Craig Breslow’s Peers Think Red Sox Playing Days Will Help Transition

The Boston Red Sox have a new decision maker, and it’s someone those around town are familiar with.

Craig Breslow was hired by the Red Sox on Wednesday, replacing former chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom. The 2013 World Series champion returns to Boston after a hiatus that included spending four seasons in the Chicago Cubs’ front office, where he worked for a few more familiar names to Red Sox fans.

Theo Epstein, then the president of baseball operations for the Cubs, hired Breslow in 2019. It was during a brief time working together that the former Red Sox vice president and general manager realized how successful Breslow could be in a Major League Baseball front office.

“He combines a powerful intellect and deep pitching expertise with a real understanding of players and fearless approach to problem-solving,” Epstein told Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic. “With his mind, work ethic and character, there is no limit to what he can accomplish in this game.”

Epstein would step down from his role in Chicago just a few months after hiring Breslow, however. That allowed Jed Hoyer, another former Boston executive, to take over.

Hoyer has worked with Breslow perhaps more than anyone else in baseball, and it has given him a good idea of what he believes can help the 43-year-old be successful.

“Having the ability and work ethic to pitch in the big leagues for a long time is really challenging,” Hoyer told McCaffrey. “I think that gives you an understanding and kinship with players, that this is hard. I know how hard this is, and I think there’s a respect there.

“I also think with (Breslow), there’s empathy if he’s sending a guy out. He’s been in every situation. He’s been traded. He’s been designated. He’s been put on waivers. He’s been optioned. I think that matters. … We talk about that all the time, the right way to message things to different people, players understanding what’s going on and empathy with some of those hard conversations, he’s been on the other side of a fair amount and I think that really helps.”

Breslow’s time in Chicago has already given him a solid foundation for how he’d like to run the Red Sox. His pitching process is something that put him on the map, but it’s his pitching days that helped him develop the characteristics that his peers believe will help him be successful.