Sox blogger on Breslow

by Jay on Mar 28, 2008 6:19 PM EDT

Courtesy of our friends-slash-hated enemies over at OverTheMonster, here's a quick profile on Craig Breslow -- from the persepctive of an expert Red Sox fan before they had to let him go.

Just hours before Breslow was claimed by the Indians, OTM writers Randy Booth and Allen Chace released their Over The Monster 2008 Season Preview, and sure enough, Breslow was among the 50 Red Sox major and minor leaguers profiled in it. Although originally drafted and signed by the Brewers in 2002, Breslow was on the Red Sox 40-man roster and pitching for Triple-A Pawtucket for all of the 2006 and 2007 seasons, aside from 13 games with the big-league club in late 2006.

I'm reprinting the entire Craig Breslow entry below, with kind permission of the authors. The full Red Sox season preview can be downloaded from this article.

Craig Breslow

Height: 6’1”
Weight: 180 lbs.
Age: 27
Pos.: MRP

Perhaps the smartest man in baseball, Craig Breslow is a strikeout throwing Yale graduate that will probably take up life as a biochemist after his baseball career is through. Nothing big, you know.

Breslow is the model "AAAA" player. He has had a load of success at the AAA level but hasn’t had the full opportunity to show his grit at the major league level. Breslow had his first taste of the bigs in 2005 with the San Diego Padres where he put together a 175 ERA+ in 16.1 IP. It wasn’t good enough for the Padres to bring him back though. The Red Sox signed Breslow on Feb. 4, 2006.

Breslow joined the Sox a few times in the 2006 season, but found a permanent home once September rolled around. He was regulated to mostly mop-up duty, but didn’t pitch poorly by any means: 12 innings, 5 earned runs, 12 strikeouts and 6 walks. Not bad but the Sox haven’t called him up since.

Personally, I’ve been waiting for the day the Sox call up Breslow and keep him up for good. He’s got a lot of talent and he’s shown that throughout his entire minor league career. He’s one of those players fans just want to see succeed. Pitch for pitch, Breslow is probably better than his similar major league counterpart Javier Lopez. 2008 may be the year Breslow gets his chance to shine.

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Interesting. I was surprised that BA's 2008 Prospect Handbook doesn't even include Breslow on the Red Sox' depth chart. I guess that's the operational definition of a AAAA player. If he works out for us, some scout deserves a bonus.

by ken from alexandria on Mar 28, 2008 6:49 PM EDT 0 recs

Booyah to Virginia's finest avatar.

by afh4 on Mar 28, 2008 7:11 PM EDT up 0 recs

[Tips tricorne in salute]

by ken from alexandria on Mar 28, 2008 8:50 PM EDT up 0 recs

Well, that depends who's listed ahead of him. 27-year-olds aren't often considered significant prospects anyway, but the curve does seem to be different for relievers.

by Jay on Mar 28, 2008 7:52 PM EDT up 0 recs

Right. BA lists two lefty relievers on the Boston depth chart. Dustin Richardson (ranked #22 among Red Sox prospects) is a 24-year-old who's never pitched above high A. Hunter Jones (#27), also 24, spent half of last year at AA.

On the Tribe's depth chart, BA lists (in this order) Tony Sipp (#12), Reid Santos (#29), Matt Meyer (unlisted), and Rich Rundles (unlisted) as lefty relievers. I guess what I'm trying to figure out is what kind of distinction they see between Rundles and Breslow. Or maybe this just underscores the subjectivity inherent in such an exercise.

by ken from alexandria on Mar 28, 2008 9:02 PM EDT up 0 recs

Hello ken,

From what I can tell, Breslow is more proven in the sense that he handled AAA in 2006, plus had a solid year in 2007, and a decent first season with AAA Portland (when he was with San Diego) in 2005 (at age 24.)

Conversely, Rundles (who we just added to the system last season) didn't reach AAA until last season with Buffalo, at age 26. Plus, Breslow's K/9 IP rate has been mostly in the 8-10 K range (including at AAA,) whereas Rundles' K/9 IP rate has been mostly in the 5-7 K range (and that was mostly at AA and below.)

I just noticed that, technically, baseball age-wise, Rundles and Breslow are identical, as Rundles was born in June 1981, whereas Breslow was born in August 1980. Some may consider it a one-year age difference, but even then, I think the fact that Breslow reached AAA at age 24, and probably should have been in the Majors last season at the latest (thanks to his great 2006 season at AAA Pawtucket,) I think that's why the Indians value Breslow more highly than Rundles, and why they were willing to put in a flyer for him and add him to the ballclub.

Just my 2 cents - hopefully, this is helpful! :-)

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on Mar 28, 2008 9:34 PM EDT 0 recs

or maybe the scouts saw the double opportunity of taking away a breakout performance from the Sox and adding that potential to the Tribe. We will never know, but Breslow was most definitely considered "depth" in the Sox organization and a viable call-up for them this season. Taking that away may prove to be a value for the Tribe this post season. This all on top of the fact that Breslow produces good results for us during the regular season.

by lesterjl on Mar 28, 2008 9:50 PM EDT 0 recs

That's certainly nice "icing on the cake" as well - double addition via addition (for us) and subtraction (from them.) :-)

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on Mar 28, 2008 9:59 PM EDT up 0 recs

Yeah, but how important of a depth piece could he have been if he wasn't on the 40-man, or if they were willing to expose him to waivers?

I think the key thing with Breslow is that as solid of a bet to contribute as Fultz, and there's no price difference between keeping one vs. the other ... and after all that you get the youth/contract stuff.

by Jay on Mar 28, 2008 10:17 PM EDT up 0 recs

and then there's this

"but hasn’t had the full opportunity to show his grit at the major league level."

One must always consider the grit factor.

by SpringTrainingFun on Mar 29, 2008 9:24 AM EDT up 0 recs

If anything...

The Tribe will not need a calculator in the clubhouse. Maybe they can hire him to develop some more algorythims for DiamondView's new upgrade. Or maybe that was the real draw to pick him up.

by lesterjl on Mar 29, 2008 11:36 AM EDT up 0 recs

Because biochemist=human calculator/statistician?

by Nat on Mar 29, 2008 4:39 PM EDT up 0 recs

Exactly. And probably a Trekkie, too.

by Jay on Mar 29, 2008 6:30 PM EDT up 0 recs

Your absolutely right!! A bio-chemist educated at Yale probably has no background in statistics. Interestingly enough, being a Meteorologist, I basically had to minor in math. But what do I know?? I just make "smart" comments on here without adding anything to the conversation.

by lesterjl on Mar 30, 2008 2:00 AM EDT up 0 recs

Well you can start by giving us some inside info into Monday and Tuesday's weather patterns.

by supermarioelia on Mar 30, 2008 10:45 AM EDT up 0 recs

Well, here in Japan Monday's forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies, unrestricted visibility, and winds out of the north at 8-12 knots. Other than that, I couldn't tell ya. www.wunderground.com

by lesterjl on Mar 30, 2008 11:46 PM EDT up 0 recs

Nice profile. Exactly the kind of guy that I would expect Tribe brass have had on their radar for some time.

If nothing else, he simply must have a prettier motion that Fultz's shot put debacle.

by tabler84 on Mar 29, 2008 11:14 PM EDT 0 recs

This is probably the greatest avatar yet.

by supermarioelia on Mar 30, 2008 10:44 AM EDT up 0 recs

"I'm Ron Burgundy???"

by NickFantana on Mar 30, 2008 10:58 AM EDT up 0 recs

You know what he does for a living right?

by supermarioelia on Mar 30, 2008 11:26 AM EDT up 0 recs

"OK, who put a question mark in the prompter?"

by NickFantana on Mar 30, 2008 11:43 AM EDT up 0 recs

Haha just checkin.

Note to self: Sarcasm until proven otherwise.

by supermarioelia on Mar 30, 2008 12:01 PM EDT up 0 recs

I'd rather see Tabby than Ron Burgundy.

by JulioBernazard on Mar 31, 2008 1:32 PM EDT up 0 recs

Based on the whole of his comments, I don't think he's using AAAA like I usually think of the term. I think the more general use is as a negative term for a player with a ceiling just below ML level (i.e. Nate Panther, Jason Cooper).

by dgcambridge on Apr 1, 2008 12:18 AM EDT 0 recs

I had the same thought. Also, "regulated."

by Jay on Apr 1, 2008 10:48 AM EDT up 0 recs