Kennedy: Breslow was aggressive, 'all-in' at trade deadline

Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow made bold moves at the trade deadline, which caught the attention of other members of the organization.

"It was really fascinating to watch Craig sort of throw caution to the wind," Red Sox president Sam Kennedy told WEEI on Thursday.

"I mean, he was all-in, incredibly aggressive in packaging in just about everybody and everything in our farm system."

Kennedy said Breslow was operating with a "win now" mentality in trying to obtain a controllable starter, but he ultimately wasn't able to add one. Instead, the Red Sox made two smaller trades, acquiring right-hander Dustin May from the Los Angeles Dodgers and left-hander Steven Matz from the St. Louis Cardinals.

"There was not a lot of long-term thinking going on at the deadline," Kennedy said. "We were aggressive."

He added, "We were just disappointed that certain controllable starters didn't move. At the end of the day, there's nothing you can do when a team isn't going to move a player. That's their prerogative."

Breslow has shown a willingness to get deals done all season long: He inked youngsters Roman Anthony and Kristian Campbell to long-term contract extensions, and he traded slugger Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants in June.

Red Sox fans weren't pleased when Breslow and his front office offloaded Devers, a fan favorite, even though the move provided them with a ton of financial relief.

Breslow discussed the trade and its potential impact Friday during an appearance on MLB Network.

"I'm not sure that we'll be able to completely process the trade for another 8-10 years," he said, according to theScore's Brandon Wile.

"Obviously, I'm aware of the heat. ... I also have to do everything that I can to divorce the heat that I'm feeling from the best decisions that I feel like I can make for the organization."

The Red Sox are 27-16 since trading Devers and have won seven of their last eight games.