The Red Sox are shaking things up in a massive way.
The team fired manager Alex Cora and four members of his coaching staff on Saturday, Boston announced..
Hitting coach Peter Fatse, bench coach Ramon Vazquez, third-base coach Kyle Hudson and assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson were all let go.
Game-planning coach Jason Varitek — a two-time World Series-winning Red Sox legend — is being reassigned to another role within the organization, according to multiple reports.
Triple-A skipper Chad Tracy will take over the big league manager job on an interim basis.
Though the Red Sox won 17-1 over the rival Orioles on Saturday, they have massively underperformed expectations with a 10-17 start.
Boston, which made the playoffs as a wild-card entrant last year, sits in last place in the American League East on Saturday night.
“Alex Cora led this organization to one of the greatest seasons in Red Sox history in 2018, and for that, and the many years that followed, he will always have our deepest gratitude,” Red Sox owner John Henry said in a statement. “He has had a lasting impact on this team and on this city. He has led on and off the field in so many important ways. These decisions are never easy, but this one is especially difficult given what Alex has meant to the Red Sox since the day he arrived.
“I want to thank Alex, our coaches, and their families for everything they have given to this organization. They have been part of this club in a way that goes beyond the field, and they will always have our respect and gratitude.”
The offense has been one of the worst in the game, with the team’s OPS (.667) ranking in MLB 26th. The Red Sox have hit 18 home runs as a team, tied with the Giants for the lowest total in baseball.
The team’s young core has largely flopped, as Roman Anthony (.686), Marcelo Mayer (.661) and Jarren Duran (.549) all hold sub-.700 OPS marks. Veteran shortstop Trevor Story has an abysmal .198/.235/297 slash line as well.
The pitching, though, hasn’t been much better; Boston’s 4.44 ERA ranks 21st. Garrett Crochet , last year’s AL Cy Young runner-up as been far from ace-like with a 6.30 ERA and 1.47 WHIP through six starts. One of the team’s big prizes in free agency, left-hander Ranger Suarez (4.00 ERA, 1.15 WHIP), has, so far, mostly not lived up to his five-year, $130 million deal .
The firing ends Cora’s eight-season Red Sox run that started with an impressive high in 2018 with a franchise-record 108 wins and a World Series crown.
But two years later, Cora agreed to leave his managerial post after his alleged role in the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scandal while he was their bench coach.
The Red Sox, however, re-hired Cora in 2021 before the team made a run all the way to the ALCS. Boston would make the playoffs just one more time in his tenure, losing to the Yankees in the wild-card round last year.
He finishes with a 619-541 record.
