Red Sox Ownership Blames Craig Breslow For Lack Of Spending This Winter

Boston's leadership is a complete mess

Scott Neville | Jan 17, 2024

Red Sox Ownership Blames Craig Breslow For Lack Of Spending This Winter /

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Boston Red Sox

When the Boston Red Sox fired former chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and promised brighter days ahead the media and fanbase alike were excited for their big-market team to flex their financial power.

Instead, they have run Craig Breslow into a buzzsaw. Red Sox chairman Tom Werner particularly continues to make things harder than it needs to be for the first-time leader of baseball operations.

Werner spoke to MassLive's Sean McAdam to take back the "full throttle" remark that was an empty premise from the jump. Ownership's real plan basically was Yoshinobu Yamamoto or bust. Turns out, other clubs liked the 25-year-old ace as well, who would've thought?

In the interview where he attempted to tone down his earlier comments, Werner seemingly blamed Breslow for the lack of spending this winter as the entire ownership group continues to pretend that they are as fiscally invested in the Red Sox as ever.

“In the end, we don’t have a line in terms of our payroll that we look at as much as trusting that Craig (Breslow) is going to deliver on his assurance that we’re going to be competitive," Werner told McAdam.

According to this line, Breslow does not have any budgetary restraints and ownership will back whichever baseball decision the former reliever makes.

Either Breslow truly feels that Teoscar Hernández was not worth more than two years, $14 million and both Jordan Montgomery and Blake Snell are about to be overpaid -- or ownership is once again lying.

I'd lean toward the latter, though we do not know the spending habits of Breslow. One thing that should be mentioned, Breslow could have fielded a strong pitching staff while being frugal by adding Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo and/or Shota Imanaga.

Ownership likely is handicapping Breslow but there were some ways to make this team competitive under the luxury tax.

Breslow does not appear to be building a contender and is instead banking on the farm system to bail him out.

More MLB: Padres Gold Glove Winner On Trade Block; Red Sox Are Logical Landing Spot

Published Jan 17, 2024

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