Why Are Red Sox 'Suddenly' Assigning Scouts to MLB Games?

The Boston Red Sox have been "suddenly" assigning scouts to MLB games.

Dec 9, 2024; Dallas, TX, USA; Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow speaks with the media at the Hilton Anatole during the 2024 MLB Winter Meetings. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

It's been an interesting season for the Boston Red Sox, to say the least.

It's been a roller coaster of a campaign with plenty of low points, including a three-game series sweep at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays earlier in the week to push the club to a season-high 14 games below .500. Fortunately, Boston has responded well and took the first two games against the Seattle Mariners throughout the weekend with a chance at a sweep on Sunday afternoon.

With the Red Sox's season spiraling, naturally they have been one of the most talked-about teams in baseball over the last few weeks. Most of that chatter has been about potential trade chips. On Sunday, USA Today's Bob Nightengale shared a column with nuggets of information from all across the league. Unsurprisingly, Boston was mentioned as a team that could be one of the league's top sellers. On top of that, he dropped another intriguing nugget and shared that Boston has quietly started assigning scouts to MLB games recently.

The Red Sox Seem To Be Making Changes

Dec 9, 2024; Dallas, TX, USA; Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow speaks with the media at the Hilton Anatole during the 2024 MLB Winter Meetings. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

"The Boston Red Sox, who had slashed their pro scouting department, have suddenly begun assigning scouts to MLB games recently," Nightengale wrote. "The more things change, the more they stay the same department: The Red Sox scored three or fewer runs in 55.6 percent of the games, going 3-12 (.200 winning percentage) in those games, before manager Alex Cora was fired this season.

"They have also scored three or fewer runs in 55.6 percent of the games under interim manager Chad Tracy, going 5-20 (.200 winning percentage)."

This is interesting for two reasons. First and foremost, with the deadline approaching in August, the fact that Boston is sending scouts out to other big league teams could be viewed as a sign that the team is looking to bring big league talent back, not prospects.

That's not all, though. As Nightengale pointed out, Boston notably completely changed up its scouting department under chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. The shake-up was called "sweeping" by The Athletic's Jen McCaffrey back in March of 2025. The amateur scouting department dropped from 34 people to 22 before four others were hired, at the time. Boston changed up the way its scouting department operated and clearly, things haven't worked this season.

It's also important to note that back in early June, Tim Healey of The Boston Globe reported that senior adviser Theo Epstein had grown "disappointed by the Sox’s intense analytical direction." So, the fact that Nightengale pointed out that Boston has "suddenly" started assigning MLB scouts to games is at least a sign of some change this season.