Boston Red Sox fire Alex Cora and five coaches with team last in AL East

Roenicke never had a chance, taking over a team that would soon go on a salary dump that purged Betts, the 2018 AL MVP, along with 2012 AL Cy Young Award winner 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 wildcard round.

Bogaerts, a four-time All-Star in Boston, was not re-signed after the 2022 season. Sale, who battled injuries throughout his final seasons in Boston, was traded to Atlanta and rejuvenated his career with the Braves in 2024, winning the NL Cy Young Award. The Red Sox did give Devers a 10-year, $313.5m contract, but traded him away when he balked at changing positions to make room for free agent third baseman Alex Bregman.

Bregman left after one season, leaving Boston with neither. This season Caleb Durbin has started 24 games at third base; he is batting .165 after hitting his first home run of the year Saturday off outfielder Weston Wilson.

In all, Cora was 620-541 as Red Sox manager. He was the first big league manager let go this season.

According to Sportradar, Cora is the first manager to get fired after winning a game by 16 or more runs since the New York Metropolitans fired Bob Ferguson following an 18-2 win over the Cleveland Spiders in the second game of a doubleheader on 30 May 1887.

The Metropolitans folded after that season.

“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,” Henry’s statement said. “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.”

Tracy, 40, had a 323-295 record at Worcester while managing the club to winning seasons in each of his first four years – the first Red Sox Triple-A manager to accomplish that feat since at least the 1930s. The WooSox are tied for first place in the International League East with a 14-11 record.

A catcher at Pepperdine, Tracy led the West Coast Conference with a .367 batting average in 2005 and was the league’s player of the year. He was a third-round draft pick of the Texas Rangers in 2006 but never made it out of the minors, batting .267 with 159 home runs and 706 RBIs in nine seasons.

Chad Epperson, who had been managing the club’s Double-A Portland affiliate in the Eastern League, will serve as the interim third base coach. Collin Hetzler, who had been Worcester’s hitting coach, will join the major league hitting staff in Boston.