Red Sox' Craig Breslow not waiving the white flag on season following Rafael Devers trade, dysfunction in the front office, Roman Anthony belts first career homer in 2-0 win over Mariners

The Red Sox traded their best hitter and arguably their best player, Rafael Devers, in a blockbuster trade on Sunday that sent shockwaves through all of baseball. Despite the trade, Boston’s leadership and front office are vowing, both publicly and privately, that the club is not holding a fire sale.

On a Zoom call Monday night, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow addressed the media to discuss the trade that sent Devers to the Giants for pitchers Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison, Jose Bello, and outfield prospect James Tibbs III.

“This is in no way signifying a waving of the white flag on 2025,” Breslow said. “We are as committed as we were six months ago to putting a winning team on the field, to competing for the division, and to making a deep postseason run.”

Boston completed the massive trade on the heels of sweeping the Yankees at Fenway Park, locking down their third straight series win, second in a row over their rivals, and fifth straight win. The club now has roughly six weeks to decide if they’ll be buyers or sellers ahead of the July 31 trade deadline. The Sox have some significant trade pieces that could net them a decent return in the likes of Aroldis Chapman, Justin Wilson, Alex Bregman, Lucas Giolito, and Walker Buehler.

According to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo, the Red Sox have adamantly denied they’ll be selling off veteran assets and that they plan to be buyers over the next few weeks and could target a big bat to replace Devers’ production.

“This is a roster that certainly has some needs,” Breslow said. "We can talk about starting pitching and bullpen help, and we think that we addressed some of those in the return that we had in this deal. But additionally, I do think that it gives us some resources as we head toward the (trade) deadline.

“Starting pitching could be an opportunity for us to continue to upgrade. Also, we’ve had our share of both bullpen injuries and inconsistency trying to get the ball to Aroldis (Chapman), who has been so good late in games. That’s another potential pathway. Then, we have to start thinking about what a long-term solution looks like at first base. Triston’s rehab is going well but it’s going to be a long road there. We’re absolutely going to look at the best use of those resources and could potentially use that as early as the 2025 trade deadline.”

The Red Sox saved roughly $250+ million in future salary commitments by dealing off Devers to San Francisco, meaning the club should have the ability to add payroll in the coming weeks to help the 26-man roster.

Until the Red Sox actually strike a deal to help the roster, others will need to step up and seize the opportunity to play.

“In the short term, giving some flexibility at the DH spot does allow us to rotate through the three left-handed hitting outfielders (Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, and Roman Anthony) as soon as Willy’s back, plus Ceddanne (Rafaela) being able to play in center field where we’ve seen him play elite defense,” Breslow said. “Likely opens up some additional at-bats for Masa (Yoshida), as well, as soon as he’s healthy. We look at opportunities to improve our team every single day.

“When you consider the flexibility, the ability to give some of the young players some run, the opportunity to re-package some of the resources and fill some voids in the roster as early as approaching this year’s deadline, and being really intentional about the environment we create for these young players to thrive in, I do think there’s a real chance we’re looking back and we’ve won more games than we otherwise would have.”

Breslow suggested the Red Sox might end up winning more games this season without their disgruntled designated hitter.

“We’ve talked a lot about, for some reason, being an example where the whole was not greater than the sum of the parts,” he said. “When you move a player of Raffy’s caliber and take that bat out of the lineup, how could I sit here and say we’re a better team? I acknowledge that, on paper, we’re not going to have the same lineup we did. But this isn’t about the game that is played on paper. This is about the game that’s played on the field and, ultimately, about winning the most games that we can. In order to do that, we are trying to put together the most functional and complete team we can.”

DYSFUNCTION

In a lengthy report released on Monday, Yahoo Sports reporter Joon Lee stated that Breslow reportedly fired a longtime team employee after he insulted the front office leader with an f-bomb at the end of a Zoom call.

According to Lee, former scouting supervisor Carl Moesche uttered a sarcastic remark that included an f-bomb about Breslow at the end of a call.

“Thanks, Bres, you (expletive) stiff,” Moesche reportedly said, thinking the call had come to an end.

The report stated that "the words landed like a grenade," which led to Breslow firing Moesche.

The former supervisor scout had been with the Red Sox since 2017 and was one of a number of executives and scouts that have been let go by the organization after Breslow hired Sportsology to conduct an internal audit on the organization.

In Lee’s bombshell report, he stated that there is "discontent" in the Red Sox front office under Breslow.

“Manager Alex Cora and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow have not seen eye-to-eye on the direction of the team,” reported Lee. “Cora wants to win now. Breslow, like Chaim Bloom before him, was hired to build a sustainable future. The last time Cora found himself misaligned with the head of baseball ops, Bloom was fired.”

There has reportedly been internal strain regarding how the club should handle its players. The coaching staff is frustrated with how player development has been handled, placing so much emphasis on swing mechanics and hitting data (Driveline) at the expense of fundamentals.

It has been widely acknowledged that the Red Sox have struggled defensively for years, which led to the firing of infield coordinators Carlos Febles and Andy Fox.

Lee reported that the principal owner, John Henry, “delegates the day-to-day operations of the Red Sox to team president Sam Kennedy. That detachment has created an opening for divergent priorities across Fenway Sports Group’s portfolio.”

BRESLOW DENIES ONE DEVERS TRADE REPORT

Breslow made his regular appearance on WEEI’s Greg Hill Show on Tuesday morning and adamantly denied one report by Baseball America’s Geoff Pontes that said another team made an offer for Devers, but ownership shot down the deal because the team wouldn’t take on the full contract of the slugger.

“There was another deal where they were taking on some of the money,” Pontes said. “I do not know what pieces were included within that particular deal. That was vetoed by John Henry, and the reason it was vetoed was because they had to take on money.”

Breslow said the report was untrue.

“No,” Breslow said. “When I read that, I was as surprised as anybody else would have been who had no idea that this was a thing or had happened. Absolutely not true.”

FIRST WIN IN POST-DEVERS ERA

After the Devers Zoom press conference concluded on Monday night, the Red Sox embarked on a road series against the Seattle Mariners.

The Red Sox completed their second-straight shutout, defeating the Mariners 2-0, winning their sixth straight game, and improving to two games above .500 (38-36).

Anthony belted his first MLB homer in the first inning, sending a 391-foot blast into the right field seats. The homer came in the rookie's seventh big league game and came off a Logan Gilbert 96.2 mph sinker.

“It was awesome. It was even better that we got a great win there,” Anthony said after the game.

Anthony, the No. 1 prospect in baseball, said he plans to give the ball to his parents, Anthony and Lori Anthony, like he does with many of his baseball milestones.

“I usually just give ‘em to my parents and kind of let them do the work,” Anthony said. “And they’ll do the whole little framing and everything. So I’ll give it to them for sure.”

The 21-year-old is the youngest Red Sox player to homer in a game since Devers did it back in 2017, and ironically, both players completed this feat at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.

Anthony called the Devers trade, “Obviously it was shocking.”

The young slugger has gone 2-for-21 with a homer, a double, four RBI, two walks, and five strikeouts.

“I haven’t felt overmatched, so I’m not worried about it,” Anthony said. “I know it’ll come through here soon, so it’s nice to kinda get that first one out of the way today and hope to keep this thing rolling.”

Giolito dominated on the mound, completing his best start this season, tossing six scoreless innings, allowing three hits while walking one, and striking out 10. It was the 17th time in his career that he recorded double-digit strikeouts in a game. It was also the sixth time in his career that he had gone six or more scoreless innings while fanning 10 batters or more.

“I think that that was hugely important for us, to continue the positive vibes, continue to have high energy,” the veteran right-hander told reporters after the win. “I could tell today I had a feeling we were going to be in a good position to win just because, despite everything that had happened, we were able to come together and maintain a very positive attitude. Everyone seemed loose and having fun before the game, so when it came time to compete, we competed.”

Giolito’s outing helped set the stage for the Red Sox' first shutout of the Mariners since June 12, 2022.

“All four pitches were working pretty good, fastball especially,” the veteran told reporters. “I’m in a good place mechanically, so we’re able to attack with the heater in the top of the zone.”

“I think everything started with the fastball,” Cora concurred. “They were late on it; they chased with it.”

In the third inning, the Mariners loaded the bases after three consecutive singles. Giolito struck out J.P. Crawford, Julio Rodríguez, and Cal Raleigh, all swinging, to end the threat.

“I think the first inning set it up well for me,” Giolito explained. “I walked the leadoff guy, which you never want to do to start the game. Kind of puts your back against the wall a little bit. We got the quick double-play, got out of it.

“Then the third inning, back up against the wall again. I think it was; I benefited from already being in that kind of situation in the first inning. Obviously, it’s higher stakes with bases loaded, but at that point, for me, I just gotta turn my brain off and rip it as hard as I can.”

Giolito retired 12 consecutive batters over the course of the start. Over the last nine games, Red Sox starters are 7-0 with a 2.34 ERA with 54 strikeouts and 12 walks. The Sox have also made seven consecutive quality starts.

Boston plated their second run of the game after Duran ripped a two-out triple and Abraham Toro drove him home with an RBI single. The Sox’ offense struck out 12 times, including 10 against Gilbert.

The bullpen remained locked in, with Wilson pitching a scoreless seventh inning, working around a hit and walk. Greg Weissert worked out of a jam in the eighth inning. In the ninth inning, Chapman delivered a powerful strikeout to end the game. The bullpen has recorded a 1.84 ERA during the Red Sox's six-game winning streak.