This is something we had to do" Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow joins!  Why did the RedSox make this trade now? "He's not the type of player that you shop around" - video Dailymotion

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Breslow: "This is something we had to do" Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow joins!  Why did the RedSox make this trade now? "He's not the type of player that you shop around"   Red Sox CBO Craig Breslow joins!  When did #Redsox decide to part ways with Devers? Front Office "losing cohesion"? #MLB   Breslow: "The scout situation not something I'm going to comment on"

Transcript

00:00hey craig thank you good morning how are you doing well i have to have a wisdom tooth pulled

00:06at 1 p.m today would you prefer that or this interview right now

00:11uh can i can i let you know at the end of it

00:16yes you can um so i i i watched intently last night you guys uh answered a lot of questions i

00:26think um best uh service we can provide this morning is uh based on talking to the fans and

00:35interacting with them here on this show last couple days uh answer some of their questions i i think the

00:41the first one uh and the the most popular one is the timing of this and and uh and why you would

00:50do this deal now as opposed to closer to the trade deadline or end of the season when you may

00:58have been able to get more value

00:59yeah very very fair question and um you know based on the conversations that i had had uh with with

01:12san francisco but also uh some of the conversations that i'd had with other teams um felt like this

01:19was the right decision uh at the right time knowing that it was it was not ideal timing especially

01:25coming off uh you know a huge series with new york uh but i i we had to decouple those things and

01:34recognize that we were really playing well and as difficult as it is to do something like this in

01:40the middle of that streak still felt like it was what was best uh for the organization and and felt like

01:46um this was this was something that we had to do and waiting would introduce uh some some risks

01:54that didn't make sense um sam kennedy alluded to a timeline of of a week and a half or so was there

02:03a particular tipping point that made it necessary to do this deal now was was there something that occurred

02:11there was not a single uh you know event that we walked away from thinking okay uh this you know

02:22this this situation needs a resolution today um and this was not personal um you know i think what this

02:31was was just uh the chance to zoom out a little bit and kind of replay all of the events that got us to

02:39here and recognize that um you know our paths had had diverged and what was best for the organization

02:47and probably what was best for raffi um was to give both sides a fresh start we had the chance to do

02:53that with this deal um you know the opportunity to get back some some guys that we think are going to

02:59impact our big league team in areas of need uh you know in the short term you know hicks when he gets

03:04healthy harrison uh we want we wanted to introduce a couple of development opportunities and give him

03:10a chance to work on those things but feel like he's gonna he's gonna be a really good starter for us

03:14and then some future talent but uh to answer the question it wasn't it wasn't a single event it

03:20wasn't a single uh conversation it was just recognizing that this was this was for the best

03:25overtime craig sticking with the timing of this all going down it we have been made aware that

03:31liverpool is spending a lot of money right now i think 150 million dollars last week obviously john

03:36henry's connection there has some people scratching their heads what would you say to those that may

03:41be making connections with you guys offloading devers contract uh the money that you were to owe him

03:47there and the money that is now being spent at liverpool yeah that's not that's not just a stretch

03:54it's just completely untrue uh in in none of the conversations that i have with with john with

04:01ownership about our resources is uh you know the the financial implications or situations of any of

04:08the other teams a topic um you know the red sox are run uh independently of any of those other

04:15organizations and and the timing here was just a matter of uh lining up on getting the right players

04:22back uh and finding the right situation that represented a trade that we needed to make

04:27you said last night that when it came to identity culture and environment something you had identified

04:35that something was amiss with this team and so um was devers what created that something being amiss

04:48with this team yeah i don't think it's there to to place the responsibility or blame or or accountability

04:59on any individual um you know i think it's just looking at the team and looking at some of the really

05:05strong individual performances that we were getting roughly at the top of that list and then also at the

05:12same time acknowledging that we hadn't we weren't winning as many games as that as we should win

05:16and when teams have this strong um bond and identity and kind of sense of purpose and clarity that's when

05:26you see them accomplish more than you think they would as as a group of individuals and uh and we

05:31weren't doing that and i think that's uh that's something that falls on all of us to to correct and felt like

05:40this was uh an opportunity to help push us in that direction but you clearly said that stepping up for each other

05:48is important for this team so the assumption is that rafi not being willing to do that was an issue

05:57i think stepping up for for the team is a foundational piece of of being a great team and um

06:08um you know again i i'm not going to to put the responsibility on any one individual and i

06:14certainly uh share you know my um my role and and my blame in this i think it's more just acknowledging

06:22that we got to a point where uh it was best to give each side a fresh start um and and we feel like

06:28this is what that represents craig as a former athlete i've been in this situation where we traded away

06:35our best player and generally it's two reasons one it's money and devis obviously has his money and

06:42the other one is buying into the culture and being a big influence in that clubhouse that maybe he could

06:49get into the ears of some of the younger guys um is that really part of the reasoning why and if he

06:59would have bought into the culture would he still be here today

07:06yeah i i don't know the right answer to that um you know i i know that rafi was a really important

07:13part of this organization for a really long time and most of the time um you know predates me but he

07:19was a he was a world series champion um you know an incredible hitter and and the performance on the

07:24field has largely spoken for itself now we're at a different moment in time where the needs of our

07:30team the needs of our roster have changed um and the environment that we want to create is is uh is

07:36one where there is this accountability and buying into um you know stepping up for each other um and we

07:43feel like it was best to to execute this trade to get players back that that we like um and to give

07:49both sides the chance to to reset a bit craig there's a report out of baseball america jeff pontes

07:56i'm sorry if i'm mispronouncing his last name said on the foul territory podcast that there was a deal

08:03that was vetoed that was made by the organization because the red sox had to take on some of devers

08:10money is that accurate uh no when i read that i was as surprised as anybody else would have been

08:18um who had no idea that this was a thing or had happened um absolutely not not true but oh no just

08:27but you did how many other teams did you speak to would you guess um without putting a number on it

08:35um you know we have spoken to teams that had expressed uh um you know interest in rafi i think

08:45because so much of what has happened here over the the last six months or so has been pretty public

08:50there have been teams that have reached out um throughout this process uh but this was about

08:57you know if there was going to be a trade that took place um and one that rose to the level of feeling

09:02like it was best for the organization um we we were going to hold a then you know a high bar um you know and

09:12the opportunity to make the trade with san francisco is is the one that we chose uh craig you said

09:18earlier when we're talking about the crochet 85 pitches about the managerial role and cora's role

09:24role of synthesizing information and managing egos as the manager of this team in hindsight do you

09:29think you stepped on his toes a bit when it comes to devers it felt to me that alex knew how sensitive

09:36this was and there was really an issue that became personal between you and devers is is that an

09:41accurate depiction of what happened uh so the first thing i would want to say is um you know at least

09:49from my perspective this is not personal i have nothing personal against rafi and uh have a ton of

09:57respect and appreciation for what he is capable of doing as a baseball player and and um who he is as a man

10:05um now in terms of the way that things played out and whether there was a better way to to communicate

10:13i think the answer is is yes just given where where we are and how we got here um but i i would hope that

10:21alex doesn't feel like i stepped on his toes did we know that this was a sensitive topic like yes based

10:27on how some of the previous conversations had had gone um but you know i said this last night uh the

10:34commitment that i made to the organization to the team to our fans is to not avoid having a

10:41conversation that might be really difficult because it would be sensitive or because it had the chance

10:46to go sideways uh you know we felt like there was um you know there was an opportunity to improve

10:51the team by approaching rafi with the possibility of uh you know getting some work in a new position

10:58and and so i i felt like i needed to do that um and you know i think in in retrospect it's a

11:06conversation that did need to happen but if there was a better way to have it which i think is becoming

11:10clear then that's something i need to appreciate and reflect on and make sure i do better for those

11:16fans and there are a lot of them who feel like this move was just about dumping salary well or can you

11:24commit to spending that money elsewhere to improve the team that is that's the intention and i understand

11:34um i understand the fans uh you know criticism and and even outrage over this but in no way is this

11:42signaling that we don't believe in our 2025 team and uh that was a conversation that i had with you

11:48know a majority of the players yesterday on on a one-on-one um basis was making sure that these guys

11:54understood that we went into this season believing that we were capable of a deep postseason run

11:59uh and that has not changed at all um and you know we brought back some pieces that we feel like

12:06could address areas of need and we have resources now to continue to look to improve and upgrade the

12:12team um as we approach the deadline but you're 19th in salary now and you're charging top two or three

12:19to go to a game to consume the red sox is as expensive as any market in baseball basically

12:25and for years now we've been told we're building to a certain point this spring training we spoke

12:30to you at jet blue the vibes changed everybody's excited there's finally a team to compete and then

12:35you trade the best player on june 16th or june 15th what what should socks fans feel about the true

12:41investment financially of this organization no i i again understand and and empathize with

12:50with that position my my job is to put a team on the field that holds up to uh the you know upholds

12:58the standard that that our fans expect um and that is one that's capable of winning the division one of

13:05that's capable of making a deep postseason run that is uh what the our baseball operations group and our

13:11coaching staff is committed to and and you know what we are intent on accomplishing um and you know

13:18my my hope is that if this team continues to play the way that we have over the last uh week and a

13:24half or so and we can continue to make progress and climb up the standings then it's it's a team

13:30um that our fans will be proud of but i i have uh a pretty clear understanding of what the expectations

13:37are of our fan base and uh our job is to deliver on that craig from the outside looking and it looks

13:43like this thing kind of went sour right before spring training in the off season would you say

13:51because you said there were some things you would have done differently at any point in time was

13:56devers told that he would have an opportunity to be the opening day starter at third base whether that

14:04was from you or cora that might have led him to believe that he would have a realistic chance

14:09to play third base which ultimately led to kind of where we are right now

14:16i think at this point it really is best to keep some of the the details of a number of conversations

14:24that took place between raffi and alex and me and raffi's agents um you know to ourselves given

14:31where we are given that uh you know we are fully focused on looking forward and continuing to play

14:37really good baseball and and you know raffi is in san francisco and and starting the next chapter of

14:42his career but the thing i will say is i reflect on those conversations and our decisions and approach

14:49to them every day uh so that if there's a similar situation that arises i i hope i'm better equipped to uh

14:56to handle it in a way that it doesn't get us to this point craig if you don't want to talk about that

15:00there were some rumors that maybe back in spring training was when you guys started shopping him

15:05around because you didn't like how he handled that or that even devers himself asked for a trade could

15:11you clarify that because i know now we're saying that things came to a head a week and a half ago

15:15but there are reports out there that it was back in spring training when you guys decided that you

15:19were going to part ways yeah i don't think um i don't think i would say that at any point we shopped raffi

15:27divers he's not the type of player that you shop around um because again because some of these uh

15:35discussions became so public i think the discussions between raffi and and the organization became so

15:41public there are teams that check in to ask what our plan is and there were there were uh a couple of

15:48instances over the past uh you know eight months or so uh when raffi's campus signaled that

15:56a start you know a fresh start somewhere else might be best for for both sides um and ultimately uh

16:03you know this is this is where some of those conversations uh led to but you know this is

16:08this is not personal this is not um you know the the boston red sox versus raffi divers raffi's has

16:15been an incredibly meaningful uh piece of this organization for a really long time and a world series champion

16:21um is about trying to do what we believe to be is best for the organization from this day

16:27forward um and i think we've we've outlined that pretty explicitly craig you noted several

16:32times about things not getting personal uh june lee is reporting today that things have gotten

16:39increasingly insulated with you at fenway park in his story he cites multiple sources within the

16:44organization that describe a front a front office losing cohesion staffers who helped build four

16:51championship teams and prior administrations have felt shut out of the operation and that you fired

16:58the scouting supervisor an employee since 2017 because he left to zoom up and swore about your

17:05presentation can you comment on this is this accurate have you become more insulated have you sort

17:10of blocked out staffers with other administrations and is that an accurate story about the scout being

17:15fired for the comments with the zoom well i think i guess working backwards there um the the scout

17:23situation not not something i'm going to comment on but the first piece um you know if if i or the front

17:30office has become increasingly insulated um that's absolutely not the direction that we are trying to head

17:37what i will say is uh over the last year and a half since i got here i have um spent quite a bit of

17:45time trying to understand our operation our people the way that we are set up uh we've we've grown

17:51significantly in size over the the last several years and uh i think in some ways it had maybe removed

17:58or detached some of our people from what was happening on the field and anchoring all of the work that we do

18:03to what's happening on the field at fenway park and the wins and losses of of the team is something

18:08that's critically important to me and i feel like my job is to strike the right balance of people who

18:17have been here for a really long time and have contributed meaningful value to uh you know the the

18:23four world series championship teams uh under this ownership group and also recognize balance that with the

18:31the fact that we're where we are i am here because the results on the field have not been good enough

18:37uh for the last several years and so to continue to do exactly what we had done in the way that we had

18:43done it um i think would be a recipe for continued um disappointment and frustration from our fans and

18:51from the organization uh we needed to make sure that we were operating in a way that was going to get us back

18:59to the top of the al east and to the top of baseball and that required some difficult choices and some

19:04change um but never a deliberate decision to insulate or push people away but rather a very

19:15intentional effort to preserve all of the things that make the boston red sox great

19:20and improve the things that needed to be improved upon relative to the rest of the industry well for what

19:25it's worth i worth i don't i don't feel like you're a stiff i feel like you can let loose if the

19:30situation calls for it uh thank you i i do appreciate that i appreciate that and we love duran uh yeah

19:41so ease uh uh uh like we're we're worried about him potentially being gone so

19:47uh we we love we love jaron too uh and love what he brings um on and off the field uh i think there's a

19:57there's an athleticism and a dynamic nature to his play that really does set the stage for our offense

20:02um i think we've seen that you know when he is getting on base when he's uh creating chaos on the

20:07bases we're a very very different team and then uh you know it's been really neat to see him emerge as a

20:11leader in the clubhouse uh and and um you know create a great environment for the young guys uh

20:18and you know he's a guy who's going to play as hard as he can every single day so uh we we love him too

20:24and we're we're glad he's here appreciate taking the time and and being here for it and uh i we will

20:30talk to you again soon next front office report craig breslow thank you all right thank you

This is something we had to do" Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow joins! Why did the RedSox make this trade now? "He's not the type of player that you shop around"

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