Craig Breslow Shares Why Red Sox Dumped Connelly Early for Curtis Mead

Though there were whispers that Connelly Early could be a trade candidate for much of the last 10 months, it was still a surprise to see the Boston Red Sox pull the trigger.

Late on Saturday night, Boston shipped Early to the Washington Nationals in a straight-up trade for power-hitting infielder Curtis Mead. Both players are under long-term team control, so there's a solid chance one team's front office looks foolish with time for trading away the more impactful guy.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has shown a real willingness to make these "challenge trades" over the last couple of seasons, especially with former Red Sox executives like the Nats' Paul Toboni, who have moved on to run rival front offices.

What Breslow said about trading away Early

Breslow spoke about the trade for the first time on Sunday, and though he was complimentary of Early and what he brought to the table, he was fairly blunt about the reasons for shipping the 24-year-old lefty out.

“I think this move makes our major league roster better and that’s not to diminish Connelly Early and what I think he’s capable of… but what our roster needed right now, we thought was someone who could hit at the top of the order, the middle of the order… we think he makes us better in the short-term and in the long-term," Breslow said, per Tyler Milliken of the Section 10 Podcast.

Did the Red Sox get lured into making this trade because of their recent hot streak? It's fair to ask, given that A) Early is on the injured list with no certain return timetable and B) adding offense is the type of move a contending team makes, but not necessarily a team that knows it likely won't make the playoffs.

According to Breslow, that answer was no. Up for debate whether he was being genuine.

“I think that’s a fair characterization… turning controllable pitching into controllable middle-of-the-order bats was always going to be something worth looking at," Breslow said, per Milliken.

Mead's breakout this season was unexpected, given that the Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago White Sox both gave up on him in the span of six months. But the Red Sox are making a big bet on that breakout being real for a 25-year-old with a good contact profile.

It will take a few years, but we'll see if Breslow's gamble was a good one in due time.

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