Red Sox

Craig Breslow won a World Series with the Red Sox in 2013.

The Red Sox’ search for Chaim Bloom’s replacement at the top of the team’s baseball operations department might be targeting a former Boston reliever and 2013 World Series champion.

According to Patrick Mooney of The Athletic, former Sox southpaw and current Cubs assistant GM/director of pitching Craig Breslow has been “in advanced discussions” with Boston for the top gig within its baseball ops department.

Breslow, who pitched for the Red Sox for five of his 12 seasons in MLB, was listed by Alex Speier of The Boston Globe as a potential candidate to replace Bloom, with Speier adding that Breslow has already formally interviewed for the position. 

Along with his links to Boston on the mound, Breslow has plenty of local ties to the Red Sox. The New Haven, Connecticut, native graduated from Yale and now resides in Newton, even after taking his current job with Cubs.

Mooney noted that former Red Sox GM Theo Epstein personally recruited Breslow to join the Cubs front office in 2019, with the lefty coveted by other organizations like the Red Sox and Yankees for a front-office role after deciding to hang up his spikes. 

In his role with Chicago, Breslow helped run a rebuild of the Cubs’ pitching development infrastructure while also assisting in the evaluation of free agents and monitoring other day-to-day operations. 

Breslow’s reported advanced discussions with the Red Sox stands as a welcome departure for what has otherwise been a plodding and frustrating search for Boston’s next baseball executive. 

Several noteworthy candidates linked to the Red Sox — including former Astros GM James Click, Phillies GM Sam Fuld, and Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes — have opted to not interview for Boston’s vacancy in its front office.