The first domino of the Cubs’ offseason fell Wednesday afternoon.

Former assistant general manager and vice president of pitching Craig Breslow was named the chief baseball officer for the Red Sox.

The #RedSox today announced that Craig Breslow has been hired as Chief Baseball Officer. pic.twitter.com/2gzs3XRWI7

— Red Sox (@RedSox) October 25, 2023

Breslow joined the Cubs in 2019 and was credited with helping revamp the Cubs’ pitching infrastructure — improvements that led to the emergence of homegrown pitchers, including Justin Steele, who was one of the National League’s best starters in 2023. The 43-year-old initially joined Theo Epstein’s front office as the Director of Strategic Initiatives. In 2022, he was promoted to assistant GM and VP of pitching.

He was involved in many of the day-to-day dealings with the Cubs — he was in communication with president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer, general manager Carter Hawkins and manager David Ross.

Breslow graduated from Yale with a degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry and pitched in the big leagues for 12 seasons. He was a part of the 2013 Red Sox team that won the World Series with Ross, Cubs first base coach Mike Napoli and former Cubs pitchers Jon Lester, John Lackey and Ryan Dempster.

The Red Sox parted ways with former chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom in September, prompting a search that led them to Breslow.  

Breslow was a guest on the Cubs Weekly Podcast last October as he detailed his duties within the organization: