On Thursday, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow joined The Greg Hill Show as a part of their weekly “Front Office Report” segment, as his baseball team narrowly escaped being swept at Fenway Park on Wednesday, beating the fourth-place Angels 11-9 on the shortest walk-off home run of the Statcast era.
A win is a win, but when you consider the team had lost 8 of its last 10 games heading into Wednesday, and that team now sits at 30-34 overall leading into a weekend series in the Bronx 10 games behind the Yankees, it’s fair to wonder if a change in leadership is needed in a clubhouse that has produced a record of 267-283 since losing in the ALCS in 2021.
WEEI’s Jermaine Wiggins said before Wednesday’s game that he believes manager Alex Cora will be ousted by this year’s All-Star Break.
On Thursday, this opinion colored his line of questioning to Breslow.
“When you look at where you are in this situation, you know you could potentially be out of it by the All-Star Break,” said Wiggy. “Cora says he doesn't know what to do or how to change things. Is there a possibility, with everything being on the table, that you guys might make a managerial change if things don't get better?”
“We're always going to be anchored to what is best for the team, and we have a lot of confidence in Alex as the leader of this group," said Breslow. "He's won in Boston as a player. He's won in Boston as a manager. We have conversations daily about everything that we can do to get us back on track. That's where our focus is, and that's where it will remain.”
Not exactly a ringing endorsement from Breslow, who is smart enough to know that if you’re going to lead the vote of confidence answer with “we’re always going to be anchored to what is best for the team,” it’s going to leave that door open for questions moving forward.
“Do you have full confidence that he has what it takes to turn this season around?” asked WEEI’s Chris Curtis in a follow-up.
“I do,” said Breslow. “And when a team is struggling like we are, and is falling short of the lofty expectations that we have set for ourselves, that fans had set for us, I think we all feel a sense of responsibility and accountability.
“But we've got to figure this out, and that's where we're spending all of our time right now.”
With the Red Sox off on Thursday as they travel down to New York, some serious soul-searching should be on tap for leadership as they head into a stretch of 15 consecutive games against teams with winning records.
We’re talking about a two week stretch in June that could ultimately be the nail in the coffin for the 2025 Red Sox.
And realistically, these 15 games could also be the nail in the coffin for Cora’s managerial career in Boston.
As the temperature gets hotter in New England, so do the seats for leadership at Fenway Park.
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