Boston Red Sox fans left the trade deadline immeasurably frustrated with Craig Breslow, and seemingly rightfully so. In the initial wake of a deadline in which the Red Sox acquired only Steven Matz and Dustin May, the fact that Breslow couldn't get a Joe Ryan trade over the finish line or couldn't acquire an impact bat like Yandy Diaz left fans angry with another lackluster group of midseason additions with the team in the thick of the playoff race. Based on the latest rumors, though, perhaps Breslow isn't as to blame as we thought, because it seemed like he did the right things.
I'll be the first to admit that I was ready to send Breslow out of Boston on July 31 when the deadline passed. All indications at that time were that the Red Sox' GM wasn't willing to get aggressive enough to get the deals that the team seemingly needed to be made done, and was again playing the deadline far too conservatively with his evaluations, spreadsheets and so on. The truth, however, might be that he was being reasonable when the teams he was talking to weren't.
In the case of Ryan specifically, Rob Bradford of WEEI reported this weekend that the Red Sox and Breslow had all three of their Top 100 MLB prospects — Payton Tolle, Jhostynxon Garcia and Franklin Arias — on the table at some point. And while all three weren't included, there were multiple packages that included at least two of them. When you combine that with Breslow's comments about not wanting to move players from the MLB roster, it seems that the Twins were asking for those prospects and someone like Jarren Duran, which was never going to happen.
Then, when it came to Diaz and talks with the Rays, Section 10 podcast host Jared Carrabis quietly reported on X/Twitter that Tampa Bay's ask was unreasonable. When asked by a commenter to give a hint, Carrabis told the user that the ask was in his profile picture... which means that the Rays were asking for Ceddanne Rafaela, arguably the best defensive outfielder in baseball coming into his own at the plate and locked up for seven more years for extremely cheap.
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Red Sox fans owe Craig Breslow an apology over failed Joe Ryan, Yandy Diaz trades
Make no mistake, any Red Sox fans would still love to have Ryan and Diaz on this team. However, it takes two to tango and these reports indicate that the Twins and Rays weren't willing to dance. Asking for either Duran or Wilyer Abreu plus Top 100 prospects and not just a high-end prospect package for Ryan is not something Boston would ever consider, the same of which is true with the Rays and Rafaela. Frankly, Breslow made the right call to not pull the trigger in either of those instances.
If the whole goal of trading for someone like Ryan or Diaz is to find controllable pieces for this year and beyond but to do so in order to help the Red Sox get back to the postseason and perhaps even make a run, mortgaging some of the pieces that are crucial to that plight doesn't make sense.
Ultimately, this all sounds like the Twins and Rays weren't all that serious about trading their stars who were rumored to be possibilities. Breslow and the Red Sox clearly made a push to explore those options, but if the only deals that were amenable to the trade partners were ones that went well beyond an overpay, then that's something that Boston's GM was absolutely in the right to turn down. And given the reaction of fans immediately after the deadline, there should be a mea culpa that absolves Breslow of some of the blame.
Having said that, Craig Breslow isn't blameless at the Red Sox trade deadline
While fans at large should give Breslow some grace as more information starts to come in, he's not completely in the clear. Yes, it can be wholly forgiven that he didn't land Ryan or Diaz for the Red Sox at the trade deadline given the circumstances. Where he still dropped the ball, however, was not having any pivots available to him or at the ready when those deals weren't going to come to fruition.
One of the criticisms of Breslow to this point could very well be that he tends to get tunnel vision when it comes to discussions such as this, both on the trade market and in free agency. He identifies targets who would undeniably help the Red Sox in meaningful ways. But if those don't work out, it doesn't necessarily appear that he has a Plan B that he's ready to turn to.
Subsequently, leaving the trade deadline with Matz and May feels fully indicative of that. Both could help the Red Sox, but the rotation is still a question even after adding May behind Garrett Crochet, there is still a hole at first base with Abraham Toro trailing off with his production, Connor Wong is still the backup catcher, and one could argue that the bullpen could've used at least one more arm.
Of course, the Red Sox opened up August after the deadline with two wins over the Astros, so things are still going well in Boston. But if we're reacting to Breslow's trade deadline, we need the full picture. He didn't perform at an A-plus level, but the context that's now being provided means it might not have been the abject failure of a deadline fans initially thought it was.