Red Sox's Craig Breslow Breaks Silence On Boston's 3 All-Star Selections

There are many legitimate criticisms to levy about Craig Breslow's time as the Boston Red Sox's chief baseball officer. But from a talent standpoint, one can't deny the success of his 2024-25 offseason.

The three biggest moves Breslow made over the winter were trading for starting pitcher Garrett Crochet, signing closer Aroldis Chapman before the free agency rush, and waiting out said rush to sign third baseman Alex Bregman in February.

Fast forward to July, and on Sunday, when the All-Star Game rosters were (mostly) finalized, those three were the players heading to Atlanta to represent the Red Sox.

After Boston's sweep of the Washington Nationals, Breslow showered praise on the trio, who stand as a testament to his successes amid other perceived failures.

"You hope you will make acquisitions in the offseason that guys play up to their potential or beyond their potential,” Breslow said, per Byron Kerr of MLB.com. “These are three guys, all of whom were All-Stars in the past. They are new to the organization this year, but it's a really exciting moment for everybody here.

“The other thing that is really neat is that you can kind of look at them as the leaders in their group of players on the team. Often your All-Stars are your leaders but it doesn't have to be the case. You can see the leadership qualities and the impact each of those three guys has had on the rest of the group.”

Leadership is becoming a Red Sox buzzword. It stands out as a principle that Breslow and the front office believed ex-designated hitter Rafael Devers didn't live up to, which served as part of their justification for trading him to the San Francisco Giants.

But leadership also comes with continuity, and the Red Sox have been a revolving door. Of the three aforementioned All-Stars, only Crochet is guaranteed to be under contract next season. Look back to last year's selections, and Devers is gone, Tanner Houck has been awful this season, and Jarren Duran hears his name in a trade rumor every 15 minutes.

One can seemingly judge Breslow's tenure differently by the minute. But he has to receive some credit for the work he did to build up this roster between the final out of 2024 and the first out of 2025.