It was only a matter of time before another organization hired Chicago Cubs executive Craig Breslow for a top front-office position.
The Boston Red Sox on Wednesday tabbed Breslow, 43, to become their new chief baseball officer. He replaces Chaim Bloom, whom the Red Sox fired last month.
The Cubs hired Breslow in January 2019 as director of strategic initiatives for baseball operations, and he worked his way up to assistant general manager and vice president of pitching as a trusted voice in president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer’s inner circle.
Under Breslow’s oversight of adjustments to the pitching infrastructure, the Cubs saw gains in velocity and homegrown arms during his five seasons in the organization.
The Cubs’ struggles to develop homegrown arms contributed to their inability to build off their 2016 World Series title. This season represented another important step forward on that front.
- Left-hander Justin Steele became a Cy Young Award contender during a breakout 2023 season.
- Right-hander Adbert Alzolay thrived in the closer role.
- Lefty Jordan Wicks, the Cubs’ 2021 first-round pick, made his major-league debut during the wild-card race.
- Right-hander Cade Horton, the 2022 first-round pick, has quickly become one of the top pitching prospects in baseball.
- And right-hander Ben Brown took a step forward in his development after the Cubs acquired him from the Philadelphia Phillies at the 2021 trade deadline. Brown was poised to make his big-league debut before an injury sidelined him near the end of the season.
The Cubs promoted Breslow to director of pitching and special assistant to then-President Theo Epstein and then-GM Hoyer in October 2019. As director of pitching, Breslow was tasked with strategic management of the minor-league pitching infrastructure.
Breslow, a lefty reliever, spent 12 seasons in the majors, including five in Boston, where he won a World Series title with the Red Sox in 2013. He graduated from Yale with a degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry.
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