Breslow, Kennedy explain staff shake-up, emphasize 'belief in the players'

BALTIMORE -- Sunday marked the one-month anniversary of the Red Sox opening the ‘26 season auspiciously with a 3-0 win at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

How could that have been just a month ago?

As the Red Sox took the field for the finale rubber match of their three-game set against the Orioles, enough things had gone wrong that manager Alex Cora was not in the dugout to finish a series he started. Instead, it was interim manager Chad Tracy leading the group after a promotion from Triple-A Worcester.

In a stunning turn of events on the heels of a 10-17 start, the Red Sox on Saturday night parted ways with Cora, hitting coach Pete Fatse, third-base coach Kyle Hudson, bench coach Ramón Vázquez, assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson and Major League hitting strategy coach Joe Cronin. Game planning and run prevention coach Jason Varitek has been reassigned to a new role within the organization, the details of which will be announced at a later date.

In a sport in which the principals involved are never shy about reminding everyone about small sample sizes, why were Cora and so many key members of his staff let go just a month into a six-month season?

“Answering your question directly, it really comes down to the belief that we have in the players and the belief that we have in the group to accomplish what we set out to accomplish,” said Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. “And by acting today, it gives us 135 games ahead of us. So we've got almost a full season's worth of run to take advantage of this fresh start and ultimately to compete for a division and a deep postseason run in the way that we talked about it and envisioned and believed heading into Spring Training.”

Red Sox owner John Henry, president/CEO Sam Kennedy and Breslow flew to Baltimore to inform Cora and the coaches of the decision at the team’s hotel following the club’s best performance of the season, a 17-1 win.

In the middle of a series and following the team’s best victory so far, the timing felt -- at best -- odd. In reality, it was more a byproduct of timing, as Henry, Breslow and Kennedy all felt it was important for them to be there to speak individually with Cora and the coaches.

Kennedy said the decision was made on Saturday morning, prior to the resounding win that started just after noon.

“I would start by saying, when the product on the field is not what you had expected, you have to be willing to consider everything,” said Breslow. “I would also say baseball is not a sport that lends itself to being evaluated game to game. I don't think you look at any individual performance and say that is a reason. I don't think that's fair. I don't think that's a great way to make decisions.

“Ultimately, when we reached a decision, we executed on it. And this is really about looking forward. It's about the amount of season that's in front of us. It's about our belief in the players, and it's about giving them every possibility to get where we want to go.”

One thing Kennedy and Breslow chose not to do was speak specifically about any deficiencies Cora or his coaches had that led to such sweeping changes.

“I don't think it's productive to get into the merits of an individual decision or action outside of saying that, again, we believe in the group we have in the clubhouse and we believe that a new direction is warranted, and new voices and this is something that enables us to make a fresh start,” said Breslow.

Breslow made the recommendation to Kennedy and ownership that the staff changes were necessary.

“Craig leads our baseball operations staff, and he's made several bold decisions and recommendations. And this was one of them, and we fully support it. And that's why we took the action we took yesterday,” Kennedy said.

“Ultimately, responsibility for the performance on the field -- it falls on me as the leader of baseball operations,” said Breslow. “But so too does the responsibility for doing everything that I can and everything that the organization can to find solutions. And right now, we feel like these changes were warranted.”

When Breslow took over as chief baseball officer of the Red Sox in the fall of 2023, Cora had already been entrenched as the team’s manager and had a 2018 World Series ring to prove it.

With the Sox still in retooling mode in 2024, the club was 10 games over .500 at the All-Star break. Around that time, Cora and the Sox agreed to a three-year extension intended to keep him in the dugout through ‘27.

But that time was cut short on Saturday night, leaving many of the players shocked.

“I think [that is] a fair way to put it,” said Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story. “I think those are some of the best coaches in the world, and obviously our performance on the field, you know, kind of cost them their jobs. So ... shocked. I hate this for AC. It doesn't seem fair.”

The most obvious shortcoming for the Red Sox this season has been the offense, which is near the bottom of the league in most relevant categories. But the pitching staff has also come up short, making it fair to wonder why the dismissals were so heavy on the hitting side. Pitching coach Andrew Bailey remained in his post, as did bullpen coach Chris Holt.

“We have fallen short in terms of the performance across hitting, pitching, defense and baserunning,” said Breslow. “But as far as it relates to the staff and [figuring out] exactly what's driving that, we have confidence in the pitching group's ability to turn that around, and I think we've seen evidence of that with Ranger [Suarez] and Garrett [Crochet], and we have the full confidence in that group to be able to get us on track.”