Ex-Red Sox Coach Praises Craig Breslow, Foresees Turnaround

Former Red Sox bench coach Will Venable has experience working with Craig Breslow, and he believes a bright future is ahead for Boston.

The Red Sox hired Breslow as chief baseball officer, and Venable overlapped with the 2013 World Series champion when they were on Theo Epstein's staff with the Chicago Cubs.

"I think it’ll be great," the Texas Rangers associate manager told The Boston Globe's Peter Abraham. "He's a super-bright guy, obviously, (and) with the playing experience. To have that combination, I think it's a great person to lead that club.

"A wide range of strengths. Obviously, he's going to have to manage a lot of people and he's a really good communicator. With his pitching background, not just as a big league pitcher but the way he went about it (and) the way he was able to use pitch design to add to the end of his career.

"He's somebody that will be a really good voice for that club in getting them on track to where they want to be ... I'm super happy for him."

Venable added: "He's just somebody who knows the game really well and certainly is a really bright guy. He's one of those ex-players that if you didn't know that he was a player he sounds like an executive. He has the insight of a player."

Breslow's former teammates believe his playing career will be beneficial in his role in Boston's front office. The Red Sox missed out on postseason play for the past two seasons, and the hope is that Breslow can help lead a turnaround for the franchise, which is something Venable was optimistic about.

"Being in last place in that division doesn't really mean a whole lot," Venable said. "It's such a tough division. That's a really good ball club that has a really good core of young players, an exciting group. (Alex) Cora is going to get the best out of them. I feel good about their future."

Tommy Pham, whose Arizona Diamondbacks are facing Venable's Rangers in the World Series, also was optimistic about Boston's future as the Red Sox await the offseason and look toward a new future with Breslow.