The Boston Red Sox’s season has not seemed to go the way general manager Craig Breslow and the front office had hoped it would. In April, they fired former manager Alex Cora, thinking he was the issue. As a subsequent replacement, they brought up Worcester Red Sox manager Chad Tracy to take over. Despite Tracy doing slightly better than Cora in a 27-game span (which is how many games Cora managed this season before being fired), the Red Sox still struggled in that span and continue to do so now.
So what continues to be the problem then? The pitching has remained good (for the most part) despite an injury to Garrett Crochet. The lineup had some holes even when fellow injured stars Roman Anthony and Trevor Story were playing. So many fans turn their heads toward Breslow. And recent updates have shown that the controversial GM won’t be going anywhere.
Red Sox Keeping General Manager Breslow Despite Displeased Fanbase
Per Tim Healey of the Boston Globe (subscription required for the article linked in the tweet), the Red Sox are not considering firing Breslow. Breslow was hired back in 2023 after the firing of now St Louis Cardinals GM Chaim Bloom. The move was made because of Breslow’s (highly strategic philosophy) and his ability to succeed in “player acquisition, development, and execution at the major league level” (per ESPN back in 2023).
Source: The Red Sox are not considering firing Craig Breslow.
More: https://t.co/VIC7s45ydJ
— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) June 9, 2026
Before joining the Red Sox, the Yale graduate had worked in the Chicago Cubs front office and reportedly helped turn their pitching staff around. He turned names like Justin Steele, Kyle Hendricks, and Adbert Alzolay into reliable pitchers at the very least in Chicago. The excitement for a change was seen early.
Breslow’s Questionable Transaction History
While he has drafted pitchers very well, including homegrown stars Connelly Early and Payton Tolle, as well as rising prospects such as Anthony Eyanson, he has struggled to acquire hitters. First comes the Chris Sale trade. Sure, he was injury-prone at the time. But when he pitched, he was still very good. So good in fact, that he won the Cy Young Award in his first year with the Atlanta Braves. And in return, the Red Sox got infielder Vaughn Grissom, who struggled at the major league level but had a decent minor league stint with Worcester. Grissom was then traded to the Los Angeles Angels for outfielder Isaiah Jackson.
Then comes the Rafael Devers trade. This one is more complicated, as, given his attitude towards a position change, something needed to be done. But for a guy who was the best power hitter on the team and a yearly 30-homer/100-RBI threat, the return package was underwhelming. Jordan Hicks was disappointing here (some may say bad), and Jose Bello won’t come up for a long time, if Boston even keeps him. The two good players acquired from the trade, Kyle Harrison and James Tibbs III, are no longer in the organization.
Harrison was sent to Milwaukee in the Caleb Durbin trade and is having a Cy Young-like year, while Tibbs was sent to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Dustin May (also not with Boston) and is crushing it in Triple-A. The point here isn’t that they traded stars away. It’s that they got practically nothing in return, or didn’t keep the valuable players they received.
Credit where credit’s due, he did pull off a trade for an ace in Crochet and get a solid catcher in Carlos Narvaez. But aside from Willson Contreras, additions like Durbin and Isiah Kiner-Falefa to improve this lineup have been seen as questionable moves. The lack of a right-handed bat is being exposed, and when news comes out that they didn’t offer a contract to someone like Kyle Schwarber, who was beloved in his short stint here in Boston back in ‘21, it makes people question Breslow’s capabilities more.
Ownership Possibly Questioning
Now, while news has come out that they’re not considering firing Breslow, there have also been rumors that ownership may be trying to overstep him. According to recent reports from Buster Olney, Red Sox ownership also acknowledges the need for a right-handed bat and has apparently contacted other owners directly to make a trade. Now, the name was not said, nor is it confirmed. However, this isn’t the first time that ownership has questioned Breslow’s power.
Former GM (and now part-owner of Fenway Sports Group) Theo Epstein was rumored to be disappointed with Breslow’s analytical approach. Based on the Red Sox’s current results and where they could be, it’s easy to agree. Breslow, however, shut down those rumors. Epstein has been a working partner of Breslow since he hired him in Chicago. But given his approach and the lack of results, it’s not far-fetched to believe there could be a problem, and it’s being downplayed.
The Last Word: Should Breslow’s Job Be Safe?
Now comes the tricky part of the situation: Breslow’s job is currently considered to be safe, but should it be? This now breaks into two options:
- Option A: Breslow keeps going with his analytical approach and handles the trade deadline, for better or worse
- Option B: Breslow gets fired, and they have to figure out who his replacement is quickly (possibly Theo?)
Either situation isn’t exactly ideal; if the replacement isn’t Epstein, they have to conduct a search and figure out his strategy for the team within a month and a half. Unless they can magically turn it around in June and July as they did in 2025, it’s going to be a lose-lose situation. For now, though, the best thing to do is wait and see how this turns out.
Main Photo Credits: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
