Red Sox set to hire former World Series champ to run front office

Following weeks of seeing candidates remove themselves from consideration even before an interview, the Boston Red Sox are finally going to appoint someone in charge of the front office. The Boston Globe's Alex Speier reports that the club has offered the role to Craig Breslow. Chris Cotillo of MassLive reports Breslow is going to accept and be named chief baseball officer.

A left-handed reliever during his playing days, Breslow spent 12 years in the major leagues with seven different franchises. Five of those seasons (2006, 2012-15) came in Boston where he was able to pitch close to home. The 43-year-old is a Connecticut native and Yale graduate. 

Breslow's best year came in 2013 when he helped the Sox win a World Series title, posting a 1.81 ERA and 1.123 WHIP across 61 appearances (59.2 IP). 

After retiring following the 2017 season, Breslow joined the Chicago Cubs front office. Over the last three seasons, he has served directly under Jed Hoyer as one of the team's assistant general managers. 

Boston elected to fire Chaim Bloom prior to the conclusion of the regular season, but few anticipated the club would find such challenges in hiring his replacement. Kim Ng, Jon Daniels and Mike Hill all declined to interview for the role despite their experience running clubs elsewhere. Brandon Gomes and Sam Fuld, general managers for other teams, elected not to pursue an interview. Even internal candidates like Raquel Ferreira took themselves out of the running. 

Breslow will be the first former player to take a role in the front office since Haywood Sullivan.