Craig Breslow is losing another member of his front office. Devin Pearson, the Red Sox director of amateur scouting since 2023, will be following Paul Toboni to the Washington Nationals. (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)
As director of amateur scouting, Pearson was heavily involved in the draft and building up the farm system. That work obviously paid off, as the big league team saw more exciting rookie debuts this year than any season in recent memory. So what’s in store for next year? Here are a few prospect names to watch. (Ian Browne, MLB.com)
But Breslow’s focus for the next few months is going to be on improving the big league team, not the farm system. To do that, he’s going to need to add some power to the Red Sox lineup. As these playoffs show, home runs are vital in the postseason, and the Sox managed to hit only one in their Wild Card Series exit against the Yankees. (Peter Abraham, Boston Globe)
Which is why it would be a major blow to lose Alex Bregman’s bat. So with the recent news that he’s likely to opt-out, what would it take to re-sign him? Bregman spoke about that earlier this summer, indicating that he’s looking for a place to settle down for the rest of his career. That may not bode well for the Sox, given their reluctance to give out long-term deals to aging players. (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)
But the lineup isn’t going to be Craig Breslow’s sole focus. Pitching will be addressed, too, and it sounds like Craig Breslow is interested in doing some big game hunting:
Speaking of potential departures, Jason Varitek’s contract has yet to be renewed and he’s started to get mentioned as a potential managerial hire. But, as of today, no team has requested to interview Tek, and he says he’d like to continue working with the Sox. (WEEI)
Lucas Giolito may depart in 2025, too. As it stands now, he’s the ony Red Sox player who would be subject to a qualifying offer. (Sean McAdam, MassLive)