The Boston Red Sox have fired their longtime manager Alex Cora after the team’s horrific start to the new MLB season.
The ruthless Red Sox have also parted ways 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.
Game planning and run prevention coach Jason Varitek, the catcher for three of the franchise’s four World Series titles this century, has been reassigned to an unspecified role within the organization.
It comes just hours after the Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 17-1 on Saturday to snap a four-game losing streak.
But their record for the season stands at 10-17, they are last in the AL East and endured a three-game sweep at Fenway Park by the archrival New York Yankees.
Chad Tracy, the manager of Boston’ Triple-A team in Worcester, will become interim manager.
The Boston Red Sox have fired manager Alex Cora after the team’s horrific start to the season
It comes just hours after the Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 17-1 on Saturday afternoon
Under-fire Red Sox owner John Henry acted ruthlessly and decisively 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,’ under-fire Red Sox owner John Henry said in a statement Saturday.
‘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.’
A light-hitting infielder who spent three-plus seasons in Boston as a player, winning the 2007 World Series in a Red Sox uniform, Cora was an Astros bench coach when they won it all in 2017. The Red Sox hired him to replace John Farrell, giving Cora his first major league managing job.
In his first season, the Red Sox won 108 regular-season games, beat the hated Yankees in a playoff series and then the Astros in the American League Championship Series.
Boston then defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games to claim a fourth World Series title in 15 years.
The Red Sox finished third in the AL East the next season, missing the playoffs for the first time in five years.
Cora secured Boston’s fourth World Series title in 15 years when they beat the Dodgers in 2018
Then, during the offseason, The Athletic reported Cora had been a ringleader of an illegal sign-stealing scheme with the Astros during their championship season.
Following a Major League Baseball investigation, the Red Sox and Cora agreed he should step down; Ron Roenicke replaced him, taking over a team that would soon go on a salary dump that purged 2018 AL MVP Mookie Betts along with pitcher David Price.
After a last-place finish in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Roenicke was let go and Cora returned.
The Red Sox reached the playoffs again in his first season back, beating the Yankees in the AL wild-card game and Tampa Bay in a Division Series to reach the ALCS, where they lost to the Astros.
Boston has not won a playoff series since, finishing last in back-to-back years before returning to the postseason last season and losing to the Yankees in the wild-card round. In all, Cora was 620-541 as the Red Sox manager.
