BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox have fired manager Alex Cora, who led the club to its ninth and most recent World Series championship and a franchise-record 108 regular-season wins in 2018.
Chad Tracy, who had been managing the team’s Triple-A affiliate in Worcester, will serve as interim manager with the major league club.
“Alex Cora led this organization to one of the greatest seasons in Red Sox history in 2018, and for that, and the many years that followed, he will always have our deepest gratitude,” team owner John Henry said in a statement released Saturday. “He has had a lasting impact on this team and on this city. He has led on and off the field in so many important ways.”
The Red Sox made the announcement hours after a 17-1 road win against the Baltimore Orioles that snapped a four-game losing streak — including a three-game sweep at Fenway Park by the archrival New York Yankees.
The Red Sox are 10-17 this season and in last place in the American League East Division.
The team said it is also parting ways with five members of the coaching staff: hitting coach Peter Fatse, third base coach Kyle Hudson, bench coach Ramón Vázquez, assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson, and major league hitting strategy coach Joe Cronin.
Game planning and run prevention coach Jason Varitek, the catcher for three of the franchise’s four World Series titles this century, has been reassigned to an unspecified role within the organization.
“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 read. “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.”
Cora, 50, was in his second stint as Boston’s manager, with his first coming in the 2018-19 seasons. He and the Red Sox agreed to part ways after an MLB investigation revealed in January 2020 that in his previous role as bench coach of the Houston Astros he was part of that team’s illegal electronically aided sign-stealing scheme.
The 2018 Red Sox were revealed to have engaged in similar behavior, although commissioner Rob Manfred said he did not believe Cora was aware of Boston’s scheme and did not further discipline him beyond a suspension that covered all of 2020.
The Red Sox went 24-36 and finished last in the AL East under manager Ron Roenicke during the 2020 season, which was delayed and shortened amid the COVID-19 pandemic
Cora returned in 2021 and wound up 620-541 in his tenure as manager of the Red Sox, including the first stint.