins.
After apparently misreading Bregman’s market and losing him to the Cubs on a five-year, $175 million deal that included a no-trade clause, Breslow countered not by signing another pricey infielder, but by improving another area of the ball club.
The decision to sign former Phillies lefthander Ranger Suárez to a five-year, $130 million contract came as a surprise, a mostly pleasant one. The 30-year-old Suárez, who went 12-8 with a 3.20 ERA, 4.7 bWAR, and 151 strikeouts in 157⅓ innings last season, gives the Red Sox legitimate starting pitching depth while opening up the possibility (likelihood, really) of trading a starter or two to get a much-needed righthanded-hitting infielder.
Suárez also eases some of the dependence on 36-year-old Sonny Gray. And Suárez is fun to watch pitch in a crafty ‘80s lefty way. It’s telling that Philadelphia fans — who like nothing and no one, other than maybe Vince Papale, as a general principle — seemed to have nothing but great things to say about him.
3. I’m glad they signed Suárez. Good pivot, Craig. But the work is nowhere near done, because the need for righthanded production is greater than it was at season’s end.
Rob Refsnyder (.959 OPS against lefthanded pitching in 2025, now with the Mariners), Bregman (currently learning the lyrics to “Go Cubs Go”), and Romy Gonzalez (.978 OPS vs. lefties, but probably best suited for a super-utility role) hit in the 1, 3, and 4 spots during their Game 2 loss to the Yankees in the Wild Card Series, their second-to-last game of the season.
4. Willson Contreras, acquired in the burgeoning St. Louis-to-Boston pipeline Breslow and Chaim Bloom are apparently willing to establish, will help, though his career high in home runs is 24, set seven years ago. But I have to say, it drove me nuts when Bregman was portrayed as a Red Sox “target” in free agency. That implies signing him would have been additive, when it really would have been the status quo. They needed to sign Bregman and acquire another quality righthanded bat this offseason. Contreras may fill the latter void, but Bregman’s departure, no matter how you think that contract will age, leaves a far bigger hole that Breslow must still figure out how to fill.
5. I don’t see an ideal and plausible way to do it, either. The Diamondbacks’ Ketel Marte has the best qualifications, but general manager Mike Hazen recently said he won’t be traded. The Astros’ Isaac Paredes is kind of interesting — he hit 20 homers in 102 games last season and his maximum launch-angle approach might work well at Fenway — but he’s a mediocre-at-best defender. Eugenio Suárez is the answer to the eternal question, “What if Gorman Thomas had been a third baseman?” The Cardinals’ Brendan Donovan’s top career comp is former Red Sox infielder Dave Stapleton. The Cubs’ Nico Hoerner would probably cost too much.
6. It’s wild in an aggravating way that the Red Sox entered last season with Bregman and Rafael Devers on their roster, both are gone, and neither has been capably replaced. I didn’t, and don’t, object to the decision to move on from Devers, but someday ownership or the front office will admit that it was almost entirely a salary dump, right? I’ll never loathe a trade more than the one that gifted Mookie Betts to the Dodgers, but the return for Devers may turn out to be more pitiful than what the Sox got from LA. Hey, Alex Verdugo finished 12th in the American League MVP voting in 2020! Pretty sure Jordan Hicks and Kyle Harrison don’t have any Cy Young votes coming their way.
7. When the news broke that Bo Bichette had signed with the Mets on a three-year, $126 million deal, I was curious why the Red Sox didn’t offer something similar. And then the details came out, including that Bichette can opt out after 2026, basically making this a one-year, $46 million deal. No thanks on that. As the Bregman situation confirmed, opt-outs are the scourge of team-building.
8. Another reason the Red Sox need more righthanded infield help: As excellent as he was last year, Trevor Story should not be counted upon to play 156 games again. And another: Marcelo Mayer had a .416 OPS against lefties in the majors (in just 27 plate appearances) and a .638 OPS (in 74 PAs) at Triple A Worcester.
9. I’ve been a Hall of Fame voter for two years. Glad I had the privilege of voting for Manny Ramírez twice before he fell off the ballot, his 10 years of eligibility spent after this year’s vote. There’s not another righthanded hitter I’ve ever enjoyed watching more than a locked-in Manny.
Hey, maybe Breslow should make him an offer.
Chad Finn can be reached at chad.finn@globe.com.