New MLB Rumors on Alex Cora's Red Sox Firing, Coaching Staff's Issues With Craig Breslow, More

Following the Boston Red Sox's firing of manager Alex Cora and five other coaches last week, sources provided some insight into how and why general manager Craig Breslow came to that decision.

According to Chad Jennings, Jen McCaffrey, Patrick Mooney and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, people with knowledge of the organization's inner workings were not surprised by the moves.

Some members of the Red Sox staff reportedly felt Breslow wanted to get rid of the coaching staff he inherited prior to the 2024 campaign as soon as last season, particularly on the hitting side.

Breslow reportedly took issue with hitting coach Pete Fatse and his approach, and team sources indicated to The Athletic that "the disconnect between Breslow and certain members of the coaching staff was well known last season."

An anonymous player even told The Athletic that they had heard Breslow was planning to fire some coaches last season until third baseman Alex Bregman stepped in and advocated to keep them.

Breslow reportedly sought Bregman's opinion often last season, but after Bregman left for the Chicago Cubs in free agency this past offseason, that buffer between Breslow and the coaches was no longer in place.

While Breslow denied publicly that he nearly fired coaches last season or that he entered this season with the intention of firing coaches, a source said, "He wanted to fire everybody who was here before he got here. That's what he has now."

Given the issues between Breslow and the coaching staff, a former Red Sox staffer told The Athletic they were "relieved" to have been let go from their position.

The Red Sox are 2-1 since firing Cora and replacing him with Chad Tracy on an interim basis, but they are just 12-18 on the season, placing them in last place in the AL East, eight games behind the division-leading New York Yankees.

While Cora brought the Red Sox a World Series title in his first season at the helm in 2018, the team missed the playoffs in three straight seasons from 2022 to 2024, which was a stretch during which Breslow was hired as GM.

Cora did get the Red Sox back to the playoffs last season, but they fell to the Yankees in the AL Wild Card Round and looked listless to start the 2026 campaign.

Breslow's decision to clean house may have truly been done in an attempt to energize the team with plenty of baseball left to be played this season, but the sources who spoke to The Athletic paint a picture of a GM who wanted to have his own coaching staff in place since Day One.