What Craig Breslow and the Boston Red Sox just completed an MLB Trade Deadline that most fans will rightfully construe as a failure. They ultimately added only two pieces, LHP Steven Matz and RHP Dustin May, while the New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, Texas Rangers, and Seattle Mariners all made substantial upgrades that the Red Sox simply didn't at the deadline. That, in itself, is infuriating for fans after being promised by Breslow that the team would be an aggressive buyer, but it's even more frustrating after Boston pushed for a Joe Ryan deal and came up short at the finish line.
Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reported that the Red Sox made a big push in the last hour for Ryan, which confirmed reports from the likes of MLB Network's Jon Morosi and even Section 10 podcast host Jared Carrabis. Cotillo's sources, however, said Boston was "not even close" with the Minnesota Twins on a Ryan deal, but Carrabis in particular refuted that by saying on the Underdog MLB trade deadline live stream that he was told the deal was 85 percent of the way there. And perhaps it was made worse by the fact that MLB on FOX and Yahoo! Sports both misread Morosi's report of interest and a late push and sent out trade graphics that had Ryan going to Boston.
So what gives? Well, in his post-deadline press conference over Zoom, Breslow may have given us the truth, especially in the context of what we know about the Red Sox general manager.
Breslow indicated that he felt the Red Sox were aggressive and were willing to deal anyone in their system not on the major-league roster. However, he also said that teams needed to say yes and "that's enough" to get deals done, and that didn't come to fruition. When you then consider reports from Breslow's first trade deadline in 2024 with Boston, which was also a failure at the time and certainly thereafter, it's impossible to escape the feeling that Breslow's idea of being aggressive and being aggressive enough to pull off a deal for someone like Joe Ryan are two vastly different things.
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Craig Breslow told on himself after Red Sox whiff on Joe Ryan trade
One of the things that Breslow indicated in his Q&A appeared to be that other teams weren't particularly high on the Red Sox farm system. While you always want to take an executive at his word, that's impossibly hard to swallow, even if the Big 3 of Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell is no longer involved like they were a year ago.
You can't possibly tell me that if the Twins wanted even someone like new top prospect Payton Tolle or Franklin Arias or Jhostynxon Garcia or whoever else, and that Breslow was willing to get uncomfortable enough to deal any of those top prospects that there wasn't a deal to be made. That feels especially true considering, even with the late push, that Ryan had been connected to the Red Sox and conversations were assumedly had weeks prior.
One of the defining characteristics of Breslow's tenure is that his definition of "uncomfortable" and "aggressive" simply haven't been the same as most everyone else's, particularly Red Sox fans. And it feels like his post-deadline comments all but admitted that was the case. He danced around the fact that he didn't have the gumption to pull the trigger on an expensive trade for someone like Ryan, even if it had been worth it.
Now, the Red Sox sit in the unfriendly position of their biggest competition for playoff spots in the American League all got better, while Boston made two additions that feel brutally similar to the whiffs of last year's deadline. This team could still break its postseason drought that's been ongoing since 2021, but it won't be because of what Breslow did at the trade deadline.
An inkling of hope for Joe Ryan and Red Sox isn't enough
If there's any type of silver lining to the trade deadline failures for Breslow and the Red Sox, it's a note from Cotillo in his reporting from the action (or inaction) leading up to the 6 p.m. ET deadline. He noted that the Red Sox are almost guaranteed to circle back to the Twins and a trade for Ryan this offseason, similar to what happened last offseason after checking in on Garrett Crochet with the White Sox at the deadline and then getting the trade done for much cheaper in the offseason.
That's great. That would still give Boston a 1-2 punch of Crochet and Ryan for the next two seasons, at minimum, with the possibility to work out an extension with the current Twins ace as well if they could complete such a deal for the second offseason in a row. That, however, is just a band-aid on a bullet hole for fans coming off of the trade deadline.
This isn't entirely about the future of the Red Sox. Sure, that's always going to be part of the equation when it comes to any baseball team and the front office (unless you're A.J. Preller in San Diego). At the same time, this is a Boston fan base starving to get back to the postseason and with the pieces in place to not just be a playoff team but be a factor in October had they made a true game-changing addition.
The fact that Breslow seemingly got to the doorstep of doing that only to then be scared off for whatever reason, another instance of being unwilling to show the proper amount of aggression, is only going to increase the volume for the already-present calls for Breslow's job in Boston.