Coming off their most decisive victory of the season on Saturday afternoon, the Boston Red Sox sent shockwaves through the baseball world when they announced the firing of manager Alex Cora and five other members of the major league coaching staff on Saturday night, then naming Triple-A Worcester Red Sox manager Chad Tracy as Cora's replacement. Red Sox President Sam Kennedy and Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow met with the media ahead of Sunday afternoon's series finale against the Orioles. Here's everything you need to know:

Of course, the decision to make sweeping changes to the coaching staff, as the Red Sox did on Saturday night, does not come without some level of sign-off from ownership, ut Breslow and Kennedy made one thing very clear: this was Breslow's decision. "Craig leads our baseball operation, and he's made several bold decisions and recommendations, and this was one of them, and we fully support it, and that's why we took the action we took yesterday," Kennedy said during his media availability. 

For years, Cora seemed untouchable in the eyes of Red Sox ownership. He was fired and rehired after serving a one-year suspension for his involvement in the Astros' sign-stealing scandal and outlasted two of the three general managers during his tenure. As for how and why Breslow has earned the trust of principal owner John Henry, ESPN's Buster Olney says the Red Sox's success in 2025 led to that: "For years, Cora was the most powerful person in the organization. But with last year's success, sources within the Red Sox organization felt that Breslow had built a productive relationship with Henry.

The relationship between Breslow and Cora was an arranged marriage; his firing represents a clear victory for Breslow; this is his team now. He will now have the chance to build the coaching staff out in his vision. 

The Red Sox entered the 2026 season with a clear message to fans that this was the beginning of a championship window, the goal was to build on last year's wild card exit and make a deeper playoff run and compete for a World Series title. 

Despite promoting a number of coaches from their minor league ranks, Kennedy and Breslow made it clear that this decision was not a look towards the future, but rather one they hope will help to right the ship.

"It really comes down to the belief we have in the players and the belief we have in the group to accomplish what we set out to accomplish" Breslow said, "by acting today, it gives us 135 games ahead of us, so we've got almost a full seasons worth of run to take advantage of this fresh start and ultimately, to compete for a division and a deep postseason run" he continued. 

While Henry was in Baltimore when Cora and the rest of the staff were dismissed, he was notably absent when Breslow and Kennedy met with the media. Henry has been notoriously unavailable to the media and the fans since the 2019 season, delegating that role to Kennedy.

When asked about Henry's presence, Kennedy said, "John was a part of the meetings yesterday, and a part of the meetings we just had this morning." When asked whether he had left Baltimore, Kennedy simply answered, "No." 

As for why Henry did not meet with the media with the duo? "Look, Craig and I have a job to do, and this is our job," Kennedy said. 

Ultimately, Henry has the final say in any decision the Red Sox make, and fans deserve to hear from him when these types of franchise-altering decisions are made. Instead, the message was clear: Henry does not think he owes the fans any explanation.

The Red Sox, who sit at 10-17 and in last place in the American League East, will now look to turn the page on the Alex Cora era and right the ship on a season that got off on the worst possible foot. 

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