Breslow addresses Casas rumors, free agency and more at GM Meetings

This story was excerpted from Ian Browne’s Red Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

BOSTON -- Baseball operations leaders from all 30 clubs were together in San Antonio this week for the GM Meetings. As always, the event served as a foundation for the meat of the offseason, which will heat up in the coming weeks.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow spoke on a variety of topics. With an assist from my MLB.com teammate Jake Rill, who attended the Meetings, here were some of Breslow’s most interesting thoughts.

On the team’s aggression level for the upcoming offseason:
“Without getting too far into specifics, I think the commitment we are making is to try to put together a good team that is capable of winning the division. We need to be aggressive and decisive in doing that. We need to explore all paths. I think that’s the commitment that we’re comfortable making, that’s the one that we’re intent on delivering.”

On the rumors that first baseman Triston Casas could be traded:
“I’m not sure where that’s coming from. Casas is a guy that we think has 40-home run potential. He’s young and also has great strike zone discipline, controls an at-bat. We’re excited he’s on our team.”

On the possibility of Garrett Whitlock moving back to the bullpen following right elbow surgery:
“Those conversations will be ongoing. Fortunately, his rehab is going really well. Also, he’s been outspoken about doing whatever he can to help us win games. He’s going to be a weapon. We’ll figure out how to best deploy him. Some of that will be dictated by what happens this offseason, and some of it is a decision we'll make independent of all the rest of it.”

How will new assistant GM Taylor Smith, who was director of predictive modeling for the Rays, be utilized?
“He’ll sit on top of [research and development]. It’s a pretty expansive role. We’re super excited about what he brings to the table. I think he’s got a great balance of technical expertise and people management skills and we’re excited to bring him into all organizational decisions. And he’s going to contribute both in terms of our R&D space, but also roster transactions and optimization decisions.”

Is Rafael Devers a good enough defender to stay at third base?
“We’re confident. I think we saw some steps forward last year. It’s impossible to know just how much he was affected by being banged up, both shoulders and his knee. And I think I’ve maintained throughout these questions that any conversation about Devers’ position is going to happen internally far before we’re ready to speak about it publicly.”

Is Boston still an attractive option for free agents despite the club missing the playoffs the last three years?
“I can’t imagine a better city in the country to win than Boston. And I say that from having experienced both playing in a number of cities and not winning, and playing here and winning. I think we have that reputation. But it’s time to demonstrate that on the field.”

This is the second offseason in a row the Red Sox are appointing a new infield instructor. What type of candidate are you looking for?
“We want someone who can impact both the baserunning side of things and also infield defense, and we’ve made no secret that we need to improve our infield defense. And some of that is going to be the structure to the workday and the development goals and increasing accountability that we’re executing at a high level. We want someone who is going to be able to handle both the rigors of the development side of things and then also put us in a position to leverage every type of advantage we can to win each night’s game.”

The bullpen is a key area of focus. What type of ‘pen are you trying to build?
“We’ve seen it year after year in the playoffs. Guys who can generate swings and misses, whether that’s big velocity or dominant breaking balls, those guys are successful, especially in the postseason. So I think we’re going to look to add some raw stuff. Someone we can count on to come in to put out a rally or to close out games or to pitch the back end of a game, who can generate swings and misses in the strike zone.”