Craig Breslow Confirms Two Major Red Sox Priorities This Offseason

Outside of a minor trade earlier this offseason, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and the Boston Red Sox have not made many tangible moves thus far.

The winter meetings in Nashville, Tenn. often mark a great starting point for significant moves as the baseball world comes together this week.

So far, Breslow shared with reporters that the team remains engaged in talks to upgrade the starting rotation and add a right-handed bat, potentially at second base, per MassLive’s Chris Cotillo.

“Nothing material to report,” Breslow shared on Monday, per Cotillo. “But advancing conversations, still trying to explore every possible pathway to improving the team, getting a clear sense of what free agent and trade markets might look like.”

Both of those priorities had been specifically analyzed earlier in the offseason. While external additions will certainly be the main topic of conversation, both Breslow and manager Alex Cora echoed that internal improvements will be a theme of the winter.

That sentiment especially comes on the pitching side. Breslow noted that pitchers Tanner Houck, Garrett Whitlock and Nick Pivetta will spend the winter getting ready to start after all of them spent time in both the Red Sox rotation and the bullpen during the 2023 season.

Additionally, the Red Sox hope to get a bounce back effort from Chris Sale, who showed flashes of his ace potential in between injury stints last season.

“He’s as healthy as he’s been at this point,” Breslow said, per Cotillo. “He has the benefits of a normal ramp-up and a normal offseason. He’s understanding how to help him recover and take care of himself. I don’t know why I wouldn’t sit here and say we expect a full, healthy season.”

While Monday reaffirmed several previous expectations for the Red Sox this offseason, the plan remains the same at the winter meetings in a major checkpoint of the offseason.