The underperformning Boston Red Sox have the second-worst record in the American League just under two months from the trade deadline. Things will have to change swiftly if Boston plans to buy, but the team's sluggish offense in the first third of the season doesn't signal improvement will come easily.
The Red Sox's ugly performance so far, marked by regression from homegrown players and a lineup lacking any source of consistent power, has resulted in calls to blow it up at the deadline and for chief baseball officer Craig Breslow's job. As any organization would, Boston's front office has stood by Breslow, asserting that his job is safe.
But Red Sox fans find that quite hard to believe, as does insider Sean McAdam of MassLive. One day after Sam Kennedy stated that Boston's front office hasn't even considered a CBO change, McAdam wrote what every Sox fan has been thinking.
"Breslow remains on the job, for now. If that’s still the case on the final weekend of September, it will be a tremendous upset. It’s nearly impossible to imagine Breslow remaining with the Sox past the end of the regular season," he wrote on June 12.
Insider Sean McAdam (and fans) see right through Red Sox's assertions that Craig Breslow's job is secure
McAdam notes that Breslow's two predecessors, Dave Dombrowski and Chaim Bloom, were fired in the last few weeks of their final seasons with the Red Sox. The same fate could be coming for Breslow, but Boston's front office certainly wouldn't say it — the only way the Red Sox could make themselves look worse in all this would be to say publicly that they're considering firing their CBO unless he shapes up.
After Breslow's seemingly inevitable firing, whether it comes this year, as McAdam suggests, or later, the Red Sox will have to find someone to take his place. This will be easier said than done, as Breslow is Boston's third CBO in the last decade and the Red Sox's front office has become infamous for its volatility and controversy.
Operating under John Henry and Fenway Sports Group also seems undesirable, to say the least — the nearly-six-billion-dollar-man limits his front office budget to that of a mid-market team despite the sky-high expectations for his club.
McAdam believes Breslow's fate is sealed, but still obscured, and he'd be hard-pressed to find a Red Sox fans who doesn't feel the same. Not only is Boston unsalvageable at this point, but the frequent reports that continue leaking from the front office don't suggest things are also going poorly on the buisiness side of things. Despite the Red Sox's assertions that Breslow's job is secure, it's only a matter of time before they're on the hunt for another CBO.
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