In January 2019, the Chicago Cubs hired former left-handed reliever Craig Breslow to be part of the team’s front office. His first title with the Cubs was Director of Strategic Initiatives for Baseball Operations. Breslow pitched 12 years in MLB, and was a solid reliever, posting a 3.45 ERA in 576 career appearances oh and he also graduated from Yale, with a degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry.
Following the 2019 regular season the Cubs made drastic changes to their organization and Breslow was a major part of the new direction of the team. Breslow was promoted to Director of Pitching and then got a new title after 2020, becoming assistant GM and vice president of pitching. When he was first brought into Chicago, the Cubs were a laughingstock throughout the league when it came to developing homegrown pitching, but that has changed under Breslow’s watch and now he’s being pursued by other teams following his success.
According to a few reports this week, Breslow interviewed with the Boston Red Sox for the top spot in their front office. Breslow, who pitched five seasons in two different stints for the Red Sox, won a ring with Boston in 2013.
Via the Boston Globe.
For a team in need of furthering the construction of a pitching pipeline, Breslow (who lives in Newton) represents an attractive candidate after helping turn the Cubs from an organization with almost no homegrown pitching to one with a wealth of it. That said, his front office experience is limited, as he’s never been based out of Chicago while working for the Cubs. According to major league sources, Breslow has interviewed with the Red Sox.
For the most part, these things are good and bad. You obviously don’t root against someone moving up in their profession and it’s great to see that someone in the Cubs organization is so highly thought of that despite his limited experience, Breslow has commanded enough respect during his with the Cubs that he’s getting an interview to be president or maybe GM of the Red Sox. On the other hand, it sucks because it does mean that sooner rather than later, Breslow will move on elsewhere because he is doing an awesome job with the Cubs and you don’t want to lose those guys.
I guess there is a scenario in which the Cubs promote Breslow to try and retain him. Right now, it’s unclear what his contract status is with the Cubs, but it seems as though he’ll be a hot name around the league and is no long an under the radar guy. In five years, Breslow has constructed a great pitching infrastructure from the ground up and he’s very much looking like a star in the making.
