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Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora announced sweeping lineup changes for Saturday’s game facing Tarik Skubal.

The Boston Red Sox sit at 12-18, last in the AL East and eight games behind the division-leading New York Yankees. The season has not gone according to plan, and the decision to fire manager Alex Cora and five of his coaches 27 games in sent shockwaves through the baseball world. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow pulled the trigger on the moves after a 17-1 blowout win over the Baltimore Orioles, with 135 games still remaining.

Interim manager Chad Tracy has gone 2-1 since taking over, but the questions surrounding Breslow’s decision have only grown louder. The Red Sox were not just firing a manager. They were clearing out an entire staff, including franchise icon Jason Varitek and bench coach Ramon Vazquez.

Now, a detailed report from Chad Jennings, Jen McCaffrey, Patrick Mooney and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic is shedding light on what was really going on inside the organization.

What Sources Revealed About Breslow and the Coaching Staff

Boston Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow.

According to The Athletic’s reporting, those familiar with Breslow’s baseball operations department were not surprised by the firings. The tension had reportedly been building for some time. It centered largely on the hitting side of the coaching staff.

Sources told The Athletic that Breslow had reportedly taken issue with hitting coach Pete Fatse and his methods. The disconnect between the front office and the coaching staff was reportedly well known within the organization last season. There was reportedly a sense internally that Fatse and his staff absorbed outsized blame for the struggles of prospect Kristian Campbell. Campbell was optioned back to the minors last season after failing to meet lofty internal projections.

One anonymous source was direct about what Breslow ultimately accomplished with Saturday’s purge: “He wanted to fire everybody who was here before he got here.” The Red Sox now have no coaches on the major league staff who were in place when Breslow was hired after the 2023 season.

The Role Bregman Played Before Leaving for Chicago

GettyAlex Bregman signed with the Chicago Cubs last offseason.

One of the more revealing details in The Athletic’s report involves Alex Bregman. The third baseman signed a five-year, $175 million deal with the Chicago Cubs this past offseason. The Red Sox declined to offer him a no-trade clause and were ultimately outbid.

According to multiple sources, Bregman had reportedly become a vocal advocate for the hitting coaches within the clubhouse. He reportedly credited them for helping him return to All-Star form. One player told The Athletic that Breslow had reportedly been prepared to dismiss some coaches last season until Bregman stepped in and pushed back. Other sources stopped short of saying Bregman directly saved anyone’s job. Still, his outspoken support for the staff was reportedly well known throughout the clubhouse.

With Bregman gone, that buffer no longer existed. The firings followed.

Breslow denied that he had been close to making moves last season or that he entered 2026 with any predetermined plan to clean house. As he put it: “These decisions were driven by the performance on the field.”

What Comes Next for the Red Sox

The coaching staff Breslow has now assembled is entirely his own. The two new hitting coaches, John Soteropulos and Collin Hetzler, are both Breslow hires. Both come with backgrounds at Driveline, the data-driven baseball training organization whose founder Breslow brought on as a special advisor in 2024. Every member of the pitching staff was also hired by Breslow. All kept their jobs through Saturday’s purge.

Tracy, Flores, and the rest of the interim staff all carry temporary tags. The only permanent members of the coaching staff are Breslow hires.

One source summed it up simply: “It’s his show.”

Final Word for the Red Sox

Breslow has now reshaped this organization entirely in his image. Whether that produces results in 2026 is the only question that matters now.

The Red Sox have 135 games left. Cora is gone. The hitting staff is gone. Bregman is in Chicago.

It is Breslow’s show. Now he has to prove it was worth it.