The Boston Red Sox front office shocked its fanbase by firing Alex Cora and five of his coaching staff. After CEO Sam Kennedy delivered the news late Saturday night, he promised more updates on the following day. Kennedy and Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow held a presser, but the CEO threw Breslow under the bus. And the Red Sox Nation is not happy.

Earlier in the year, CEO Kennedy spoke about the Red Sox’s goal of having a deep offseason run. However, that plan has hit a roadblock with their poor start to the season. With the Red Sox at the bottom of the AL East, holding an 11-17 record, the front office found Cora’s firing as the best bet to give the team a postseason chance. But on Sunday’s press conference, Kennedy deflected the blame to Breslow, revealing that he had the final say on the decision to fire Cora.

“Sam Kennedy makes clear this was Craig Breslow’s decision and recommendation,” Chris Cotillo of MassLive reported on X.

Kennedy added that the decision had already been made on Saturday morning. Hence, the Red Sox’s 17-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles did not affect anything.

Fenway Sports Group and Red Sox owner John Henry flew in from Boston to deliver the news to Cora. The ex-manager got to know about it at the Four Seasons Hotel in Baltimore, after Saturday’s game and post-game dinner.

During Kennedy and Breslow’s press conference in Baltimore, the CEO reportedly noted, “Craig leads our baseball operation, and he’s made several bold decisions and recommendations, and this was one of them. That’s why we took the action we took yesterday.”

The Red Sox had hired Breslow in October 2023, following his 12-year MLB player career. He had two different stints with the Red Sox as a southpaw, in 2006 and from 2012 to 2015. They acquired him from Arizona in 2012 via trade and signed him in the following year.

Though the owner was absent from the presser, Kennedy reportedly said that Henry was also a part of the meetings they conducted on Saturday and Sunday.

“Yesterday was definitely painful, but we felt it was a necessary move, and we felt it necessary to take decisive action to achieve the goal of a fresh start for the 2026 season,” Kennedy said, per ESPN.

“We have full confidence in the players in that room to perform at the very highest level and get us back to playing baseball in October, which is the goal.”

Chad Tracy, manager of the Red Sox’s Triple-A affiliate in Worcester, will take over as the interim manager this season. He has 135 games to deliver the desired results and pull the team to the playoffs.

The Red Sox made it to the Wild Card Series under Cora last year, but the Yankees eliminated them.

Cora became the first manager the Red Sox fired in the middle of the season since Jimy Williams in August 2000. Joe Kerrigan had taken over the role after Williams.

But now, fans are feeling that Breslow used ex-manager Alex Cora as a scapegoat to cover his failure in roster building.

Red Sox Nation reacts to Kennedy’s statement

One fan observed, “Soooo Cora is just a scapegoat for Breslow being s—-y at his job.” Fans pointed to Breslow’s offseason roster construction as the real issue, noting he missed on top free agents like Pete Alonso and Alex Bregman. The consequences are now clear: while Bregman is hitting .259 for the Cubs, the Red Sox are relying on a struggling Caleb Durbin (.165 average) at third base and have limited depth at first following Triston Casas’s injury.

Holding the ownership responsible, another wrote, “Sam Kennedy and Craig Breslow are the fall guys for ownership. A bunch of corrupt fake people in jobs to cover for the true dip s—t at the top.”

Red Sox owner John W. Henry did not escape the heat of the fans’ anger either, as they called out the ownership’s failure in handling the team.

“Fans need to go off at every home game. More chants. If you are going to go to the game, might as well let ownership and management know how you deal,” suggested one. Following the Red Sox’s loss to the San Diego Padres in early April, which dropped Boston’s record to 2-8, fans started “Sell the team” chants at Fenway Park, aimed at John Henry and Fenway Sports Group.

In fact, after the news broke, long-time BoSox fan Dave Portnoy heavily criticized John Henry for not coming out front and addressing the questions.

A user also pointed out, “$14m owed to AC, I’m sure Breslow had last call on this. Christ.”

Cora was among the highest-paid managers in MLB after he signed a contract extension in July 2024. The extension would have kept him with the franchise through 2027. He was making $7.25 million annually, and the Red Sox had reportedly paid him only $2.42 million so far in 2026. Hence, the franchise owes him a staggering $12.08 million.

Now, with almost the entire community upset with the Boston Red Sox’s move, we are all looking forward to what happens to Alex Cora next! Is there any chance that he would return to the team someday? What do you think?