Red Sox's Craig Breslow Hints At Encore To Garrett Crochet Blockbuster

Trading for Garrett Crochet was the single most impactful move of Craig Breslow's tenure as Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer thus far.

We'll wait to see what losing Rafael Devers does to the long-term outlook of the Red Sox, but in the here and now, we know Crochet is a true ace, one of the rarest commodities in Major League Baseball nowadays. This offseason, Boston's biggest need is a No. 2 starter, or even a co-ace for Crochet.

Does that mean Breslow has to go right back to the well and make another blockbuster trade, taxing the farm system even more than he did when he sent four prospects to the Chicago White Sox last December?

Breslow seems ready to pull trigger on another blockbuster

At the Major League Baseball GM Meetings, Breslow told reporters that finding such a star pitcher was one of his top goals for the Red Sox offseason, and didn't seem shy about the idea of trading away more star prospects.

“It would certainly put a dent in our system, making a trade like that,” Breslow said, per Christopher Smith of MassLive. “I have a ton of confidence in both the acquisition and development spaces that we can continue to identify players that can thrive in our system and continue to make them better.

"Trading is certainly one way of improving our short-term outlook, but free agency is another. I think if that situation is in front of us, we’ll make whatever we believe would be the best decision for the organization.”

One reason the Sox could lean trade over free agency is the fact that they'd have to give up their second and fifth-highest draft picks in July if they signed a free agent with a qualifying offer attached to them, a list that includes basically every desirable starting pitching free agent (Dylan Cease, Framber Valdez, Michael King, Zac Gallen, etc.).

“We have to determine how we value those things relative to each other and how we value one player vs. the alternatives that are available to us,” Breslow said, per Smith. “We’re in a position where we need to improve our 2026 roster and that means that there are certain trade-offs that we have to accept, and I think we’re prepared to do that."

A trade for a top starter could also allow the Red Sox more financial flexibility to either re-sign Alex Bregman, add a slugger in the vein of Kyle Schwarber and Pete Alonso, or in a dream scenario, all the above.

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