Craig Breslow Opens Up About ‘Down To Wire’ Red Sox Trade For Luis García

Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow didn’t just have to find a suitable trade partner during Tuesday’s MLB trade deadline.

He also had to work against the clock to pull off Boston’s final deal of the day.

Breslow ended up coming to an agreement with the Los Angeles Angels to acquire veteran reliever Luis García in exchange for four prospects. But as Breslow revealed, he got the job done with little room to spare.

“It came down to the wire,” Breslow told reporters at Fenway Park. “He’s a guy we had identified early on, but like everybody else, kind of running multiple paths, and fortunately, we were able to line up. I think it was within the last five or 10 minutes.”

García was the second reliever the Red Sox obtained Tuesday with Breslow also getting Lucas Sims from the Cincinnati Reds for another minor leaguer.

Adding to the bullpen was a clear need for Breslow with the way the unit faltered since the All-Star break. Boston blew a lead in the seventh inning or later eight times, causing the Red Sox to go 3-7 out of the break.

Like Sims, García should help secure leads in the middle to late innings and help bridge the gap to closer Kenley Jansen. García, 37, brings to Boston plenty of experience as the Red Sox will be his sixth team in 12 seasons in the big leagues.

He was solid in the Angels bullpen this season, too, posting a 5-1 record with a 3.71 ERA and a career-high four saves to go along with 40 strikeouts in 43 2/3 innings.

“Garcia has been a pretty consistent performer in this league for a really long time,” Breslow said. “What I think what it does is it lengthens our bullpen, both from kind of a workload and gives Alex (Cora) more options in the back end.”