Chris Cotillo: Red Sox make clear Alex Cora’s firing a Craig Breslow decision, it was also an act of self-preservation

Cora’s firing represented the first time a Red Sox manager has been fired during the season in John Henry’s 25 years of ownership and a rarity in baseball considering it happened before the end of April. The swift decision can be explained in part because of a disappointing start — Boston is 10-17, and players have spoken about the club lacking “energy” throughout the season — but also by Breslow taking a proactive approach so that recent history did not repeat itself.

In 2023, as the Red Sox hurtled toward another last-place finish, it became clear at some point over the summer that organizational change was possible. At that time, then-chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom decided to stay the course with Cora, who was privately back-channeling ownership with complaints about the roster and Bloom’s inactivity, especially at the trade deadline. By mid-September, Cora found himself aligned with Henry, Kennedy and the ownership group, a development led to Bloom’s ouster. Bloom did not act quickly enough to insulate him from Cora’s attempt to undercut him.

Breslow’s decision, while about a “fresh start” for the Red Sox, was also an act of self-preservation even if Cora and Breslow appeared to be on more solid footing than Cora and Bloom were by the end of Bloom’s time with the Red Sox.

“I actually think I have a very good working relationship with Alex,” Breslow said Sunday. “Certainly, neither of us was satisfied with the start that we got off to, but we continued to bounce ideas off of each other and to put all potential solutions on the table. Ultimately, as an organization and as a baseball operation alongside ownership, we reached the decision yesterday to make these changes.”

Signs of trouble were starting to percolate in the early parts of the season. Cora never publicly blasted Breslow for his roster-building decisions but clearly expected to have Bregman on the team in 2026 and wasn’t shy — from Day 2 of the regular season on — about how it was “not easy” to construct a daily lineup with five talented outfield/designated hitter options (Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu and Masataka Yoshida) after Breslow declined to trade any of them over the winter. When things go off the rails for teams like they did in the first four weeks of the season, finger-pointing tends to occur. If Breslow had sensed that any of it had started behind-the-scenes, he might have wanted to get out in front of the situation before too many fingers were pointed squarely at him. It’s a notion he denied, at least publicly.

“Characterizing a relationship as a power struggle is unfair,” Breslow said. “I look at these roles as a partnership, as someone that I can bounce ideas off of, he can bounce ideas off of. Ultimately, this is about needing to do everything we possibly can to have the best 135 games from here forward.”

It was notable, too, that the fired coaches represented Cora’s trusted confidants and closest friends on the staff. Bench coach Ramón Vázquez, a fellow Puerto Rico native, was a Cora pick after Bloom had inserted Will Venable as bench coach in 2021. Cora was an ardent supporter of hitting coach Pete Fatse and was planning on sticking by him as Fatse’s seat grew warm. Jason Varitek was another close Cora friend dating back to their time as teammates. Notably, pitching coach Andrew Bailey and bullpen coach Chris Holt — both Breslow hires — remained in their jobs as Breslow searched for continuity in the team’s pitching program.

“You try to evaluate what you believe best positions the group to be successful going forward,” Breslow said.

Henry’s role in Cora’s dismissal remains somewhat unclear by the nature of his refusal to discuss any matters related to the team publicly. Henry was at the Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore on Saturday and dined with Kennedy and Breslow away from the hotel while Cora and the fired coaches said goodbye. He was present in the visitors clubhouse Sunday but did not speak in a team meeting. Henry was not in the room while Kennedy and Breslow addressed reporters but was briefly seen in the tunnel at Oriole Park and declined comment when approached by two reporters.

Left to speak for him, Kennedy said little.

“I think it’s evident by his presence here that this was a collaborative decision and we were together as a group,” Kennedy said. “John, Bres and I have been together for the past 48-72 hours and have been working on this process together, so we’ll leave that at that.”

With Cora gone, there’s little question that the Red Sox organization belongs to Breslow — for now. As evidenced by the fact the Red Sox have had four chief decision-makers (including two World Series champions) in the last decade, Breslow’s job can never be considered truly safe. The firing of Cora and installation of interim manager Chad Tracy served as not just a sea change but as a Breslow empowerment.

“Absolutely,” Kennedy said when asked if Breslow led the decision-making process. “We hired Craig to be our chief baseball officer. He runs the baseball operation. We are a front office-led baseball operation. Our job is to support the entire group the best we possibly can. And that’s what we did in this instance.”

More Red Sox coverage

• Rookie: Red Sox ‘played the way AC (Alex Cora) would want us to play’
• Joe Mazzulla makes heartfelt admission after Red Sox fire Alex Cora
• Chad Tracy recounts a ‘whirlwind’ weekend: a surprise phone call, a sleepless night and first MLB win
• Red Sox reactions: Chad Tracy earns win in MLB managerial debut after two decades in minors as a player and coach
• Jason Varitek’s wife thanks Red Sox Nation after coaching shakeup

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