Craig Breslow called the Connelly Early trade ‘incredibly uncomfortable.’ He’s right.

The Boston Red Sox just traded one of their best pitching prospects to the Washington Nationals. And the guy who made the call says it hurt.

Craig Breslow, Boston’s chief baseball officer, didn’t sugarcoat it. When asked about sending left-hander Connelly Early to Washington in exchange for infielder Curtis Mead, Breslow told reporters it was an “incredibly uncomfortable” decision. He said it flat out. No PR spin. No trying to sell fans on some grand long-term vision. Just a straight admission that giving up a 25-year-old with a 3.44 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 17 starts is tough to stomach.

But here’s the thing about Breslow. He’s been around long enough to know that uncomfortable moves are sometimes the necessary ones.

Why the Red Sox made the deal

The trade was a straight one-for-one swap. The Nationals get Early, a lefty who was carving up minor league hitters and looked like he could help the big club soon. The Red Sox get Mead, a 25-year-old infielder who’s hit 17 home runs and driven in 48 runs this season while batting .254. That home run total would rank second on the Red Sox right now, behind only Willson Contreras who has 22.

And that’s the part that matters. Boston needed offense. They’ve needed it all season. The rotation has been solid, and some younger arms are starting to emerge through the system. Breslow pointed that out himself. “You have to be willing to move from areas of depth no matter how much it may hurt if you’re trying to address some other part of your roster,” he said. “Looking at our roster and looking at our needs, we felt like this was something that makes us better.”

He added that turning controllable pitching into controllable middle-of-the-order bats was always going to be worth exploring. That’s the kind of language you hear from a front office that knows exactly what its roster is missing.

The Early reaction

Early had a strong year for Boston before the trade. A 7-5 record with a 3.44 ERA and 93 strikeouts. Numbers that would catch anyone’s eye. And those numbers probably made it harder to let him go. Breslow admitted as much. “Any time you give up a player like Connelly Early, it’s really tough.”

But the Red Sox are trying to win now. They’re not rebuilding. They’re not waiting. And if moving a promising arm gets them a power bat who can help immediately, that’s a risk Breslow is willing to take.

Early posted a farewell to Red Sox fans on social media, thanking the organization for the opportunity. Mead, meanwhile, is expected to join the team in the coming days and could see playing time right away.

Whether this trade works out for both sides is something nobody can answer yet. But one thing is already clear. It wasn’t an easy call. And Breslow made sure everyone knew it.