Boston Red Sox Fire Manager Alex Cora and Five Coaches After 10-17 Start

The Boston Red Sox fired manager Alex Cora on April 25, 2026, along with hitting coach Peter Fatse, bench coach Ramón Vázquez, third base coach Kyle Hudson, and assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson. The team also parted ways with members of the coaching staff and reassigned game planning and run prevention coach Jason Varitek to an unspecified role within the organization.

Chad Tracy, who had been managing the club's Triple-A Worcester affiliate, was appointed interim manager.

Chad Epperson, previously managing the Double-A Portland affiliate in the Eastern League, was named interim third base coach. A hitting coach from the Worcester affiliate was appointed to the major league hitting staff. The changes followed a 17-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles in Baltimore on April 25, 2026, which ended a four-game losing streak that included a three-game sweep by the New York Yankees at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox held a 10-17 record as of April 25, 2026, placing them last in the American League East.

He added, 'He has had a lasting impact on this team and on this city. ' He concluded, 'I want to thank Alex, our coaches, and their families for everything they have given to this organization. ' Cora's managerial record with the Red Sox stood at 619-541.

He led the team to the 2018 World Series championship after achieving a franchise-record 108 regular-season wins. That year, the Red Sox defeated the New York Yankees in a playoff series, the Houston Astros in the American League Championship Series, and the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games to win the World Series.

In 2019, the Red Sox finished third in the AL East and missed the playoffs for the first time in five years.

The Athletic reported Cora as a ringleader of an illegal sign-stealing scheme with the 2017 Houston Astros, where he served as bench coach during their World Series win. Following a Major League Baseball investigation, Cora stepped down from the Red Sox in the 2019 offseason. Ron Roenicke replaced Cora as manager.

The Red Sox traded Mookie Betts and David Price in a salary dump after 2019 and finished last in the 2020 pandemic-shortened season. In 2021, the Red Sox reached the ALCS after beating the New York Yankees in the AL wild-card game and Tampa Bay in a Division Series, before losing to the Houston Astros.

The team finished last in the AL East in 2022 and 2023. They returned to the postseason in 2025 but lost to the New York Yankees in the wild-card round. Cora, a light-hitting infielder, spent three-plus seasons in Boston as a player and won the 2007 World Series with the Red Sox.

The team hired him to replace John Farrell as manager. Varitek, the catcher for three of the Red Sox' four World Series titles this century, had been in his coaching role before reassignment.