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It has been 45 days since the Boston Red Sox made the shocking decision to fire manager Alex Cora and six members of his major league coaching staff. With interim manager Chad Tracy and his staff settling into their new roles, should their interim tags be removed?
When Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow and President Sam Kennedy met with the media following the firings, they were non-committal about Tracy and the new staff's tenure. “We believe Chad is the right guy to handle this transition, and we’re gonna put all of our effort into supporting him to do that and see where that leads us,” Breslow told reporters. “We could be, it could also be that Chad is exactly what we’re looking for,” he said when asked if the team was open to hiring an outside manager during the season.
According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, having the interim tag on their coaching staff has led to bad vibes within the Boston organization: “Terrible,” Olney told WEEI’s Rich Shirtenlieb, Ken Laird, and Ted Johnson on Monday afternoon when asked about the environment within the organization. “It’s not hard to tap into unhappiness in that organization…can you imagine being a coach essentially on an NBA 10-day contract, and if things aren’t going well, you lose your job? It’s ridiculous,” he continued.
Olney raises some fair points about the situation the interim staff has been put in, describing a living situation in flux and estimating that it would only cost the Red Sox $1.2 million to assure the staff of their roles for the duration of the season.
Despite Olney’s report of a terrible environment, Tracy pushed back on that narrative in his weekly appearance with Shirtenlieb, Laird, and Johnson on Tuesday. “I can only comment on the environment within our locker room, and it’s fine,” he said. Tracy did, however, confirm that he and the rest of the staff remain on interim contracts with no private assurances from the organization that they will remain in their current roles through the end of the season.
In the 45 days since Cora’s firing, the Red Sox have gone 17-20 under Tracy.
Boston’s improvement is thanks in part to a pitching staff that became one of baseball’s best despite the prolonged absence of ace Garrett Crochet, posting a 3.46 ERA in the 37 games since the firings, the seventh best in the sport.
The Red Sox offense, which was one of the worst in baseball over the first 26 games of the year, has quietly improved, generating much more traffic on the base paths, struggling to cash in on their opportunities.
May 22, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy (17) is interviewed before a game against the Minnesota Twins at Fenway Park. Eric Canha-Imagn Images
Still, though, the Red Sox find themselves right where they were when Cora and his staff were fired, well under .500 and in last place in the American League East.
While Tracy and his interim staff haven’t turned the team into the playoff contenders Breslow saw them as when he made the decision to fire Cora, he has performed admirably, managing an incredibly flawed roster.
If Olney’s estimate is correct, that it would cost just $1.2 million to provide the new staff with security for the year, it makes all the sense in the world to do so. There’s nothing that says you can’t make a change at the end of the season, when more candidates are available, and there's a more complete picture of the interim staff's work.
The Red Sox are 27-37 and in last place in the American League East.
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When Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow and President Sam Kennedy met with the media following the firings, they were non-committal about Tracy and the new staff's tenure. “We believe Chad is the right guy to handle this transition, and we’re gonna put all of our effort into supporting him to do that and see where that leads us,” Breslow told reporters. “We could be, it could also be that Chad is exactly what we’re looking for,” he said when asked if the team was open to hiring an outside manager during the season.
According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, having the interim tag on their coaching staff has led to bad vibes within the Boston organization: “Terrible,” Olney told WEEI’s Rich Shirtenlieb, Ken Laird, and Ted Johnson on Monday afternoon when asked about the environment within the organization. “It’s not hard to tap into unhappiness in that organization…can you imagine being a coach essentially on an NBA 10-day contract, and if things aren’t going well, you lose your job? It’s ridiculous,” he continued.
Olney raises some fair points about the situation the interim staff has been put in, describing a living situation in flux and estimating that it would only cost the Red Sox $1.2 million to assure the staff of their roles for the duration of the season.
Despite Olney’s report of a terrible environment, Tracy pushed back on that narrative in his weekly appearance with Shirtenlieb, Laird, and Johnson on Tuesday. “I can only comment on the environment within our locker room, and it’s fine,” he said. Tracy did, however, confirm that he and the rest of the staff remain on interim contracts with no private assurances from the organization that they will remain in their current roles through the end of the season.
How much has the team improved under Tracy?
In the 45 days since Cora’s firing, the Red Sox have gone 17-20 under Tracy.
Boston’s improvement is thanks in part to a pitching staff that became one of baseball’s best despite the prolonged absence of ace Garrett Crochet, posting a 3.46 ERA in the 37 games since the firings, the seventh best in the sport.
The Red Sox offense, which was one of the worst in baseball over the first 26 games of the year, has quietly improved, generating much more traffic on the base paths, struggling to cash in on their opportunities.
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May 22, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy (17) is interviewed before a game against the Minnesota Twins at Fenway Park. Eric Canha-Imagn Images
Still, though, the Red Sox find themselves right where they were when Cora and his staff were fired, well under .500 and in last place in the American League East.
While Tracy and his interim staff haven’t turned the team into the playoff contenders Breslow saw them as when he made the decision to fire Cora, he has performed admirably, managing an incredibly flawed roster.
If Olney’s estimate is correct, that it would cost just $1.2 million to provide the new staff with security for the year, it makes all the sense in the world to do so. There’s nothing that says you can’t make a change at the end of the season, when more candidates are available, and there's a more complete picture of the interim staff's work.
The Red Sox are 27-37 and in last place in the American League East.
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Remember to join our RED SOX on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Red Sox fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!
Continue reading...
