How Craig Breslow views the Red Sox heading into the season
FORT MYERS, Fla. - February 20, 2024. It was the unofficial official kickoff to the Red Sox' spring training. Rafael Devers formally meeting with reporters for the first time since the end of the previous season.
"Everybody knows what we need. You know what we need, and they know what we need. It's just some things that I can't say out loud, but everyone that knows the organization and knows the game knows what we need."
It was the tone of the Red Sox' offseason, and now it had carried over to the actual season, with the team's signature player this time delivering the message.
The conversation didn't stop there. Devers talked about it with Red Sox' manager Alex Cora, as well as chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. Honest analysis and discourse continued, serving as the backdrop of what was becoming an evolving (and still somewhat mysterious) collection of baseball players.
"I think any time players have some kind of sentiment I think it tells a couple of things," Breslow said on the 'Baseball Isn't Boring' podcast. "One that is they are invested in the team. They care. Another is I have to listen. I have to understand collectively where the head of the team is and that doesn’t always mean there is a response or a transaction that follows. But I constantly am having conversations with Alex, with handfuls of guys on the team, just trying to understand how do they view the current position. What are the concerns? What is keeping them up at night? What do they feel really good about? We all have blind spots. Those guys are living it every single day and that perspective is really, really valuable. Raffy and I have had a bunch of conversations after that and he knows he can come talk to me about anything. And, like I said, that doesn’t mean there is a response where we turn around and go … But I think the fact he feels comfortable and I feel comfortable engaging in those conversations is really, really important."
One month later, there have become at least some intriguing answers to some of those initial questions.
There have been no additions, with the Red Sox riding with what they have even with the loss of Lucas Giolito to season-ending elbow surgery. Blake Snell. He went to the Giants. On the month anniversary of Devers' statement, the Rangers inked Michael Lorenzen to a one-year deal. Jordan Montgomery and Mike Clevinger? They are still out there with a week to go before the Red Sox' Opening Day.
Still, right or wrong, the Red Sox have landed in a place that has seemingly eased the fears and concerns of Devers and Co. The late-February pessimism has been chipped away at.
"I feel excited," Devers told WEEI.com. "I feel excited to see all the guys. I feel excited to see our pitching staff being very good this spring. It’s obviously I’m looking forward to seeing during the season. We have a great team. I think everybody is doing their job and that’s what I’m excited about. I know that there is a lot of press has us as underdogs, but I know we’re going to be great. I know what we have here and we are going to be very good this year."
"We know what we have. We know the type of talent and guys that we have. … We have some work to do, obviously, to be where we want to be at the end of the season. The thing that I’ve noticed is this team is more connected than teams I have been on in a long time," said Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story. "Guys want to be here. Guys want to be at the field, talk ball and talk shop. That’s something that goes a long way when you’re with each other for a 162-plus.
"It does (feel different). It just feels more connected. It just feels right. When it comes to additions or whatever it may be, our job is to play the game and our job is to get the best out of the team we have here. I think we’ll do that. I’m excited about that challenge. It’s a very tight-knit group and a very close group. It feels more connected than it has in a long time."
And, evidently, the idea that the Red Sox are finishing up their exhibition season approaching some semblance of their best-case-scenario isn't limited to the players. Even with the few key injuries (Giolito, Kenley Jansen), Cora appears on the verge of being satisfied where his team is landing heading into the regular season.
"The only thing I can say is that it feels good. It feels really good," Cora said. "There was a lot of uncertainty coming in, a lot of question marks. Obviously, people are going to question who we are when the season starts, but as far as in the clubhouse and how we’re going about our business … It’s been solid, man. It’s been solid. Athleticism and youth helps. I think that’s something we have. ... In the meetings of sending people down, a lot of guys mentioned that. Hey man, the vibe is real. It’s not fake. If they give trophies for vibes, we’re up there."
Such trophies don't exist. Cora - and everyone else who has been around a big league team for any period of time - knows that those come primarily courtesy talent.
But that seems to be the other part of this month-long evolution. While many are still questioning the flurry of unknowns up and down the Red Sox' roster, those in the middle of it are buying what the current collection of players are selling.
In other words - right or wrong - those in the Red Sox' front office and clubhouse can envision a path Devers and others previously suggested might be a road to nowhere.
"I think the group is coming together. I think they believe in each other. But there is some requisite talent you need to go out and win baseball games," Breslow said.
"You can go around the infield and you can go around the outfield and you can say every one of those guys is a legitimate major leaguer capable of having a two-, three-, four-(WAR)-win season. And when you look up we could be in a really good place. It’s going to come down to do we go out and execute, do we go out and perform. We talk about some of those changes being under the hood, that’s where this needs to start because we need to create the environment where we get the most out of our players consistently. That means accountability. That means tight feedback loops. That means being really honest in what deficiencies exist and opportunities for development exist and pushing those relentlessly. We have to start with some level of talent, but the thing is that we have that. We have major league pitchers. We have guys who are capable of being bonafide big league starters who have been marred by inconsistencies. Inconsistency in performance and inconsistency in role. All of those things, we have to continue to push on those things."
As for Devers, he understands what he said, how he felt and the responsibility that goes with such a proclamation. And now, the third baseman appears ready to reflect on how far he and his team has come since that day on the Fenway South bench.
"I’m trying to embrace it," he said regarding becoming a leader. "I’m at the point in my career where I can be an example for the young guys and the guys look up to me. So I’m embracing it. ... Everything starts with me. We have a great team. We have great guys here."