Rafael Devers isn't the only Red Sox move Craig Breslow needs to answer for

Fair or not, the Rafael Devers trade will almost certainly be what defines Craig Breslow's legacy as the Boston Red Sox's chief baseball officer. Sure, he had his reasons to trade him, but parting with a franchise icon, especially for an underwhelming return, won't ever be looked at fondly by the fan base. The Devers trade stings the most, but it's far from the only move Breslow has to answer for. Letting Nick Pivetta walk is proving to be another one.

Now with the San Diego Padres on a four-year, $55 million deal, Pivetta has been pitching as well as he ever has in a big league uniform. He added to his breakout year by delivering six innings of one-run ball in a winning effort against the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies.

It goes without saying that this version of Pivetta is a pitcher that the Red Sox could really use in their rotation. Instead, they have to watch him play on Xander Bogaerts' Padres.

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Letting Nick Pivetta walk is proving to be another Craig Breslow blunder

With this outing, Pivetta now has a 3.25 ERA in 17 starts and 97 innings of work. The maddeningly inconsistent Pivetta throughout his time in Boston now has a quality start in 10 of his 17 outings. For reference, Pivetta had a total of 12 quality starts all of last season in Boston. He's two shy of tying that mark now, and the calendar just flipped to July.

I get why the Red Sox let him walk. They got a draft pick from San Diego for letting him go, and, as mentioned above, he was extremely inconsistent throughout his Red Sox tenure. He showed flashes and was durable, but he also never finished a season with a sub-4.00 ERA. Pivetta getting over $50 million elsewhere while Boston receives draft pick compensation felt like a no-brainer.

Would Pivetta have been this productive in Boston? We'll never know. There's reason to believe a change of scenery helped unlock the best in the right-hander. Still, while it was a sensible decision at the time, hindsight is 20/20, and it just looks bad now.

For much of this season, it's felt like the Red Sox have had Garrett Crochet and not much else in their rotation. Having Pivetta as their No. 2 could've led to the Red Sox being in a far better position in the postseason race than they are right now.

As is the case with Devers, how Pivetta's contract ages remains to be seen. Perhaps Red Sox fans will look at Breslow in a different light, even a couple of years from now. Right now, though, while he's done some good, the bad is seemingly outweighing it.