What we’re hearing on why Red Sox fired Alex Cora and the fallout of the shocking news
BOSTON — It has been six days since the Red Sox sent shockwaves through baseball by firing manager Alex Cora and a handful of his coaches after a 17-1 win in Baltimore on Saturday . As interim manager Chad Tracy prepares for his Fenway Park debut Friday night, the organization is still reeling from the wholesale changes brought on by principal owner John Henry, team president/CEO Sam Kennedy and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. Here’s what we’re hearing on how the firings happened — and what’s next for the Red Sox: *** A day before the firings hit, there was a sense around the team that things had reached critical mass.
The Red Sox had barely scored during a three-game sweep at the hands of the Yankees and hit the road with a 9-16 record. On Friday morning, the first day of the team’s road trip in Baltimore, Cora arranged for a team breakfast at Miss Shirley’s Cafe, a popular restaurant halfway between the team’s hotel and the ballpark. The breakfast didn’t attract perfect attendance, but the vast majority of players and coaches attended as part of a team-bonding exercise.
Later that afternoon, at Camden Yards, the urgency spilled over. The hitter’s meetings that are held on Day 1 of every series typically last 15 or so minutes as the team goes over scouting reports and tendencies of the opposing pitching staff. But on this day, perhaps in recognition of how poorly things were going with the offense — the Sox had been limited to just three runs on 13 hits in the just-completed three-game sweep by the Yankees — the meeting lasted almost an hour in an effort to figure out how to kickstart the lineup.
That night, the Sox scored just three runs, but at least collected 10 hits, a sign that maybe some things were falling into place. The following day, the Sox erupted for a season-high 17 runs in a romp over the Orioles. But it was already too late.
On Friday, as the trip was beginning, Breslow had begun to put the wheels in motion for sweeping changes, going to Henry and Kennedy with the recommendation that Cora and several of his coaches be dismissed, according to sources familiar with those talks. In Baltimore, Cora was unaware how things had escalated. Discussions lasted throughout the day, with Breslow, Kennedy and Henry weighing their options.
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