By this measure, it’s pretty amazing that the Boston Red Sox can realistically claim to be in a fight for a wild card spot in the American League.
Or that Craig Breslow still has his parking spot at Fenway Park.
On Friday, Tim Kelly of Bleacher Reports released a ranking of the “10 Biggest Fails” in Major League Baseball that have impacted the 2025 season. The Red Sox bookended the list, earning the No. 1 and No. 10 spots among the worst player, team and/or executive moves over this calendar year.
Top Spot on List of Worst Moves Given to Mishandling of Rafael Devers
The dubious top honors went, of course, to the epic mishandling of the Rafael Devers situation, which ended up in a shocking trade, due to both the timing of the deal and the players involved.
Devers was supposed to be the anchor of the lineup, the kind of hitter Boston would build around for the long haul. And he was that guy – until the Red Sox front office turned a contract they’d already signed into dead weight they couldn’t wait to unload.
Devers shares some of the blame, as he could have taken a more team-first approach to the idea of playing first base. But it’s tough to ask a franchise third baseman to switch positions – twice – while you’re simultaneously flirting with signing Alex Bregman.
Devers didn’t just wake up mad; he grew increasingly tired of a front office that couldn’t shoot straight.
And the irony? Even while the drama swirled, he just kept hitting. As Boston’s full-time designated hitter, Devers was slashing .272/.401/.504 and had more walks than anyone else in the AL (56) at the time of the trade.
Kinda seems like a $313.5 million contract being put to relatively good use.
Instead, the Red Sox flipped him to San Francisco for a package headlined by lefty Kyle Harrison, bullpen arm Jordan Hicks, and prospects James Tibbs III and Jose Bello. The Giants picked up every dollar left on Devers’ deal – the real prize for Boston was the payroll space.
Will they spend it wisely? It’s a little tough to be optimistic about that given the other egregious error by Boston in 2025.
Craig Breslow Spotlighted for Disastrous Signings of Lucas Giolito, Walker Buehler
Bleacher Report gave the 10 spot to Breslow and the front office for a pair of free agent fiascos in the starting rotation. Given the disastrous seasons for both Lucas Giolito and Walker Buehler, Kelly wrote that Breslow, in his second season as Boston’s top executive, “whiffed on a pair of relatively big swings” at free agency.
During Breslow’s first offseason, he ignored the warning signs of a very bad 2023 for Giolito, signing him to a two-year, $38.5 million contract.
Giolito pitched zero innings in 2024, instead spending the entire season rehabbing from an internal brace procedure in his elbow. Giolito has made 10 starts this season, but he has posted a 4.53 EREA with a 1.37 WHIP.
And if one high-risk arm wasn’t enough, Breslow signed another reclamation project last winter, getting Walker Buehler for one year, $21 million. Hoping to bring in the guy who made a strong postseason cameo to help the Los Angeles Dodgers win the 2024 World Series, Boston instead received the same arm that earned a 5.38 ERA over 16 starts during the regular season.
Only this season has been worse, with a 6.29 ERA in his 13 starts. Over 63 innings, Buehler has allowed 70 hits and 29 walks for a WHIP of 1.57.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Boston, Craig Breslow Blunders Bookend List of MLB’s ‘Biggest Fails’ appeared first on Heavy Sports.