Presser: Craig Breslow On Trade For Caleb Durbin
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What did Craig Breslow like about the trade for Caleb Durbin?
Hey, Craig, what did you like about this deal and kind of where does this leave the completion of the infield now?
Okay, so really like a lot of what Kayla brings to the table. You know, strong defender, strong bat-to-ball skills, really versatile right-handed hitter, and also feel like he's a good fit for our park, just given kind of the profile of hitting the ball in the air to the pole side. I think it was like a 20% air pull metric last year. I feel like that will play well at Fenway. Versatility in terms of where he can play and still feel like his best days are ahead of him, just given kind of the age and and control, and we're excited to get him into our organization.
Greg, I know he's played both second and third. Where do you see him fitting in sort of relative to Marcelo and some other options you have?
Sure. Alex, Caleb, and I talked a little bit this morning. I think at this point, we're just excited about getting a really good player into the organization, and we'll figure out where he fits best. It just doesn't feel like it makes sense to commit to anything right now. He's got experience at third base in the big leagues, some experience at second coming up. He's played a little bit of shortstop, and I think that versatility is something that helps us out, but we'll figure that out as we get into camp and get underway.
Do you view him as an everyday player?
I do, yeah. I think he showed last year that he can be a very good everyday player in the big leagues. He does a lot of things really, really well. When you think about some of the deficiencies that our team had last year in terms of putting the ball in play, not expanding the strike zone, catching up to fastballs, those are all things that he excels at, and we think that he's a really good defender as well.
How does Caleb Durbin fit into the Red Sox infield?
And on the position question, would you be comfortable bouncing in between, say, two spots, or would you rather pick one whenever you pick it and let him just stick to the one spot?
I think that's something that we'll figure out as we get to know Caleb and we look at the way that the roster comes together. Certainly, Alex has shown that he's willing to take advantage of matchups and move guys around, but I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves before we've had a chance to really sit down and talk this through. Craig, more broadly, how do you... view with everything you've done and unofficially have done, like how third base and second base shake out right now. sure you know i think we we talked about the importance of defense we've talked about the importance of balancing out the lineup uh thinking about our our pitching staff um and their ability to you know to manage hard contact um and to keep the ball on the ground um converting balls and playing outs is gonna be something that was really really important to our success i think we've largely addressed that and we've got uh we've got options um you know we'll see how
how camp plays out, but feel confident in the group, you know, and in their ability to help contribute in terms of turning balls and playing outs. That's important. We've talked a lot about our outfield defense and how anything that's hit in the air to the outfield that doesn't get out of Fenway, we feel like is going to be caught. And now we can say the same thing, you know, in terms of converting balls and playing outs in the infield.
Greg, you talked earlier in the offseason about the idea that home runs were a foolproof way of generating offense. At that point, you were saying that power was a tool that you were foregrounding the acquisition of. Do you feel comfortable with the amount of power that you have in the lineup right now? And did your targeting of power shift over the course of the offseason? Were you foregrounding other elements above that?
Sure. So we feel confident that there is going to be power that emerges from the group that we have, you know, getting a full healthy season out of Roman and Willie. And, you know, Wilson Contreras has, you know, been an offensive threat in the lineup and in lineups for a number of years and feel like he's a particularly good fit for our park, given the changes to his offensive profile on over the last year or two.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What did Craig Breslow like about the trade for Caleb Durbin?
0:00–1:46
2
How does Caleb Durbin fit into the Red Sox infield?
1:46–4:31
3
What are the strengths of Caleb Durbin as a player?
4:31–8:30
4
How does the Red Sox plan to utilize versatility in their lineup?
8:30–10:09
5
What are the Red Sox's goals for the upcoming season?
10:09–13:18
6
How does the Red Sox view their current roster and potential changes?
13:18–16:54
7
What is the strategy for addressing pitching depth this season?
16:54–17:52
Speakers
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