The Red Sox lost to the New York Yankees 4-0 in Game 3 of the Wild Card round on Thursday night. Craig Breslow now has to make some choices that could shape Boston’s future. The Chief Baseball Officer knows what Scott Boras is up to, and this time, he is not going to play along with the super agent. At the end-of-season press conference, Breslow gave carefully thought-out answers about Alex Bregman’s future. This showed that he didn’t want to start negotiations too soon, which could lead to Boras’ well-known pattern of rejected offers and long media campaigns.

The Red Sox are at a very important point in Bregman’s life. The 31-year-old third baseman had a good first season in Boston, hitting 18 home runs and having an OPS of.821, even though he missed 43 games because of a quad injury. He started strong but then fell off in the second half, which may have been because of the injury that kept him out of action in May. After Breslow traded franchise cornerstone Rafael Devers to San Francisco in June, the performance came under more scrutiny. This was like betting on Bregman to be the new leader of the infield.

When asked about going to Bregman and Boras before the opt-out decision, Breslow didn’t say much. “I think best to keep those conversations internal,” he said, acknowledging Alex Bregman’s contractual rights while pivoting to praise. “I will not miss an opportunity to talk about his contributions on the field, in the clubhouse, to the coaching staff, to the front office.”

He emphasized that every conversation taught him something and that Bregman’s influence spread throughout the roster. The significance of retaining him? “Having a great player, a proven winner, a strong defender, someone who fits this park really well, on our roster.” 

Breslow’s method shows that he has a plan: let the market grow instead of showing his cards too soon. This position directly addresses the Boras and Alex Bregman situation: showing interest too soon leads to months of negotiating theater and public pressure tactics. Breslow stays in charge because he doesn’t make any promises, like whether Triston Casas will still be the first baseman in 2026.

Breslow stays flexible on Casas as Alex Bregman’s decision looms

Craig Breslow isn’t promising anyone’s spot for 2026, and the same uncertainty applies to other roster decisions. The Casas situation shows how the Boston Red Sox are keeping all of their options open during this important offseason.

During the press conference on October 6, Breslow didn’t want to make any promises. “I don’t think it makes a ton of sense, on October 6th, to say someone is or isn’t our first baseman,” he stated. “We’ll see how things play out. Unfortunately, Triston [Casas] has missed a significant amount of time over the past two years. We’ve also seen what he’s capable of doing when he’s healthy.”

He provided an encouraging recovery update, noting Casas is “in here every day rehabbing” and “moving around really well, load-bearing, squatting.” The CBO anticipates a full recovery but remains “hesitant to put a timeline on that just because with any of these injuries, you want to make sure that you’re not kind of getting too far out in front of them.” 

It makes sense to be careful because Casas had problems before the injury. In 29 games, he hit only 182 with three home runs and a worryingly high strikeout rate of 24.1%. But those numbers only tell part of the story.

In the past, it has taken Casas a while to get into a rhythm. In April 2023, he hit .133, but by the end of the season, he was hitting 291 with power. This showed that he could turn things around when he was healthy and had time to adjust.