[Smith] Craig Breslow on if he thinks the roster is as good as last year’s
January 21, 2026
[Smith] Craig Breslow on if he thinks the roster is as good as last year’s
37 comments
Not sure about the roster, but the offense definitely isn’t
The pitching staff is great on paper. Can’t deny that. One more bat and they’re cooking
Everyone likes to shit of Breslow because everything he says sounds very corporate and robotic.
But IDK what you want him to say here. I agree! We should be looking to improve (and get another infielder), but we have a great foundation of a team here. Great starting pitching will keep you in any game.
That being said, please get another infielder!
That’s mean we are done
Are you ready for more 1 run losses
I think he’s correct here honestly. Sounds like he’s lot fully satisfied but he’s saying the team has a good chance to win game, which is true. We do need another bat, and we can still do that. Hope it comes to fruition because if we get a decent infielder, we’ll be cooking for sure.
Does Breslow really consider Sonny grey, Bello etc to be dominant? Cmon.now
Last year I hated leaving guys on base, selling out our pitchers. Hope we can get a power bat of some sorts. I’m talking Schwarber 2021 😤
He’s a fucking stiff and all but he’s right, the rotation looks to be *significantly* better this year and that’s important. One more IF bat and I’d be pretty happy with the roster.
In all defense to Breslow, he has spoken in-depth, even today, on the fact Red Sox still have a lot to do. Defensive in fielding, acquiring a RH bat, etc. I appreciate this question from the interviewer, but let it be known it can be misleading if We conflate “Do you feel you’re better“ with “Do you feel you have a complete roster?”
A bunch of you rubes are already falling for again
On any given day any major league team can beat any other major league team. The Pirates swept a series from the Dodgers last year.
If he thinks this team is as good or better than last year’s team then why doesn’t he just say “Yes, I think this team is at least as good as last year.”
Rotation is better, lineup is worse.
We’ve essentially just rearranged the deck chairs on the Titanic.
He’s not wrong. This is a new look Sox that could really dominate
Good thing Breslow isn’t subject to drug testing….
Pitching does look improved. But the rest feels like the same. Mostly young players who will be prone to errors, less functional depth so injuries will be problematic and less leadership. Unless Story steps up or the young guys flourish, it’s going to be an up and down season. I’m going to say 85-88 wins. Will love if more. And not mad as long as above 70.
Any time a yes or no question is responded to via short story or essay is a pretty bad sign.
He’s not totally wrong even though he has his marketing cap on.
The pitching is better. Gonna gets lots of ground balls.
Who is fielding ground balls to 2B and 3b, Craig?
This pitching staff needs defense and the defense is … very incomplete.
I wonder if part of the consideration with doubling down on pitching during the off-season is how much easier/cheaper to acquire hitting tends to be at the deadline than pitching. Even if the Sox roll into the season with the current roster, it’d be easier to course correct one position mid-season than try to add pitching. This may be especially true in a season that could end in a lockout.
I mean, look at what it cost us to add Schwarber compared to what May cost to acquire (extreme examples, but on trend).
One power bat away from competing with any team
Oh how I loathe this sinister cyborg.
Translation?
We got better at pitching so our offense doesn’t have to be as good to stay competitive in games.
“We can just play our game offensively” meanwhile we have minimal offensive impact
I mean… he’s not wrong about the starting pitching. There’s enormous potential there. I do worry about over working Crochet and assuming he’ll just ring up cy young votes every year. Houck is also a bit of an X factor. If that guy actually makes the opening day roster and looks anything like he did 3-4 years ago, that’s pretty advantageous for the team. The second year boys – we need to pump the breaks a touch. Baseball is just a hard professional sport for youngsters to excel and win in – it’s more of a vet centric sport.
Lame comment but team would be so good with Devers
Didn’t they do this once back when they had like wade miley and they all wore “who’s the ace?” shirts? And they were notably terrible. This staff is clearly much better than that one, but I’m not counting on much from gray and frankly can’t count on anyone being consistent outside or crochet.
Find more bats. Or trade for skubal.
I love to hate on this stiff as much as anybody. But he’s not wrong. The pitching improvements have been great and will allow our young guys to develop without too much pressure. One more big reliable bat is essential though.
“You can never have enough pitching.”
Fine, but is anyone going to tell him that you can’t win games 0-0?
If we get another infielder we are light years better than last year.
Essentially barely sneaking into the playoffs good and let’s see how it unfolds team.
He’s not wrong, but it’s a horrible answer!! Show me a complete infield (which any pitcher needs) and show me the bats that can bring in runs. Definitely behind where we were last year dammit
That was a long answer to say “no”. If he felt it was better he would’ve just said that.
The pitching rotation isn’t a guarantee for this team as many people here like to think. Nearly 1/3 of them are coming off major injuries or setbacks and there’s still some question marks pertaining to Suarez/Gray because of our infield defense.
Guys, 6 teams scored more runs than the Sox did last year. Seems to me reducing the number of runs we give up is pretty important and I’m confident the upgrades to the pitching staff will do just that. I agree that we need to improve our infield defense, but I’m tiring of all the hate on our offense.
I got a good feeling about Narvy and Abreu. Both have power potential that they just need to get their contact more consistent with. Marcelo hit a few bombs that showed a lot of promise as well. This late in the game my hopes are pretty low for another meaningful trade. Depending on how the first half of the season shakes up and our offense is still mediocre then we can for sure be more comfortable trading an outfielder plus like a Campbell, Tolle, Early for a big boy bat.
![[Smith] Craig Breslow on if he thinks the roster is as good as last year’s](https://www.rawchili.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/xal3xu9p1seg1-1290x1024.jpeg)
37 comments
Not sure about the roster, but the offense definitely isn’t
The pitching staff is great on paper. Can’t deny that. One more bat and they’re cooking
Everyone likes to shit of Breslow because everything he says sounds very corporate and robotic.
But IDK what you want him to say here. I agree! We should be looking to improve (and get another infielder), but we have a great foundation of a team here. Great starting pitching will keep you in any game.
That being said, please get another infielder!
That’s mean we are done
Are you ready for more 1 run losses
I think he’s correct here honestly. Sounds like he’s lot fully satisfied but he’s saying the team has a good chance to win game, which is true. We do need another bat, and we can still do that. Hope it comes to fruition because if we get a decent infielder, we’ll be cooking for sure.
Does Breslow really consider Sonny grey, Bello etc to be dominant? Cmon.now
Last year I hated leaving guys on base, selling out our pitchers. Hope we can get a power bat of some sorts. I’m talking Schwarber 2021 😤
He’s a fucking stiff and all but he’s right, the rotation looks to be *significantly* better this year and that’s important. One more IF bat and I’d be pretty happy with the roster.
In all defense to Breslow, he has spoken in-depth, even today, on the fact Red Sox still have a lot to do. Defensive in fielding, acquiring a RH bat, etc. I appreciate this question from the interviewer, but let it be known it can be misleading if We conflate “Do you feel you’re better“ with “Do you feel you have a complete roster?”
A bunch of you rubes are already falling for again
On any given day any major league team can beat any other major league team. The Pirates swept a series from the Dodgers last year.
If he thinks this team is as good or better than last year’s team then why doesn’t he just say “Yes, I think this team is at least as good as last year.”
Rotation is better, lineup is worse.
We’ve essentially just rearranged the deck chairs on the Titanic.
He’s not wrong. This is a new look Sox that could really dominate
Good thing Breslow isn’t subject to drug testing….
Pitching does look improved. But the rest feels like the same. Mostly young players who will be prone to errors, less functional depth so injuries will be problematic and less leadership. Unless Story steps up or the young guys flourish, it’s going to be an up and down season. I’m going to say 85-88 wins. Will love if more. And not mad as long as above 70.
Any time a yes or no question is responded to via short story or essay is a pretty bad sign.
He’s not totally wrong even though he has his marketing cap on.
The pitching is better. Gonna gets lots of ground balls.
Who is fielding ground balls to 2B and 3b, Craig?
This pitching staff needs defense and the defense is … very incomplete.
I wonder if part of the consideration with doubling down on pitching during the off-season is how much easier/cheaper to acquire hitting tends to be at the deadline than pitching. Even if the Sox roll into the season with the current roster, it’d be easier to course correct one position mid-season than try to add pitching. This may be especially true in a season that could end in a lockout.
I mean, look at what it cost us to add Schwarber compared to what May cost to acquire (extreme examples, but on trend).
One power bat away from competing with any team
Oh how I loathe this sinister cyborg.
Translation?
We got better at pitching so our offense doesn’t have to be as good to stay competitive in games.
“We can just play our game offensively” meanwhile we have minimal offensive impact
I mean… he’s not wrong about the starting pitching. There’s enormous potential there. I do worry about over working Crochet and assuming he’ll just ring up cy young votes every year. Houck is also a bit of an X factor. If that guy actually makes the opening day roster and looks anything like he did 3-4 years ago, that’s pretty advantageous for the team. The second year boys – we need to pump the breaks a touch. Baseball is just a hard professional sport for youngsters to excel and win in – it’s more of a vet centric sport.
Lame comment but team would be so good with Devers
Didn’t they do this once back when they had like wade miley and they all wore “who’s the ace?” shirts? And they were notably terrible. This staff is clearly much better than that one, but I’m not counting on much from gray and frankly can’t count on anyone being consistent outside or crochet.
Find more bats. Or trade for skubal.
I love to hate on this stiff as much as anybody. But he’s not wrong. The pitching improvements have been great and will allow our young guys to develop without too much pressure. One more big reliable bat is essential though.
“You can never have enough pitching.”
Fine, but is anyone going to tell him that you can’t win games 0-0?
If we get another infielder we are light years better than last year.
Essentially barely sneaking into the playoffs good and let’s see how it unfolds team.
He’s not wrong, but it’s a horrible answer!! Show me a complete infield (which any pitcher needs) and show me the bats that can bring in runs. Definitely behind where we were last year dammit
That was a long answer to say “no”. If he felt it was better he would’ve just said that.
The pitching rotation isn’t a guarantee for this team as many people here like to think. Nearly 1/3 of them are coming off major injuries or setbacks and there’s still some question marks pertaining to Suarez/Gray because of our infield defense.
Guys, 6 teams scored more runs than the Sox did last year. Seems to me reducing the number of runs we give up is pretty important and I’m confident the upgrades to the pitching staff will do just that. I agree that we need to improve our infield defense, but I’m tiring of all the hate on our offense.
I got a good feeling about Narvy and Abreu. Both have power potential that they just need to get their contact more consistent with. Marcelo hit a few bombs that showed a lot of promise as well. This late in the game my hopes are pretty low for another meaningful trade. Depending on how the first half of the season shakes up and our offense is still mediocre then we can for sure be more comfortable trading an outfielder plus like a Campbell, Tolle, Early for a big boy bat.
Translation: no