There's plenty of blame to go around for all parties in the Boston Red Sox's shocking June 15 trade that sent Rafael Devers to San Francisco. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has had his fair share of fingers pointed at him.
Devers' relationship with the front office seemingly began deteriorating when the team deceived him about its plans to sign or trade for a third baseman over the offseason. During the Red Sox's post-trade press conference on Zoom, Breslow admitted he could've communicated better with Devers, but he isn't sure if that would've changed anything about how their relationship ended. Red Sox fans will surely have trouble believing that.
Red Sox fans aren't the only group that's taken notice of Breslow's abrasive communication style. In Joon Lee's June 16 post on the Devers trade and its surrounding drama for Yahoo! Sports, he details how the front office has changed since the Breslow and Chaim Bloom eras began. Long-tenured employees feel exiled from decision-making, and Breslow seems to have isolated himself at the top. Lee reports that, after a team Zoom meeting earlier this season, scouting supervisor Carl Moesche accidentally let his feelings about Breslow slip when he thought the call had ended.
“Thanks, Bres, you f***ing stiff,” Moesche said through the silence. Breslow then fired him. Moesche had worked with the team since 2017.
Joon Lee's report highlights disjointed Red Sox front office, extent of Craig Breslow's poor communication skills
Lee's reporting on the disconnect in Boston's front office didn't stop there. He also noted that coaches have grown increasingly dissatisfied with player development (which makes sense, given the Red Sox's defensive performance in the last three seasons) and that ownership has gradually receded from everyday responsibilities with the team.
Breslow has been criticized for his almost robotic delivery in the past. Jake Mintz, another Yahoo! insider, Tweeted on June 16 that multiple sources have told him that Breslow "lacks feel." As a former player who purposely decieved another about the team's offseason plans, that seems abundantly clear.
If the Red Sox hired Breslow because he was supposed to have some superior ability to communicate with players, he's failed on that front. Lee's reporting suggests that the top of the Red Sox organization is as disjointed as ever, and while much of that blame rests on absent ownership, Breslow can shoulder some of the wrongdoing for his painfully roundabout communication.