Even a 17-1 win couldn’t save Alex Cora and his coaching staff.
Despite a rout of Baltimore earlier in the day, the 10-17 Boston Red Sox fired their longtime manager on Saturday, along with hitting coach Peter Fatse, third-base coach Kyle Hudson, bench coach Ramon Vazquez, assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson and major league hitting strategy coach Joe Cronin. The team also reassigned game planning and run prevention coach Jason Varitek.
Why did the Red Sox do all of this now? Could any other managers around the majors be next? ESPN MLB experts Buster Olney, Jorge Castillo and David Schoenfield answer those questions and more after Boston’s stunning announcement.
The Red Sox are just 27 games into their season. Why make such a drastic change now? Has Boston been that bad?
Buster Olney: Boston had underperformed early in the season, certainly, but this firing has shocked many around the industry because of its timing and because of Cora’s stature among managers. One rival evaluator: “How does firing one of the best managers in the game make it better?” An hour after Saturday’s game, the Boston coaching staff was about to follow through on plans to go to dinner, but Cora then texted the group that something came up — and a number of those on the text chain were fired.
This is a full flex by Craig Breslow, head of baseball operations for the Red Sox. He didn’t hire Cora, and now he is firing him. In the long and storied Red Sox “Game of Thrones” in owner John Henry’s tenure, Breslow comes out on top; this is his organization, unequivocally.
Jorge Castillo: Because someone must be the scapegoat for atrocious starts — and it’s almost always the manager, even one as accomplished as Cora. That’s how it works in Major League Baseball.
Midseason managerial changes have occasionally benefitted clubs; the Philadelphia Phillies swapping Joe Girardi for Rob Thomson in 2022 before a run to the World Series is a prominent recent example. But these changes almost never move the needle because results are player-driven. The Red Sox’s offense has been dreadful, and its starting rotation, a supposed strength, has underperformed. Was that on Cora and his staff? Probably not.
This case is unusual because Cora wasn’t the only dismissal. Five coaches also were booted, while Varitek was demoted to an undisclosed position within the organization. This isn’t just a managerial change. This was a coaching staff overhaul 17% into a season for a team with World Series aspirations. The results will fall on Breslow, who inherited Cora as manager and decided the Red Sox were better off without him.
David Schoenfield: Yes, the Red Sox have been bad. The offense is 27th in the majors in OPS, which is why the hitting staff was let go in addition to Cora. The starting rotation, the supposed strength of the team, has struggled, ranking 27th in the majors with a 5.08 ERA, although highly regarded pitching coach Andrew Bailey was retained. Maybe the final straw was Thursday’s loss to the New York Yankees, which completed a three-game sweep. The Red Sox led 2-1 in the seventh inning, but Cora let the lead slip away without using Garrett Whitlock, his top setup reliever, even though Whitlock hadn’t pitched in several days. Brayan Bello’s disastrous five-homer game on Friday was the capper.
Alex Cora’s contract runs through next season. How did he lose the confidence of ownership?
Olney: For years, Cora was the most powerful person in the organization. But with last year’s success, sources within the Red Sox organization felt that Breslow had built a productive relationship with Henry. What’s interesting about the timing of Breslow’s increase in power is that the general perception of how he has done his work outside of the organization is not good — his personal disconnect with Rafael Devers last year before the trade, the choices made with the Devers deal and with the players acquired in it, the failed negotiations with Alex Bregman, the pricey deal for Ranger Suarez and the apparent lack of power in the every-day lineup. But with Cora gone and unproven manager Chad Tracy promoted, the success or failure of the Red Sox will belong to Breslow; it will be his and his alone. As one rival exec noted about Breslow after the Cora firing: “I have to give him credit for his conviction.”
Castillo: This was a power struggle, as Buster said, and Cora lost. Cora outlasted Chaim Bloom, but Breslow won this time. The Red Sox have been criticized for their payroll and roster decisions — and rightfully so. But ultimately, the team made the playoffs in three of Cora’s seven seasons before this disappointing start. That gave Breslow the opportunity to remodel the coaching staff to his liking.
Schoenfield: In his first year at the helm in 2018, the Red Sox went 108-54 under Cora and won the World Series — making a strong case as the greatest Red Sox team in franchise history. Since then, however, Cora has gone 512-487 while missing the 2020 season under suspension for his actions as a coach with the Houston Astros in 2017. While the Red Sox haven’t run the same top-in-the-game payrolls as they did under Dave Dombrowski, you can make the argument that they’ve underachieved in the past five-plus seasons, making the playoffs only in 2021 and 2026 but finishing as high as second only in 2021. Or, at least, they haven’t overachieved. That’s under different front office executives, but as Buster pointed out: Breslow didn’t hire Cora, and ownership has made its choice.
Chad Tracy is taking over on an interim basis. Who is he and what should the Red Sox expect from him?
Olney: Tracy, a manager in the Red Sox farm system, is highly regarded. The great unknown is how he’ll deal with the big-market media. We’ve seen many managers who are good at X’s and O’s but not good at handling a volume of reporters, and that sort of problem can be revealed pretty quickly.
The Red Sox have a lot of good players, and they should play better. But the lack of power in the every-day lineup is a big-picture problem, and it’s unclear whether a series of in-season coaching changes can make a difference.
Castillo: Tracy spent nine years in the minors as a player before turning to managing. He managed three seasons in the Los Angeles Angels’ farm system and four as the organization’s minor league field coordinator, before he was hired as Triple-A Worcester’s manager ahead of the 2022 season. His father, Jim, played in the majors and managed the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Colorado Rockies. So, Tracy at least has an education on managing, both through experience and his father. But stepping into the fire in Boston, a market notorious for its passionate fan base and intense media contingent, will be a stiff test. At least Worcester is just 50 minutes down the pike.
The Red Sox aren’t the only team with high expectations off to a poor start. Which managers could be on the hot seat next?
Olney: Already there is heavy speculation within the industry that Cora could have an opportunity soon with the Phillies, because of his past success working alongside David Dombrowski, who is now Philadelphia’s head of baseball ops. Cora could be a fit with any big-market team — or small-market team, for that matter — but his past affiliation with Dombrowski (and Phillies’ team leader Kyle Schwarber) is not something Cora will have in other places. The Phillies might have to tack on a year to his three-year, $21.75 million deal. If not the Phillies, Cora will have other opportunities, and perhaps some immediately. Joe Espada is in the last year of his deal with the struggling Astros, as is Carlos Mendoza, the manager of the New York Mets.
Castillo: As Buster alluded to, the Phillies’ Rob Thomson. The Phillies have another expensive roster in a big market off to a dismal start. Thomson’s contract runs through the 2027 season, but that won’t stop Dombrowski and owner John Middleton from making a move if they deem one necessary.
