How Craig Breslow’s Arrival Could Boost Red Sox’s Player Development

The Red Sox aren’t keeping secrets this offseason. They’ve made it abundantly clear the goal of the winter months is to revamp their pitching staff from top to bottom.

Just take a look at Boston’s early offseason moves.

It started with Craig Breslow, who returned to Boston as chief baseball officer after having held an important role in the Chicago Cubs’ front office. Breslow then hired ex-Red Sox teammate Andrew Bailey as his pitching coach, bringing in a new voice after pitching coaches Dave Bush (MLB) and Paul Abbott (Triple-A) were fired following the season. Breslow’s first roster move? He traded for relief pitcher Isaiah Campbell to build depth in what was already a strength last season.

The 43-year-old has been clear that he’s trying to win games at the big-league level, but in building that depth, he’s also planted the seeds for improved development in the minor leagues.

If there’s one thing that made Breslow an attractive candidate in Boston’s search for a leader in baseball operations, it’s that he turned Chicago’s biggest weakness (pitching development) into a strength. That’s exactly what the Red Sox expect him to do now that he’s back calling Fenway Park home. In those five seasons with the Cubs, Breslow eventually became a leading figure in the pitching department and was involved in the day-to-day operations.

“He had very specific ideas about how to not just acquire new pitching, which of course is important, but how to develop the pitching that we have in our system and make them excellent,” Red Sox chairman Tom Werner said following Breslow’s introductory press conference.

We highlighted a specific example of Breslow’s approach to pitching development after he was hired. It was an easy thing to look toward, as the Red Sox themselves pointed out how impressed they were with his ability.

“The Red Sox just have not had a great track record with respect to drafting and developing pitching,” Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy said at the press conference. “We know when we’ve been at our best and winning championships, we’ve excelled from starting pitching to the back end of the bullpen. (Breslow’s) experience in these areas as a player and as a front-office executive were incredibly appealing and one of the reasons why we identified him initially.”

It’s a waiting game to see whether or not Breslow can revamp the developmental side of things in one season. It’s likely that we’ll have to wait to see the fruits of his labor, but at the very least, Boston has some arms he’ll be interested in trying to develop into legitimate big-league contributors.

Brayan Bello already is viewed as a star in the making, but what about forgotten prospects like Noah Song, Bryan Mata and Angel Bastardo? He’ll at least get a crack at it.