Reports surfaced a couple weeks ago that Craig Breslow was looking for someone to install as his right hand in the unoccupied GM position. Long-time front office member Paul Toboni was mentioned as a leading candidate for the role, but Craig can go ahead and cross his name off the list, because he’s just been hired by the Nationals to lead their baseball operations department. (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)
Many media members are describing this as “a significant loss” for the Red Sox front office, but
let’s all be honest here: absolutely no one outside of the offices at 4 Jersey Street actually knows how impactful Toboni has been or will be going forward. Reporting on front office personnel can be really silly sometimes. Or, as the fellas at the Tipping Pitches Podcast put it:
(BTW, I highly recommend Tipping Pitches if your at all interested in a pod that tackles MLB from a broad perspective that goes beyond the action on the field.)
Anyway, enough about front office personnel. Let’s talk about the people who actually matter: the players. Garrett Crochet did exactly what Garrett Crochet is supposed to do las night, tossing eight beautiful innings in a game the Red Sox really needed to win. The start capped off a Cy Young-quality season for the Red Sox ace, but he’s hoping for a few more starts before he calls it quits on the year. (Christopher Smith, MassLive)
Is there anyone other than Crochet you’d rather have starting game one of the playoffs? Outside of Tarik Skubal, I’m not sure there is. But he’s only ranked sixth on this power ranking of playoff starters. (David Adler, MLB.com)
The guy Crochet will be throwing to, Carlos Narvaez, may not be one of the very best at his position like his battery mate, but he’s finishing up one helluva a rookie season. He also proved to be a team leader, and Alex Cora isn’t entirely surprised about that. (Christopher Smith, MassLive)
Narvaez wasn’t even close to the most-hyped Red Sox rookie when the season began. The guy who was — Roman Anthony — proved himself to be more than worthy of it. But if you’re still holding out hope for his return in October, I got some bad news. While his pain has subsided, Craig Breslow says “there’s still quite a bit of room to get to in terms of baseball activities.” Folks, I don’t think we’re seeing Roman again until he’s on the grass in the Fort Myers sunshine. (Conor Ryan, Boston.com)
And finally, given that we’re about to start seeing a whole lot more Red Sox gear around town, here’s some fun history about the ubiquitous Red Sox “B”. (Frances Klemm, Boston.com)
