Breslow follows through on Boston's Deadline 'shopping list'

BOSTON -- After making five trades in a span of five days, capped by the acquisition of veteran setup man Luis García just minutes before Tuesday’s 6 p.m. ET Trade Deadline, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow felt fulfilled and probably a little tired.

Breslow promised leading into the Deadline that he would be definitive about which lane he would be traveling in, and he stuck to his word, committing to the buying lane.

His goal was to reward a Red Sox team that has performed above expectations this season by bolstering the club’s chances of getting to the postseason for the first time since 2021. With 56 games left, Boston is two games behind the Royals for the third American League Wild Card spot entering Wednesday’s rubber match at Fenway against Seattle after a 10-6 loss to the club on Tuesday.

While Breslow was involved in other Trade Deadlines in his supporting role with the Cubs, this was his first one as the leader of a front office.

“Yeah, first time in this seat, I was able to kind of follow the ups and downs, and it was a bit of a roller coaster,” Breslow said. “But I think that's pretty normal for this time of year. I think, most fortunately, we were able to accomplish what we set out to do.”

Breslow’s punch list consisted of the following: A starting pitcher, a right-handed bat and bullpen help.

He filled the first need on Friday by adding familiar face James Paxton in a trade with the Dodgers for Minor League infielder Moises Bolivar. And there the Big Maple was on Tuesday night, making his first start in his return to the Red Sox, the team he pitched for in 2023. Paxton was the victim of some shoddy defense in the fifth inning, forcing his night to get cut short (4 1/3 innings). But he basically pitched as advertised, recording his 1,000th career strikeout in the process.

The right-handed bat came next -- though not at the position anyone expected -- as Breslow got catcher Danny Jansen from the Blue Jays for Minor League infielders Cutter Coffey and Eddinson Paulino, and Minor League righty Gilberto Batista.

Given the recent struggles and attrition in the bullpen, Breslow filled arguably his biggest needs on Deadline day, first getting righty Lucas Sims from the Reds for Minor League righty Ovis Portes, and then sending four prospects (RHPs Ryan Zeferjahn and Yeferson Vargas, 1B Niko Kavadas and INF/OF Matthew Lugo) to the Angels for the 37-year-old García, who has a 3.71 ERA in 45 appearances this season.

Interestingly, García has a pre-existing relationship with Red Sox pitching coach Andrew Bailey, who was his teammate at one point with the Angels and later his bullpen coach.

“García has been a pretty consistent performer in this league for a really long time. I think what it does is it lengthens out our bullpen, both from kind of a workload [perspective] and gives [manager] Alex [Cora] more options in the backend,” said Breslow.

There was also a deal on Monday to acquire an intriguing young arm from the Pirates in Quinn Priester in exchange for the most noted prospect the Sox traded in the last few days in infielder/OF Nick Yorke. Though Priester was optioned to Triple-A Worcester, he could factor into the team’s plans as early as this season.

“I think any time you can go to a Deadline with a pretty clearly defined shopping list and walk out feeling like you accomplished it, I think you feel good about it,” Breslow said. “I think this team has shown that they are more than capable. We have our sights set pretty squarely on the playoffs and deserve some reinforcements. So I think the combination of what we were able to bring in over the last couple of days and some guys getting healthy positions us really well.”

First baseman Triston Casas, second baseman Vaughn Grissom and setup man Chris Martin could all be back in the near future. The Red Sox hope another key setup man, Justin Slaten, can start throwing off a mound soon.

Though it’s hard to count on Trevor Story to come back this season from a fractured left shoulder sustained on April 5, the fact that the veteran is talking about playing in September is a good sign.

While Breslow had some pending free agents he could have dealt (Kenley Jansen, Tyler O’Neill or Nick Pivetta), he stayed in the buying lane because he felt the team earned that.

“I meant what I said when I said that I think this team has positioned itself to be deserving of adding and improving,” said Breslow. “I think we're certainly a better team because those guys are here, and look forward to them taking the field and helping us win games down the stretch.”