The Red Sox’s shock firing of Alex Cora was “necessary” in the eyes of team president Sam Kennedy, but the move is seemingly not sitting well with players.
Cora and five members of his coaching staff were dismissed on Saturday amid the team’s 10-17 start and last place standing in the AL East.
However, Trevor Story told reporters on Sunday that the higher-ups’ explanation of the move was insufficient.
“Some of the best coaches in the world didn’t get a fair shot,” he said.
Garrett Whitlock added: “They made it very clear that we get paid to play baseball, and we need to just focus on playing baseball.”
As reported by the Boston Globe’s Tim Healey, players were not invited to ask higher-ups any questions about the changes during a meeting on Sunday morning.
“It’s up in the air what the true direction of the franchise is,” Story said.
Hitting coach Peter Fatse, bench coach Ramon Vazquez, third-base coach Kyle Hudson and assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson were all part of the wholesale changes as well, while game-planning coach Jason Varitek will be reassigned elsewhere in the organization.
Chad Tracy, who had been managing Boston’s Triple-A affiliate in Worcester, was named interim manager.
During a press conference on Sunday, Kennedy revealed the move was the “bold decision” of general manager Craig Breslow, with the latter explaining the timing of the move.
“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 deep postseason run in the way that we talked about it and envisioned and believed heading into spring training,” Breslow said.
“We believe in the group of players that we have in the clubhouse, down the hallway, and we believe that a new direction is warranted, new voices, and something that enables us to take a fresh start.”
Despite their 17-1 win on Saturday in Baltimore, the Red Sox have gotten off to a slow start this season.
Boston’s offense has struggled mightily, with the team’s OPS of .667 ranking 27th in MLB. The Red Sox have also struggled on the mound, with their team ERA of 4.44 tied for 20th in the league.
“Yesterday was definitely painful, but we felt it was a necessary move, and we felt it necessary to take decisive action to achieve the goal of a fresh start for the 2026 season,” Kennedy said.
“We have full confidence in the players in that room to perform at the very highest level and get us back to playing baseball in October, which is the goal. Ultimately, what matters is the performance on the field at the major league level, and a new beginning starts today.”
Breslow, meanwhile, added that he also has “full confidence” in Tracy.
Cora, who led the Red Sox to a World Series win in 2018, left his job in 2020 in the wake of his alleged role in the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scandal while he was their bench coach.
He was later re-hired by the Red Sox in 2021, and finishes his time in Boston with three trips to the postseason and a 620-541 record.