Craig Breslow gave ‘uncomfortable’ quote about Red Sox’s offseason

Dec 9, 2024; Dallas, TX, USA; Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow speaks with the media at the Hilton Anatole during the 2024 MLB Winter Meetings. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Boston Red Sox executive Craig Breslow delivered an interesting quote on Tuesday about the team’s offseason plans.

Breslow talked to reporters from the Winter Meetings in Dallas, Texas, and mentioned that the Red Sox would have to get “uncomfortable” to attract free agents.

“In order to attract free agent talent, you have to be willing to get uncomfortable … I think that is the sentiment of our room, and we recognize as we’re trying to improve our team, this can’t be about doing what feels perfectly comfortable,” Breslow said Tuesday, according to The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham.

The point is that due to market circumstances, the Red Sox won’t be able to sign players for exactly the prices they would want. For instance, Juan Soto just got $765 million from the New York Mets. Max Fried got $218 million from the New York Yankees.

Do you think each of those teams wanted to spend that much money on those players? Of course not. But the teams want to improve and had to outbid their competition to get there. And that’s the issue facing Boston — in order to sign players, they have to go outside their comfort zone. Not only that, but they may have to pay extra to prove to players that they are trying to build a winning team.

The Red Sox have only had one winning season in the last five years and traded away Mookie Betts. That didn’t exactly inspire confidence in players that they are trying to win, which puts them into a place of needing to overspend now to compete. Boston did make a big move on Wednesday though by acquiring pitcher Garrett Crochet in a trade with the White Sox. That’s a good first step in trying to repair their relationship with the fans.