The Red Sox search for a new head of baseball operations seems to evolve with each passing day, and though the club has been tight lipped about the process a picture is beginning to emerge of who is and isn’t in contention.
According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, Minnesota Twins general manager Thad Levine and former Houston Astros GM James Click are both candidates for the Red Sox position. Heyman reported that Levine is interviewing for the job, making him the second known candidate to interview after Red Sox assistant GM Eddie Romero, and Click is being considered as well.
Alex Speier of The Boston Globe also reported that Levine has interviewed, as have former Pittsburgh Pirates GM Neal Huntington and Chicago Cubs assistant GM and former Red Sox pitcher Craig Breslow.
Levine is the No. 2 man to president of baseball operations Derek Falvey in Minnesota and was previously a top candidate for the top Philadelphia Phillies job that ultimately went to Dave Dombrowski. He took his current role after the 2016 season and since then has helped lead the Twins to four playoff appearances. This year the Twins went 87-75 to win the AL Central, snapped an 18-game playoff losing streak and swept the Toronto Blue Jays in the AL Wild Card round to win the franchise’s first playoff series since 2002.
Click left the Astros this past offseason after leading the franchise to its second World Series championship in large part due to disagreements with owner Jim Crane. During his three years in charge the Astros made the ALCS in three straight years, won two pennants and beat Philadelphia in six games to win last year’s title. Click spent this past season working as a vice president for the Blue Jays.
Huntington spent 12 years in Pittsburgh and played a big part in the organization’s successful rebuild that led to three straight playoff appearances between 2013-15, but Breslow might be the most interesting possibility.
Only 43 years old, Breslow pitched 12 seasons in the majors from 2005-17, including parts of six with the Red Sox, before joining the Cubs front office in 2019. Less than a year later he was promoted to director of pitching and in 2020 he given an assistant GM title as well. While his front office experience is limited, he’s undoubtably made his mark on the Cubs, who are now seeing a wave of impactful homegrown arms reach the majors.
Two widely speculated executives who won’t be coming to Boston are Phillies GM Sam Fuld and Los Angeles Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes. According to Chad Jennings of The Athletic, the two are among the potential candidates who have declined to interview for the job.
Others in a similar boat include Falvey, former Texas Rangers president Jon Daniels, who reportedly doesn’t want to uproot his family from their home in Texas, and former Miami Marlins president Michael Hill, who according to USA Today’s Bob Nightingale is reportedly happy in his current role as MLB’s vice president of baseball operations. It’s not yet known whether former Marlins GM Kim Ng, who unexpectedly parted ways with Miami on Monday, is a candidate for the Red Sox job.
