Craig Breslow’s biggest mistake with Red Sox? Maybe not hiring a general manager

The Red Sox sound like an organization with issues that run far deeper than a last-place record. Every day seems to bring another report, another comment, or another sign that something isn’t quite right inside the walls of Fenway Park as Craig Breslow and the front office search for answers.

Those concerns were on full display again this week. During an appearance on WEEI, ESPN’s Buster Olney reported that someone within the league told him that, “to a degree,” Red Sox ownership has been making calls to improve its roster. 

"Today I talked to someone with another team that told me that it’s to the degree that the Red Sox ownership has gotten involved," said Olney. "I have not confirmed the name of the owner, so I'm not gonna mention the name that I heard ... but an owner, one of the Red Sox ownership group, is actually calling around and trying to grease the skids to something to add a right-handed bat." 

Olney has repeatedly reported that the Red Sox are "aggressively looking" to add a right-handed power bat and have shown a willingness to take on salary to make a deal happen.

The Red Sox essentially swapped Alex Bregman for Willson Contreras to truly bolster the lineup after Bregman departed for the Cubs in free agency, but other than that, the lineup remained largely unchanged. The lack of right-handed power that plagued the club a year ago remains a glaring issue today.

What’s even more telling is the perception that ownership is now becoming involved in those efforts to find a bat to balance the lineup.

Olney’s reporting continues to point out the flaws of Breslow, each one more embarrassing in the report. 

If people above Breslow are helping identify trade targets and pushing to improve the roster, that’s not exactly a ringing endorsement of the front office’s work. Fair or not, it raises questions about how much confidence ownership has in the direction of the baseball operations department.

Despite the growing criticism, however, Breslow’s job does not appear to be in immediate danger.

According to The Boston Globe’s Tim Healey, principal owner John Henry is not considering a change atop baseball operations, even as the Red Sox continue to underperform and frustration mounts both inside and outside the organization.

For now, Breslow appears safe. The bigger question is how much longer ownership will remain patient if the losses continue to pile up and the club remains stuck in last place.

"Further, amid the team’s underperformance — and speculation that Breslow may be on the hot seat — the club’s ownership hierarchy has not even discussed making a change,” reported Healey. 

Breslow has been on the proverbial hot seat ever since the Red Sox stumbled out of the gate and he responded by firing Alex Cora and several members of his coaching staff.

When Cora was shown the door, Boston was 10-17. Under interim manager Chad Tracy, the Sox have gone 17-19, but frankly, not much has really changed. The same issues that plagued the team in April are still showing up in June, most notably an offense that can look explosive one night and completely disappear the next.

Entering Monday night’s loss to the Rays, the Red Sox ranked dead last in baseball with 48 home runs and 29th in runs scored with 249. That's just not good enough. 

That’s why the recent public support for Breslow is interesting. Some times in sports, when ownership starts going out of its way to tell everyone that someone’s job is safe, it usually gets people’s attention.

Breslow has already been criticized publicly by Theo Epstein, who has reportedly grown concerned with some of the inner workings of the Red Sox baseball operations department. 

“Theo Epstein has been disappointed by the Sox’ intense analytical direction under Breslow, multiple league sources said,” Healey wrote. “A minority owner and adviser who led the franchise to two World Series titles as GM, Epstein has long been a mentor to Breslow, hiring him to the Cubs’ front office and helping him get the Sox job.”

Speaking to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo in late May, Breslow was asked if he had any concerns over his job security.

"I worry about making sure I’m doing what I can to help the team,” Breslow told Cotillo. "That is the truth, because the second you start thinking about other things, you’re not doing the best for its organization, its players or our fans.

"The conversations I have with ownership are about ideas for helping us turn the season around and any potential opportunities that exist. Ownership is incredibly engaged and aware of our performance, our players and guys in the minor leagues that might be able to help us. That’s the content of the conversations."

While it feels like everyone is taking shots at Breslow right now, the noise around the Red Sox isn’t slowing down. A recent rumor made the rounds that the Red Sox actually traded Marcelo Mayer.

"I had somebody reach out to me and say, ‘Is it accurate to say you traded Marcelo to the Diamondbacks?'" Breslow told Alex Speier this week. "There’s some things that you see, and you’re like, ‘OK, that is not accurate, but I at least understand where it came from.’ And then there are things that are just blatantly false and don’t deserve a ton of attention, and this falls into that category."

It’s no secret that during the offseason the Red Sox and Diamondbacks discussed a trade for infielder Ketel Marte but Arizona decided to keep the slugger. Marte, 32, is a switch hitter batting .246 this season with 11 home runs and 37 RBI.