- 2 days ago
Fans don't hold back their thoughts/feelings on Breslow and the deadline! Why isn't Joe Ryan a Red Sox?
Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow joins live!
Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow joins live!
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SportsTranscript
00:00And Craig Breslow joins us this morning.
00:03Craig, maybe a little bit unfortunate timing this morning
00:07because we are with an unruly crowd of Red Sox fans here.
00:13Let me introduce you to them.
00:18Guys, Craig Breslow, the Chief Baseball Officer of the Boston Red Sox.
00:23Hi.
00:24Good morning.
00:25Good morning, Craig.
00:26Why is Ken tackling people?
00:28Good morning.
00:28Good morning, Craig.
00:29Good morning.
00:33Appreciate you taking the time, as always.
00:35And you said, I'm going to start with this because you said last night
00:39that you went into the deadline with the mindset that no prospect was off the table
00:46and no player was untouchable.
00:49So how is it that Joe Ryan is not on this roster today?
00:56Yeah.
00:56You know, while I am not going to get into too much detail about specific pursuits,
01:02everything that I said last night is true.
01:04And, you know, we approached the deadline trying to identify impact additions that could bolster this team,
01:12and given what we have been able to do on the field and the promise of a playoff push and deep, you know, postseason run.
01:25And we weren't able to line up.
01:26But in order to add impact players, particularly impact starting pitching,
01:32we had to take the position that we'd be willing to talk about anybody in our system, and we were.
01:38But that doesn't guarantee that you're going to line up with another team in order to get a deal across the line.
01:42So then would you disagree with Ken Rosenthal, who characterized your efforts to get Joe Ryan as feeble at best?
01:53I would strongly disagree with that, yes.
01:56Okay.
01:57Do you understand the chasm between your messaging and the fan base?
02:02It just feels like every year there is this promise of a new, driven, competitive,
02:12and just a new way in which that you feel that you will be competitive and aggressive at a deadline.
02:19And year after year, fans are let down.
02:23I don't understand how all these teams that you're competing with for a playoff spot in the division
02:29were able to find matches on deals that improve their team, but you were unable to.
02:35I understand the frustration and disappointment from our fan base and walking out of the deadline
02:44without making a big splash, especially relative to what some of the other teams have been able to do.
02:53But that doesn't change what our intentions were going into this deadline,
02:58what we were willing to do and offer.
03:02And I don't think it changes the willingness that we have shown to be aggressive
03:07and get uncomfortable in making big additions to our team.
03:12That didn't happen this deadline, but it certainly happened over the offseason.
03:19And we've talked a lot about being competitive and making a playoff run
03:26and the standard that our fans have come to expect from us
03:31and doing everything that we can to honor that.
03:33It doesn't always work out because we can't always make other teams line up with these types of things,
03:41but it did not change what we were willing to do
03:44and every path that we were pursuing to try to bolster this team.
03:49Both you and Sam Kennedy on this show and elsewhere said how aggressive you wanted to be
03:55when it came to improving this team at the deadline.
03:58Do you feel now, this morning, that you were aggressive in what you did to improve this baseball team?
04:06I think we were aggressive in the conversations that we were having
04:12and what we were willing to do.
04:16Like I've said, though, that doesn't guarantee that we get a deal done.
04:21But I also recognize that our additions and our team, we're going to be,
04:31I am going to be defined by what happens from today through the end of the season.
04:37And we brought in Dustin May and Steven Matz, two important arms that we feel like
04:41are going to help our rotation and our pen.
04:43And we need to continue to play well and win games and get ourselves into the postseason.
04:51So you believe that this team, as currently composed, is a team that should go deep in the playoffs?
04:58You believe that, yes.
05:00Craig, when it comes to where the power lies at trade deadline, is it you?
05:05Does the buck stop with you?
05:06Do you get to make the final decision?
05:08Or is it John Henry and he needs to sign off on everything you do?
05:11Who gets to make those decisions?
05:12Who has final say?
05:15Well, ultimately, John, as the principal owner, can weigh in.
05:22And if he wanted to say we are or aren't going to do something, he clearly has that authority.
05:28However, John leaves baseball operations decisions to the baseball operations group.
05:35And I have yet to strongly advocate for something and have John stand in the way of it.
05:41So that did not happen yesterday.
05:43He didn't stand in the way of anything getting done.
05:47So, Craig, if that's the case, then is he frustrated, just like fans are frustrated,
05:52that you didn't do anything to bring in impact players that could impact this team
05:58to make a real deep postseason run?
06:01I can't speak for how John feels, but I can speak for myself, which is that when we had
06:11very clear priorities for the deadline and we weren't able to achieve those, there is
06:16a feeling of frustration and disappointment.
06:19But at the same time, I do think that we made our team better.
06:22I think we have a really good young team.
06:24And I think that's going to play out over the next two months.
06:29Is there a danger that the players feel let down, that the players felt like they were
06:34in a position with an ad where they could be very, very competitive?
06:40I think, frankly, I think that there is a risk in that I've been in a clubhouse during the
06:47trade deadline and I've seen the impact of what new faces and additions can bring.
06:53I don't want to ignore the fact that we are bringing in a starter and a reliever.
06:58And I've had a handful of conversations with guys last night and wanted to make sure that
07:05they understand what our efforts were, how, you know, we tried to make additional additions.
07:12We weren't able to do that, but how much we believe in this team, which is a theme that
07:18I think has been consistent going back to spring training.
07:20Craig, where's the $20 million you saved on Devers right now?
07:25Who gets that money?
07:27What is that money doing today?
07:30Yeah, well, we talked about this at the time of the trade.
07:34The trade deadline is not free agency, right?
07:38And so having some financial flexibility doesn't always guarantee you a better outcome at the
07:44deadline.
07:44But our intentions are absolutely to aggressively invest in the Red Sox and the guys that we're
07:52able to put on the field.
07:54And just on John Henry, I know you said you're not going to speak for him, but he's part of
07:59the Economic Reform Committee.
08:01We heard a couple times this week about a confrontation with Rob Manfred and Bryce Harper about the potential
08:09of a salary cap.
08:11How does John Henry and how do you balance his role in trying to reshape the economics of
08:17baseball with building a championship team?
08:19My goal, and again, I cannot speak for John, my goal is pretty simple, and that's to do
08:26everything I can to build a championship team on the field that I don't anticipate changing.
08:33And if and when there are different constraints, you know, as imposed by Major League Baseball,
08:39we'll operate within those to do everything we can to bring another World Series to Boston.
08:44So how close were you when it comes to Joe Ryan?
08:49Without being able to speak about specific pursuits, this isn't someone who is currently
08:56on our team, we felt like we were very aggressive in pursuing a number of controllable starting
09:03pitchers.
09:04Ultimately, controllable starting pitching didn't get traded, but it wasn't because we were unwilling
09:10to talk about anyone in our system.
09:13Craig, when you go back to what Curtis asked in the beginning about losing the fan base, Alex
09:18Cora spoke about it, but last weekend, Fenway was filled with Dodgers fans.
09:22When you look at that, when John Henry looks at that, does that worry you?
09:25That moving forward, that Red Sox fans are selling off their tickets to the opposing fan
09:29base and not showing up?
09:32Well, certainly when Fenway is packed with Red Sox fans, it's an electric environment.
09:39We appreciate it.
09:40We appreciate it.
09:41Our players appreciate it.
09:44That's the environment that we're trying to create and maintain and know that that is
09:49a consequence of the team that we've got on the field.
09:53But the 26 guys that we're going to put on the field tonight are going to do everything
09:58they can to provide that level of competition and entertainment for our fans.
10:03And we're going to do everything we can to compete at a high level.
10:08We've got a really good, young, athletic, dynamic team that I think is exciting to watch.
10:14And we've got a bunch of young players that are now in the upper levels of the minor leagues
10:20that should be impacting this team in the near future.
10:22But we want Fenway to be a very, very difficult place to play for opposing teams.
10:28And we're going to do everything we can to make sure that happens.
10:30No disrespect to the two arms that you got, and you mentioned a couple times that you
10:35believe you improved the team there.
10:38But when you say we are going to aggressively go after an impact arm and you don't end up
10:47getting it, whatever the reason is, do you feel like you let down the fans on this?
10:53I feel frustrated and disappointed that we were not able to walk out of the deadline room
11:02with a controllable impact arm that we set out to add.
11:11That's, I think, the way to characterize this.
11:13But I'm not sure there was anything more we could have done in order to get us closer
11:17or ultimately over the line.
11:20I thought the big reason, one of the big reasons you were brought in after Haim was let go was
11:26that Haim was too resistant to make a trade.
11:29Haim wasn't willing to make a Chris Sale deal and other things.
11:32And you came in, executed the Sale deal, and there was a feeling that you were going to be
11:37more aggressive.
11:38Is it possible that you overrate the prospects that you have in these negotiations?
11:43And that's why the Yankees and Astros and Blue Jays and Rangers were able to improve their team
11:49and the Red Sox were not outside of a couple fringe guys?
11:54We really like our minor league players.
11:59Is it possible that we like them more than other teams?
12:02Sure, probably because we acquired them, we have relationships with them.
12:07But I do think that we have a number of conversations inside the office in our deadline room about
12:17what our goal is and what we're trying to accomplish.
12:20And that's to win the World Series.
12:22And we have to be willing to get uncomfortable with trading some of our young players in order
12:27to do that.
12:28And I think the most important thing is that we were.
12:32It just didn't work out this deadline.
12:36Is it an intentional focus of the team?
12:38And it's okay to say it because I think it would help fans and others understand it.
12:42Is it, when it comes to prospects, what you're talking about,
12:45is it a focus of this team to hang on to them because of the control factor?
12:51And it is a financially responsible way to manage personnel going forward?
13:01I don't think that this was a control thing.
13:05Like I said, if it were about finances or holding on to our players at all costs,
13:11then we would go into a conversation with another team saying,
13:16hey, we're not going to talk about this player.
13:17This player is untouchable.
13:18We wouldn't trade this guy.
13:19We go into a deadline thinking we would like to avoid trading these guys if at all possible.
13:25But by the time Thursday rolled around and we were aggressively pursuing adding impact players,
13:35we weren't unwilling to talk about anyone in our system.
13:38If that was going to get a deal done, we were willing to include these guys.
13:43It just, like I said, it didn't work out.
13:45And I think, you know, there's strong evidence of that willingness when we talk about what it took to get
13:51Garrett Crochet to the Red Sox.
13:53You know, there were a number of guys there that I think we could have taken the position we'd have been unwilling to trade.
14:00But we didn't because of the need of our major league team.
14:02So why does it work for other teams, though, in the case of Merrill Kelly or you name the player?
14:09Why does it work for those teams and you can't make it work?
14:15The short answer is another team who's trading a player has to like our players more than they like another team's players.
14:25If that doesn't always work out, I don't think that's an indictment of talent.
14:29I think each team values players a little bit differently.
14:33There are trades that come across where I'm sure we all say, oh, that seems like a really heavy return or a really light return.
14:40But the reality is, you know, the value is in the eye of the beholder.
14:45And we have to figure out ways to line up with other teams in order to get trades across the line.
14:49All right, Craig Breslow, well, proof will be in the pudding.
14:53And I appreciate you taking the time this morning.
14:56And we will catch up with you again next week, I am sure.
15:01Sounds good. Thanks, guys.
15:02All right. That's Craig Breslow, the chief baseball officer of the Boston Red Sox.
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