Ex-Red Sox Pitcher Reportedly A 'Strong Candidate' To Fill Vacant GM Role

Boston could use a former player's experience to build up player relations

Scott Neville | Oct 16, 2023

Ex-Red Sox Pitcher Reportedly A 'Strong Candidate' To Fill Vacant GM Role /

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Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox's search for a new leader of their baseball operations department appears to be heating up after a few quiet weeks.

Rumors are starting to fly left and right about who could lead the Red Sox organization entering a pivotal offseason, and a former player has even entered the conversation.

"There is a sense within the game that ownership has become more absentee as it pursues other business avenues and also that manager Alex Cora has growing influence on personnel decisions," The New York Post's Joel Sherman wrote Monday. "That has potentially chilled the market, though Cubs assistant general manager Craig Breslow, who was raised in Connecticut and played four years for the Red Sox, is viewed as a potentially strong candidate."

Among former Red Sox players, Breslow logically would be a favorite to rise up to president of baseball operations status. The former reliever graduated from Yale and has ascended up the ranks of the Chicago Cubs front office since retiring from the game.

The southpaw played for Boston from 2012-2015 and was an underrated force for the 2013 World Series team. Breslow posted a 1.81 ERA with a 33-to-18 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .228 batting average against and 1.12 WHIP in 59 2/3 innings. He finished his Red Sox career with a 3.80 ERA in 211 innings across 202 games played.

There's a chance he'll use his Ivy League brain to build up the Red Sox's roster, though he does not appear to be an odds-on favorite for the role.

More MLB: Red Sox Reportedly Showing Interest In Elite Free Agent Closer To Bolster Bullpen

Published Oct 16, 2023

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu