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Alex Cora watches from the dugout as speculation grows after a Red Sox insider floated a beloved World Series champion as a possible successor.

The Boston Red Sox fired Alex Cora after a 10-17 start, and the name of one of the most beloved players in team history surfaced Sunday as a possible replacement. After a brutal start left them in last place in the American League East, principal owner John Henry, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, and team president Sam Kennedy flew to Baltimore on Saturday night and dismissed Cora just 27 games into the second season of his three-year $21.75 million contract, according to MassLive reporter Meredith Perri.

Five of Cora’s coaches were fired alongside him. Game-planning coordinator Jason Varitek was reassigned to a different organizational role. Now the first true post-Cora question has arrived: Is Boston looking for a bridge manager, or a franchise savior?

Worcester Red Sox manager Chad Tracy stepped in as interim manager. Now, as Boston weighs what a permanent hire could look like, one legendary franchise name has already surfaced in the conversation: Dustin Pedroia.

MassLive Red Sox insider Chris Cotillo floated the idea Sunday night, writing that franchise ownership group Fenway Sports Group had Pedroia “in play if FSG wants the PR win.”

Cotillo ranked Tracy and former Minnesota Twins skipper Rocco Baldelli as the more realistic near-term options, but even a passing mention of Pedroia’s name in this context would create excitement in Red Sox Nation.

Dustin Pedroia’s Red Sox Legacy Makes Him a Natural Name

No second baseman in franchise history means more to Boston than Pedroia. The Woodland, California, native spent all 14 seasons of his MLB career in a Red Sox uniform, according to Baseball Almanac, slashing .299/.365/.439 with 140 home runs and 725 RBI across 1,512 games. He was a four-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner. His 2007 World Series ring came in his first full season, when he also won American League Rookie of the Year honors. He added a second championship ring in 2013. And that is why even one insider mention of Pedroia’s name instantly changes the temperature of Boston’s search.

Due to a knee injury that ended his career, Pedroia made only three appearances in 2018, but for the record, he got a third World Series ring that year, too.

His 2008 AL Most Valuable Player season remains a franchise touchstone, with a .326 average, .869 OPS, 17 home runs, and 83 RBI in 157 games. The knee injuries eventually cut his career short, limiting him to just nine games in his final two seasons combined. His last MLB appearance came April 17, 2019.

Pedroia holds no known coaching or managerial experience at any level, and Cotillo framed his candidacy explicitly as a public-relations opportunity for ownership rather than a pure baseball operations calculation. The franchise icon returning to the dugout would generate enormous goodwill with a fanbase that has watched a roster supposedly built to contend after a playoff run last year stumble badly out of the gate.

Red Sox Manager Search: Chad Tracy Holds Job for Now

The permanent search may never open if Tracy makes it unnecessary. The 40-year-old posted a 322-296 record during four-plus seasons managing in Worcester, according to CBS Sports writer Dayn Perry, and was already 13-11 with the WooSox this season when Boston called. In a fitting subplot, Tracy’s father Jim, himself a former MLB manager, made it to Baltimore to watch his son win his big-league debut.

If Tracy does not win the job permanently, Baldelli tops the list of external candidates. The Rhode Island native went 527-505 with three AL Central division titles across seven seasons in Minnesota and is currently a free-agent manager. Perry also named Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty, former Baltimore Orioles manager Brandon Hyde, and Yankees bench coach Brad Ausmus as names worth watching if a formal search opens.

Boston moved quickly by firing Cora. Whether it turns to Tracy, Baldelli, or a beloved icon like Pedroia may define the next era just as much as the first 27 games defined the last one.