Red Sox CBO Craig Breslow on free agent starting pitching search: ‘We need to be open-minded’
Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow stressed in his opening presser the club’s No.1 priority this winter was acquiring starting pitching. He echoed that sentiment to the media on Day 1 of the GM Meetings in Scottsdale, Ariz. on Tuesday.
“No. I think we need to be open-minded,” Breslow said to reporters, including Christopher Smith of MassLive. “Starting pitching is certainly a priority for us. But to kind of try and forecast exactly a number or anything kind of more specific than that probably doesn’t make sense.”
What kind of stuff or make up is Breslow looking for in his rotation?
“It sounds simple but we’re looking to kind of uphold that standard of quality and consistency,” Breslow said. “So durability is part of that. But we don’t want durability kind of on its face. We want consistency of a really, really high level of performance that’s also durable and can provide bulk. As we all know, there might be 29 other teams that are searching for that as well.”
The Red Sox have already been publicly linked to free agent left-hander Jordan Montgomery.
"(General Managers) Meetings update: Red Sox officials have spoken with the agent for (left-handed pitcher) Jordan Montgomery, who posted a 2.79 ERA in 11 regular-season starts for the World Series champs," MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reported Tuesday afternoon.
The lefty is coming off anchoring the Rangers rotation that just won the World Series. Montgomery posted a 3.20 ERA with a 1.19 WHIP with 166 strikeouts over 188 2/3 innings between Texas and St. Louis.
He went 4-2 with a 2.79 ERA down the stretch following the trade with the Rangers. The 6-foot-6 hurler went 3-1 in the playoffs.
Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, Sonny Gray and Aaron Nola are all expected to be targets for the Red Sox. They all received qualifying offers, meaning Boston will be required to give up their second-highest available selection in the next 2024 MLB Draft if they signed one of those pitchers. In addition, they would have their international signing bonus pool reduced by $500,000.
“It’s a consideration like the host of other variables that you need to consider when you make a decision around these players,” Breslow said about giving up compensation to sign a free agent. “So I think we need to look at the totality of the situation in order to figure out how much of a consequence it is for one over another.”
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