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Red Sox are calling Chad Tracy their ‘interim’ manager, but what does that mean?
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- Red Sox are calling Chad Tracy their ‘interim’ manager, but what does that mean?
BALTIMORE — In their official news release announcing his promotion from Worcester and all the references made to him in the last day, the Red Sox are referring to Chad Tracy as their “interim” manager.
But that’s an uncertain term. Does interim mean he’ll manage for the rest of the 2026 season? Or could the Red Sox find a more established managerial candidate over the next few weeks or months, once things settle down some?
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“We believe that Chad is the right guy to handle this transition,” said chief baseball officer Craig Breslow , “and we’re going to put all of our effort into supporting him to do that and we’ll figure out where that leads us.”
Pressed for clarification, Breslow was asked if it could be possible for the Sox to hire another manager on a more permanent basis.
“We could be,” said Breslow. “It could also be that Chad is exactly what we’re looking for. We have full confidence in him. We believe that to be the case. But anytime a team is not performing, I think you have to look at all options.”
Loosely translated, that sounds like if the team responds to Tracy’s leadership, the job could be his for the remainder of this season and beyond. If not however, the Sox could look outside the organization and perhaps find someone with more experience.
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Either way, Tracy himself isn’t too troubled by his interim tag.
“Haven’t even gotten there,” he said. “I know what it means historically — you’re the interim manager and that means this year and we’ll figure it out beyond that. Furthest thing from my mind right now; just trying to get this thing going right and get on the right foot with the guys."
The last time the Red Sox had an interim manager, ironically, was the last time they hired a replacement for Alex Cora. With Cora and the Sox coming to a mutual agreement that Cora would leave the organization after details about the sign-stealing incident in Houston in 2017, the Sox initially labeled Ron Roenicke “interim” manager before soon removing that from his title. Roenicke was then fired after the 2020 season, as Cora returned in 2021.
Prior to that, when Joe Morgan took over for the fired John McNamara to start the second half of the 1988 season, he, too, was identified as the club’s interim manager.
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Then-GM Lou Gorman considered hiring a number of more established managers, but the team went on a tear under Morgan, winning 19 of its next 20 games. At that point, the Red Sox removed the interim tag and signed Morgan to a multi-year contract extension.
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