After a disappointing season that saw them fire Chaim Bloom last month, the Boston Red Sox have reportedly named Craig Breslow as their new Head of Baseball Operations, per Boston Globe.

Breslow, a 12-year MLB veteran who had two different stints with the Red Sox in his playing career, had been an assistant GM with the Chicago Cubs when he accepted the position. Breslow spent a single day on the Red Sox roster in 2007, but did not appear before being sent back down to AAA Pawtucket. Breslow also pitched for Boston from 2012 through 2015, appearing in more than 200 games in that span.

At the conclusion of his career, Breslow moved into front office work with the Chicago Cubs, first as Director of Strategic Initiatives and then Director of Pitching and Special Assistant to President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein. In 2021, Breslow was moved into his assistant GM role with Chicago.

Craig Breslow is known as an expert in evaluating pitchers, as evidenced by the turnaround in Chicago's staff during his time there. He joins a Red Sox team that had its own pitching difficulties this season; Chris Sale and James Paxton are in their mid-30s and injury-prone, while youngsters Kutter Crawford, Tanner Houck, and Brayan Bello still have room to improve.

Breslow also has a preexisting relationship with manager Alex Cora, having played with him for the Red Sox in 2006 and 2007.

The Red Sox reportedly settled on Breslow after interviewing such names as former Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants manager and ex-director of player development Gabe Kapler, Cleveland Guardians special assistant and former Pirates GM Neal Huntington, Toronto Blue Jays VP of baseball strategy James Click (who withdrew after an initial conversation), as well as several internal candidates.