Craig Breslow hasn't been chief baseball officer of the Boston Red Sox for every long, yet it's been quite some time since he was a popular man in the city. The 2026 Red Sox's severe offensive troubles certainly haven't helped matters.
Red Sox fans are far from happy with how the season has gone so far, mostly because many of the team's offensive woes were entirely preventable — Alex Bregman would've been easily signed if Boston was comfortable adding a no-trade clause to his contract, or it could've had Kyle Schwarber, Pete Alonso or Eugenio Suárez with a competitive contract offer. It turns out, fans aren't the only ones upset with the direction the team is going.
"Theo Epstein has been disappointed by the Sox’ intense analytical direction under Breslow, multiple league sources said. A minority owner and adviser who led the franchise to two World Series titles as GM, Epstein has long been a mentor to Breslow, hiring him to the Cubs’ front office and helping him get the Sox job," wrote Tim Healey of The Boston Globe on June 1 (subscription required).
A running critique of Breslow's tenure as CBO is that he's missing the "human element" in many of his interactions. From relying on models without enough human interpretation and intervention to having a robotic delivery when he speaks to seemingly being blind to his players' feelings, there's a lot that feels too "analytical" about Breslow's approach. Some of Healey's sources even considered him "woefully beholden to algorithms."
Theo Epstein, through multiple unnamed sources, echoes some Red Sox fan critiques about Craig Breslow
It's easy to point to Boston's current "run prevention" strategy here. Sure, polishing the Red Sox's pitching and defense would help them prevent more runs, but why should they not be more focused on scoring when that's the object of the game? And while they play half their games at Fenway Park, a hitter-friendly park, especially for double and home run hitters? Algorithms may also explain why the Red Sox didn't sign any top free agent bats, as they hardly encourage signing players over a certain age, especially ones with power profiles.
This isn't to say that Breslow's pitching additions are bad. Sonny Gray and Ranger Suarez have been rock-solid in Boston's rotation, but the team's biggest issues, the offense's lack of consistency and power, went unaddressed over the winter. Bregman or Rafael Devers, two players who left the Red Sox under Breslow's watch, would've helped solve that problem, as the eye test showed. The Red Sox had them both, once, but the models must've said Devers' contract wasn't worth the money and that Bregman should be traded before his five-year desired contract would be up.
It speaks volumes that Epstein, the one who recommended Breslow for his job in Boston, isn't happy with how his tenure has gone. The Red Sox became Breslow's team after Alex Cora's surprise firing (which hasn't changed much of anything for the team, but that's another story), but if Epstein, a part-owner of Fenway Sports Group, doesn't think Breslow is taking the club in the right direction, it could mean the end of his tenure sooner rather than later.
It shouldn't take strict adherence to a model or an interpreter, as some sources suggest Breslow might need, for a qualified person to do their job. Epstein's feelings on Breslow's approach to the CBO job reflect many Red Sox fans' feelings, which probably doesn't bode well for Breslow's job security.
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