Craig Breslow: 'We are preparing to be more decisive, more aggressive'

Craig Breslow has lived the postseason life, the kind he is now watching from afar.

In 2013, Breslow thrived in the middle of the Red Sox' playoff run, going on stretch of seven straight scoreless outings throughout the American League Division and Championship Series. So he knows the kind of electricity that comes with a city's team partaking in October, the likes of which Boston has now not experienced in three years.

Now, all Breslow can do is spend this month holed up in his Fenway Park office preparing to execute an offseason that will help the Red Sox be reintroduced to postseason baseball.

The question is this: What exactly does that plan look like?

Appearing on the Baseball Isn't Boring Podcast, the Red Sox chief baseball officer offered perhaps his most telling comment to date regarding the approach his team intends to take in the coming months.

"I think we are preparing for that to be the case," Breslow said when asked if he believed the Sox would be more aggressive this time around than in recent offseasons.

"Obviously, it is difficult to say this will be more aggressive in terms of what will actually come to fruition because we can’t always decide those things. But we are preparing to be more decisive, more aggressive. To field a team that is capable of winning the division, making a deep playoff run. I think we did spend several years, obviously predating me, building a really strong foundation. The reason you do that is so you can deliver on the field and I do think we are arriving at hat point. That was the tone that (team president) Sam (Kennedy) struck. That is the messaging I am getting throughout the organization, that it is time to deliver to our fans the teams they have come to expect, the competitive level they have come to expect with the Boston Red Sox."

What does the comment mean?

For starters, it more than hints that there is an understanding that last offseason - which saw Lucas Giolito's two-year contract as the biggest move - was not going to mirror what awaits. Whether it's free agency or trades, "more aggressive" certainly suggests prioritizing larger big-ticket items.

There is also the intrigue that comes with "more decisive." Was it a case that the Red Sox didn't move with the speed and intent last offseason that could have offered more significant player acquisition? It is another potentially altered approach that bears watching.

Then there is this line: "... the messaging I am getting throughout the organization, that it is time to deliver to our fans the teams they have come to expect, the competitive level they have come to expect with the Boston Red Sox."

While Breslow and Kennedy wouldn't commit to definitively increasing the team's payroll heading into 2025, this is probably the most overt sign that the Sox' CBO's offseason aggression will be supported - and encouraged - by ownership.

All that said, with the recent financially cautious approach by the Red Sox' ownership, benefit of the doubt has significantly dwindled. It all surfaces the topic of whether or not this team is once again ready to swim in the deep end of the pool when it comes to finding the kind of players fans will make it a point to come see.

"Stars have been a significant part of the story of the Boston Red Sox for a really long time. I don’t see any reason for that to change," said Breslow on the podcast. "Now I think the question is where do stars come from. Certainly they are available via free agency, and to some degree, via trade. But I think we have a number of players who are going to be stars in the organization right now. We have to figure all of that out of how to balance that out and put the pieces together.

"Really the question is for how long does someone have to perform before you can label them with certainty. … You can look at Jarren Duran and put up nearly an eight-win season by Baseball-Reference. If we get 50 percent of that performance next year and he is a four-win player, that’s still a star. I don’t know if it’s certainty as much as how do we continue to raise the floor without sacrificing the upside there. Because I think there is a world out there where Jarren goes out there and he’s an even better player next year."

He added, "Take (Wilyer) Abreu for an example. He had a very, very good rookie season. Are we certain he’s going to perform at that level next year? No. But I think we have seen enough to know this is a good big league player. This guy can contribute on a playoff-caliber team. Now, there are real things we need to address in terms of the lineup being predominantly left-handed. We need to add depth to the pitching staff and we need to rebuild the bullpen. But my job is to figure out how the pieces come together to create a team that is capable of winning the division. Some of that is feeling really good about a narrow distributions of outcomes. We know what we are going to get out of this guy, most likely. And others will be if there is one outcome where this guy is not what he could be but there is also one where he outperforms what we’re expecting by two-fold or three-fold. I think you want to leave room for all of those things because most teams that make deep playoff runs do have players who outperform what you think they were going to be, but they also have built in enough of a floor that they can weather the regression that often comes with that."