The Cubs are losing Craig Breslow, assistant general manager and senior vice president of pitching, to the Red Sox, according to multiple reports out of Boston. The Red Sox have offered Breslow their top baseball operations job after firing Chaim Bloom last month.
Breslow has been in the Cubs organization since 2019, when he joined the club as the director of strategic initiatives. He took over the Cubs’ pitching department the next year in what became a turning point for the organization’s pitching development.
Over the years, the Cubs continued to elevate Breslow’s title, which was director of pitching/special assistant to the president and general manager in 2020. But it was obvious the club would eventually face other teams’ attempts to hire him away.
Under Breslow’s direction, the Cubs pitching department rehabilitated its reputation developing major-league talent. And his team-building influence was clear last offseason when he took a lead role in recruiting right-hander Jameson Taillon in free agency. Taillon, who inked a four-year $68-million contract, was the Cubs’ biggest pitcher signing last winter.
The glaring knock on the club during its last competitive window was a failure to develop homegrown pitching. This year, a trio of homegrown pitchers made starts for the Cubs. Rookie Jordan Wicks, the Cubs’ 2021 first-round draft pick, posted a 4.41 ERA in seven starts this season. Both the team’s Cy Young candidate (Justin Steele) and closer (Adbert Alzolay) were homegrown hurlers who made big strides in the past few years.
More promising arms, both homegrown and acquired by trade, are on the rise. Ben Brown and Cade Horton showed promise in the minors. Hard-throwing relievers Daniel Palencia and Luke Little debuted this year.
Breslow was ahead of his time as a player as well. His MLB career spanned seven teams, including the Red Sox, in over a decade. In his late playing years, Breslow overhauled his delivery in an attempt to extend his career. He embraced what was then, in the 2016-17 offseason, new pitch tracking technology.
After retiring, Breslow, a Yale graduate, carried that unique combination of forward-thinking analytics and a former player’s perspective into his next chapter as an executive.
