MLBTR Podcast: The Alex Cora Situation, Lucas Giolito Signs, And The Phillies Fire Rob Thomson
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The Red Sox firing manager Alex Cora and several coaches (0:30)
- The Padres signing Lucas Giolito (27:30)
- The Phillies firing manager Rob Thomson and releasing Taijuan Walker (39:00)
- The Guardians promoting prospect Travis Bazzana (59:45)
Check out our past episodes!
- Kevin McGonigle, The Padres’ Franchise Valuation, And Edwin Díaz To Miss Time – listen here
- Lenyn Sosa Traded, And Injury Concerns For The Astros, Cubs And Orioles – listen here
- Previewing The 2026-27 Free-Agent Class – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Photo courtesy of Troy Taormina, Imagn Images
Alex Cora Not Expected To Pursue Another Managerial Opportunity This Season
It doesn’t appear as if Alex Cora will be in another major league dugout in 2026. Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe writes that the former Red Sox skipper plans to spend time with his young sons in his native Puerto Rico rather than jump directly back into managing. Chris Cotillo of MassLive reported similarly this morning, writing that Cora’s current focus is on his family.
The 2018 World Series champion could have landed a new opportunity within hours of being fired by the Sox on Saturday. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported this morning that the Phillies offered their managerial position to Cora before settling on Don Mattingly as interim skipper for the rest of 2026. Philly president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski more or less confirmed as much in a press conference this afternoon.
Dombrowski stopped short of saying there was a formal contract offer on the table, but he confirmed the job would have been Cora’s had he wanted it. Dombrowski told reporters (including Mark Feinsand of MLB.com) that he discussed the position with Cora on Sunday morning, less than 24 hours after the Boston change.
“We talked about potentially taking the job. I had told him I had really come to the conclusion at that point that if he took it, I was going to make a change. I thought that he might take it, but as time went on over the next day into Monday morning, it was apparent from his perspective that he wanted to take time with his family,” Dombrowski said.
Cora and Dombrowski have a strong relationship from their time together with the Red Sox. They overlapped between 2018-19, winning the aforementioned championship in the first season. Boston parted ways with Dombrowski at the end of a disappointing ’19 campaign. They fired Cora a few months later after his role in the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing operation became public. Cora served a one-year suspension, and the Red Sox re-hired him after the 2020 season.
The second stint lasted five-plus seasons and made him one of the sport’s highest-paid managers. Cora’s most recent extension runs through 2027 and reportedly pays him $7.25MM annually. The Red Sox will remain on the hook for that money if Cora doesn’t take another managerial position in the interim.
If another team hires him before his deal with Boston expires, his new salary would be subtracted from the Red Sox’s obligations. However, Feinsand reports that any hiring team is required to pay “fair market value” for an MLB manager — at least a few million dollars — to hire Cora rather than signing him for virtually nothing and leaving Boston on the hook for the entire sum. Of course, that’d be a moot point if Cora decides not to pursue managerial jobs in 2027 either.
Cora’s conversation with Dombrowski about a potential reunion in Philadelphia came before the team announced they were firing Rob Thomson. Dombrowski decided a change was necessary and went through with that dismissal even after Cora passed. They informed Thomson of the decision on Tuesday morning, roughly two hours before they made the formal announcement (link via Matt Gelb of The Athletic).
Thomson also met with reporters on Tuesday. He said he had no issue with Dombrowski’s conversation with Cora while he was still the manager. “I think Dave’s just doing his due diligence,” Thomson said (via Gelb). “He had made up his mind and he was going to move forward. … Dave and I have a close relationship, but that doesn’t stand in the way of him doing the right thing for the organization. I respect that.” The former skipper spoke highly of the team and said he’d “seriously entertain” an advisory position down the line if the Phillies make him an offer (via Lochlahn March of The Philadelphia Inquirer).
Phillies Fire Rob Thomson, Name Don Mattingly Interim Manager
There’s a major shakeup in Philadelphia. The Phillies fired manager Rob Thomson on Tuesday morning. Don Mattingly is the interim skipper, with the team’s press release saying he’ll hold that position for the remainder of the 2026 season. Philadelphia promoted third base coach Dusty Wathan to replace Mattingly as bench coach while calling up Triple-A manager Anthony Contreras as third base coach.
Philadelphia is the second struggling big-market team to make an early managerial change. The Red Sox dismissed Alex Cora and much of their coaching staff over the weekend. The Phillies didn’t overhaul the staff to the same extent, but it’s a major change nonetheless. They’ll hope it’ll light a fire under an underperforming team that is out to a 9-19 start, tying them with the Mets at the bottom of the National League.
It’s easy to connect the dots given the timing of the firings. Phils president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski was leading the Red Sox’s front office when Boston first hired Cora in 2017. The Sox won the World Series a year later. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that the Phillies offered the job to Cora, who declined while citing a desire to spend more time with family. Cora’s deal with Boston paid him upwards of $7MM per season through 2027, so he’s well positioned financially to take some time away if that’s indeed his preference.
The Phillies decided a change was needed even if Cora weren’t interested. Mattingly seems set to handle through the job through the end of the season. Of course, he has an even stronger tie with the Philly front office. His son Preston is Philadelphia’s general manager, the #2 in baseball operations underneath Dombrowski.
The firing ends Thomson’s three-plus year run leading the club, one that was highly successful overall. He was initially hired on an interim basis when the Phils dismissed Joe Girardi in June 2022. Thomson took over a team that was seven games below .500 and 12 back in the NL East. They went 65-46 the rest of the way to snag the NL’s final playoff spot, then tore through the Senior Circuit playoff field to win the pennant. Even after they dropped a six-game World Series at the hands of the Astros, it was an easy call for the Phillies to commit to Thomson as the full-time skipper.
It’d be too simplistic to attribute the ’22 turnaround solely to the managerial change. The Phils dismissed Girardi because they had a talented roster that wasn’t performing to expectations. Some kind of improvement was probably inevitable either way. The Phillies’ regular season results continued to improve during Thomson’s three full seasons at the helm. They respectively won 90, 95, and 96 games between 2023-25. Philadelphia has won the NL East in each of the last two seasons and comfortably made the playoffs all three years.
Despite the regular season trend, their postseason performances have gone in the wrong direction. Philadelphia lost a seven-game NLCS to the Diamondbacks in 2023. They’ve been bounced in the Division Series (by the Mets and Dodgers, respectively) in each of the past two years. Philly’s front office has pointed to the unpredictability of short series in remaining committed to Thomson as manager. They signed him to an extension running through 2027 last December.
Things changed quickly. The Phillies couldn’t have started this year much more poorly. They’ve only won two series, and those came against the Nationals and Rockies. They’ve lost each of their past six series, including a 10-game losing streak that dropped them from .500 to 8-18 last week.
The issues have been up and down the roster. Cristopher Sánchez has been their only effective starting pitcher. The offense has scored 102 runs, above only the Giants and Mets. They’re 29th in batting average and on-base percentage while ranking 17th in home runs. Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper and Brandon Marsh have been their only above-average hitters. They’ve gotten particularly poor starts from Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott, while offseason signee Adolis García hasn’t provided much in right field.
Philadelphia’s recent success has been built on excellent starting pitching and a potent lineup. They’ve had a difficult time building strong bullpens and are one of the league’s weakest defensive teams. The rotation should benefit from Zack Wheeler’s return from thoracic outlet surgery and more consistency from Jesús Luzardo, but they’re lacking depth beyond their top five arms. The Phillies let Ranger Suárez walk in free agency, relying on Andrew Painter to step into the rotation. Painter’s performance has been up and down, while Aaron Nola continues to be much too susceptible to home runs. They pulled the plug on Taijuan Walker last week, releasing the struggling righty once Wheeler returned.
The front office certainly deserves some of the blame for the underwhelming start. That said, it’s not as if Thomson’s managerial tenure was uniformly positive. He came under some fire for his in-game tactics in the playoffs and had a rift with Nick Castellanos, who publicly criticized the skipper’s communication skills. Veteran reliever Matt Strahm reportedly also voiced some displeasure internally with how Thomson handled his bullpen last season. The front office sided with Thomson in both instances, releasing Castellanos and trading Strahm to Kansas City.
It now falls on Mattingly to lead a turnaround, one the Phillies hope will resemble their 2022 season. They’ve already dropped 10.5 games behind the red hot Braves in the division race. Getting to 90 wins would require them to play at a 60.4% clip (a 98-win pace) for the rest of the season. It’s doable but leaves them without much margin for error, and another few weeks of play this poor would dig a hole from which they’d have almost no chance to recover.
The 65-year-old Mattingly is in his first season in Philadelphia. He spent the previous three seasons working as John Schneider’s bench coach in Toronto. The Jays came up just shy of winning a World Series last year and hoped to bring back their entire coaching staff. Mattingly declined, preferring the Philly opportunity. It seems fair to assume he didn’t expect to be the interim manager within a month of joining one of the NL’s perennial contenders, but that’s the situation in which he finds himself.
Mattingly has 12 seasons of managerial experience. He led the Dodgers from 2011-15 and skippered the Marlins between 2016-22. He predictably had much more success in Los Angeles, leading the team to three division titles. Mattingly made the postseason just once in seven seasons in Miami, a 31-29 showing during the shortened 2020 schedule. He holds an 889-950 record as a major league manager.
Wathan assumes his highest-profile role on the Philly staff. The 52-year-old has been in the organization for nearly two decades. He worked his way up as a minor league manager and has been the third base coach since the 2018 season. Wathan has held that position under Gabe Kapler, Girardi, and Thomson. Contreras now takes that role for his first MLB coaching opportunity. He has managed Triple-A Lehigh Valley for the last four-plus seasons.
Matt Gelb of The Athletic was first on Thomson’s dismissal and Mattingly being named interim manager. Respective images courtesy of Dale Zanine, Imagn Images.
Red Sox Fire Manager Alex Cora, Announce Coaching Changes
In a stunning early-season move, the Red Sox have announced a massive shakeup of their coaching staff. Manager Alex Cora has been fired, and many of his coaching staff have also been let go. That includes hitting coach Peter Fatse, assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson, bench coach Ramón Vázquez, third base/outfield coach Kyle Hudson, and major league hitting strategist Joe Cronin.
Triple-A manager Chad Tracy will become the interim manager for the big-league club. Per the club’s announcement, Chad Epperson will serve as the interim third base coach, and Collin Hetzler will also join the major league hitting staff. Meanwhile, game planning and run prevention coach Jason Varitek is being reassigned to a different role.
Red Sox owner John Henry issued the following statement:
Alex Cora led this organization to one of the greatest seasons in Red Sox history in 2018, and for that, and the many years that followed, he will always have our deepest gratitude. He has had a lasting impact on this team and on this city. He has led on and off the field in so many important ways. These decisions are never easy, but this one is especially difficult given what Alex has meant to the Red Sox since the day he arrived.
I want to thank Alex, our coaches, and their families for everything they have given to this organization. They have been part of this club in a way that goes beyond the field, and they will always have our respect and gratitude.
The Red Sox are off to a brutal 10-17 start in 2026. They are currently in last place in the AL East. That kind of performance is well below expectations for a club that earned a Wild Card spot in last year’s playoffs and made several moves to upgrade the roster during the offseason. It is difficult to say how much of that blame is on Cora as the manager, but evidently, the club felt a massive shakeup was necessary to break out of their slump.
Cora has served as the team’s manager since 2018, save for a one-year absence in 2020 while serving a suspension for his role in the Astros’ 2017 sign-stealing scandal. He compiled a 620-541 (.534) record in his time leading the Red Sox. His first season was undoubtedly his best, as the team won 108 games and defeated the Dodgers in five games to claim their fourth World Series title of the century.
Since returning from his suspension, the club’s performance under Cora has been less consistent. A 92-win season in 2021 was followed by last-place finishes in 2022-23, a .500 season in 2024, and 89 wins in 2025. Nonetheless, he is regarded as one of the top managers in the game and widely respected by his players. The team signed him to a three-year, $21.75MM extension in July 2024, which covered the 2025-27 seasons. The $7.25MM annual salary made Cora one of the highest-paid managers in the game.
The extension was also notable because it followed a recent change in baseball operations leadership. Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom was fired in September 2023. He was replaced by Craig Breslow. Given the change in top brass, it was fair to wonder if Cora would stay beyond 2024, the last year of his contract. The fact that Cora was extended through 2027 signaled confidence in his leadership and a desire for continuity under Breslow. In that context, Cora’s departure less than halfway through the extension is even more surprising.
In the end, the team’s performance this year may have simply been bad enough for club executives to want a change. Red Sox hitters have batted just .226/.306/.335 through their first 26 games, not including today’s blowout win. That amounts to a 78 wRC+, which ranks dead last in the Majors. Among their qualified hitters, Wilyer Abreu (130 wRC+) and trade acquisition Willson Contreras (115 wRC+) are the only ones performing at an above-average level. The other hitters range from below-average to downright dreadful.
It is still very early in the season, so small sample sizes need to be taken into account. However, the fact that the team’s offense is collectively struggling to this extent is more worrisome than if merely one or two players were underperforming. As with Cora as manager, it’s hard to say how much of that falls on the coaching staff, though it is noteworthy that most of the departing staff members are hitting coaches rather than pitching coaches.
On the pitching side, pitching coach Andrew Bailey and bullpen coach Chris Holt will remain in their roles. Red Sox pitchers have underperformed just like the hitters, though the club is undoubtedly banking on positive regression as the season goes on. Garrett Crochet is off to a rough start, including a 10 earned run shelling on April 13, but he is one of the top five starters in the game and will surely recover. The team signed Ranger Suarez to a five-year deal over the offseason, and he is due for positive regression as well.
Like the offense, the rotation has talented young players like Connelly Early, Brayan Bello, and Payton Tolle at its disposal. However, the club may have greater confidence in the pitching staff’s ability to rebound due to the track records of veterans Crochet, Suarez, and Sonny Gray (who is currently injured). The bullpen, which has a 3.73 ERA, similarly features veterans Aroldis Chapman and Garrett Whitlock. In contrast, most of the offensive struggles are from talented players with shorter track records, such as Caleb Durbin and Ceddanne Rafaela, as well as veterans who have struggled in recent years, like Trevor Story. Thus, the offense may have a greater need for new coaches, while the pitching staff (or at least the rotation) is more likely to recover on its own.
Time will tell if the managerial and coaching changes will bring about improved performance from the Red Sox. In order to match last season’s 89 wins, the club would need to play at 95-win pace the rest of the way. That is a significant challenge, of course, but perhaps not an insurmountable one with the young talent on the roster. As for Cora, he may look for a new managerial gig or even a role in a front office. He has expressed interest in front office roles before, including around the time of his July 2024 extension. Given his overall track record, he is a lock to find another role in baseball if he wants it.
Jeff Passan of ESPN was first to report the firings of Cora and Vázquez. He also reported the firing of Hudson. Julian McWilliams of CBS Sports was first to report on Fatse and Lawson’s firings, while Chris Cotillo of MassLive was first on Cronin. He also added that Bailey and Holt were staying in their roles. Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald was first on Tracy’s promotion, and Ari Alexander of 7News Boston clarified that Varitek was being reassigned rather than fired.
Photos courtesy of Peter Aiken and Dale Zanine, Imagn Images
Craig Breslow Discusses Red Sox’ Struggles, Future Plans
The Red Sox have been one of the more disappointing teams in baseball this year. While they’re shielded from consideration for the most disappointing club in MLB thanks to their division rivals in Baltimore, Boston entered the season as a trendy pick to win the AL East but currently sit three games under .500, 3.5 games back of a Wild Card spot, and 8.5 games back of the Yankees for the division title. While the calendar has not yet flipped to June and there’s plenty of time for a club floating around .500 to turn things around, that didn’t stop chief baseball officer Craig Breslow from expressing urgency in his comments to reporters (including Chris Cotillo of MassLive) regarding the state of the team earlier today.
“The simple answer is it’s not good enough. It’s not the performance we expected in the offseason,” Breslow said, as relayed by Cotillo. “It’s too late in the season and I think the the evidence is too strong to just say, ‘We’re gonna be OK tomorrow when we wake up.’”
Those comments seem to indicate that changes are necessary in order for the Red Sox to reach their maximum potential, though Breslow did not announce any specific changes ahead of this afternoon’s game against Atlanta. Reporting has subsequently indicated that there will be a handful of roster moves ahead of tomorrow’s game, but one name that does not yet appear to be coming up to the majors is top prospect Roman Anthony. Widely viewed as the sport’s top prospect and boasting a .306/.435/.505 slash line for Triple-A Worcester, fans have grown impatient waiting for his highly-anticipated major league debut.
Breslow’s comments didn’t shut the door to the possibility of Anthony coming up in the near future but didn’t provide any new hints that his debut could be on the horizon, with Cotillo suggesting that Breslow simply repeated past comments about wanting to call Anthony up into a situation where he’ll be able to thrive. Aside from the possibility of a promotion for Anthony, Breslow was also asked about the job status of manager Alex Cora. Breslow stood by his manager, referencing his decision to offer Cora a three-year extension last summer.
“We obviously made a commitment to Alex,” Breslow said, as relayed by Cotillo. “We’re gonna see that through. Right now, it’s about making sure that we’re doing everything we can to enable the 26 guys on our roster to help us win as many games as possible.”
It would certainly be a shock to find out that Cora is on the hot seat after the club committed to more $7MM annually to him for the 2025-27 seasons, so it’s hardly a surprise that Breslow shut down the idea of parting ways with his manager. Even so, the fact that the possibility of a change in the dugout came up at all during the scrum highlights the sense of urgency surrounding the Red Sox, and Cotillo adds that Breslow did not fully rule out the possibility of changes to the coaching staff. Breslow emphasized that the club is prepared to “pull a string that that we think will impact our success on the field” should one arise, though he also made clear that he wouldn’t want any changes made to “paper over a more deeply rooted problem.”
One place where the Red Sox appear poised to make some substantial changes in the near future is first base. While Rafael Devers seemingly remains unlikely to move to the position anytime soon, Kristian Campbell has been doing drills at the position in recent weeks and is expected to make his first career start at the position tomorrow, as Cotillo noted yesterday. Romy Gonzalez is also expected back from the injured list in the relatively near future after serving as the club’s primary first baseman during the brief stretch between Casas’s injury and his own. It’s unclear what sort of timeshare will be had at first base once Gonzalez and Campbell join Abraham Toro and Nick Sogard as players capable of handling the position on the roster, but it seems safe to expect everyone from that group who remains on the roster to make at least occasional appearances at first for the time being.
Red Sox, Alex Cora Sign Three-Year Extension
5:25pm: Cora confirmed the news after today’s game, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today on X. The deal is now official, per Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe on X.
2:25pm: Per Jon Heyman of The New York Post on X, Cora and the Sox have agreed to a three-year deal of more than $7MM annually, which aligns with the figure from Olney. Heyman says the deal is being finalized now.
1:50pm: The Red Sox and manager Alex Cora have recently engaged in talks about a contract extension, per Jeff Passan and Buster Olney of ESPN, as relayed by Passan on X. Passan says there is momentum towards a deal with a multi-year deal possible. In a subsequent tweet, he adds that the sides have talked about a three-year pact. Olney tweets that the discussed deals would pay Cora in the range of $21.75MM over those three years.
Cora, 48, has been the subject of speculation for a while since he is in the final year of his current contract. The club finished last in the American League East in both 2022 and 2023, which led the franchise to fire chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom. Cora stayed on with Craig Breslow replacing Bloom, but it wasn’t clear if Cora would stay beyond the current season.
Some had speculated that Cora might look to pivot to a front office role, something he has openly expressed an interest in. Others wondered if he might follow the path of Craig Counsell, who surprised many by becoming a free agent and signing with the Cubs for $40MM over five years, changing the landscape of salary expectations for high-profile managers.
After those aforementioned last-place finishes, the Sox went on to have a fairly modest offseason. Their most notable deal in the winter was signing Lucas Giolito to a two-year deal, but they also traded away Chris Sale and then Giolito required season-ending surgery, seemingly leaving the club worse than where they were before.
Expectations were therefore fairly low but the Sox have easily surpassed them. Thanks largely to breakouts from incumbent players like Tanner Houck, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, Kutter Crawford and others, the Sox are 54-46, putting them just one game back of a playoff spot.
As recently as last month, Cora told reporters that he and the club had no plans to discuss a midseason extension, but it appears that has now changed. Perhaps that’s due to the club performing better than expected or simply because Cora and Breslow have now had a few months to work together and become comfortable with one another.
The franchise has shown loyalty to Cora before. He managed the club in 2018 and 2019, winning the World Series in the first of those years, but he missed the 2020 season after being suspended by Major League Baseball. Cora was the bench coach for the Astros in 2017 and received that punishment for his role in their infamous sign-stealing operation. Ron Roenicke served as the bench boss in Boston that year but Cora was re-hired after his suspension was served, a two-year deal with club options for 2023 and 2024.
The Sox then went on a surprise playoff run 2021, despite finishing in last in the East the year prior. On the heels of that strong season, the Sox preemptively exercised both of their club options, keeping Cora in the dugout through 2024. That contract is now nearing its completion but it sounds as though there’s a good chance of a new deal getting done to keep him in Boston.
Alex Cora: No Plans To Discuss Red Sox Extension Mid-Season
Red Sox manager Alex Cora entered the 2024 season without a contract lined up for 2025, and comments he made to reporters, including The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey, yesterday indicate that he and the club do not intend to discuss a possible contract extension during the season.
“We’ll play it out, and whatever is decided is decided,” Cora said, per McCaffrey. “…My situation will be taken care of in the future, whatever the organization decides — or whatever I decide to do.”
Cora has been at the helm of the Red Sox since 2018, with the exception of the shortened 2020 season when he was replaced by Ron Roenicke while serving a one-year suspension due to his role in the 2017 Astros’ sign-stealing scandal. Boston, of course, won the World Series during the first season of Cora’s tenure. The Red Sox missed the postseason in 2019, however, and upon Cora’s return to he manager’s chair in 2021 have generally hovered in the vicinity of .500 with 277 wins and 267 losses entering play today. They’ve made the postseason just once during Cora’s second stint with the club, advancing to the ALCS in 2021 after securing a Wild Card spot.
Of course, much of the blame for that mediocre performance in recent seasons lies at the feet of the front office, which is currently on its third head of baseball operations since Cora joined the staff in 2018 after hiring former Cubs assistant GM Craig Breslow as chief baseball officer this past offseason. Given the turmoil the Red Sox have faced at the top of their baseball operations department and a payroll that has surpassed $200MM just once in the past five seasons after reaching a peak of more than $236MM in 2019 (per Cot’s Baseball Contracts), it’s hard to place Boston’s struggles in recent years at the feet of Cora.
In fact, the Red Sox have generally exceeded expectations to this point in the 2024 campaign, posting an even 29-29 record entering play today despite minimal additions after last year’s 84-loss campaign and significant injuries to key pieces such as Lucas Giolito, Garrett Whitlock, Trevor Story, and Triston Casas. The club’s solid play amid those injuries and low expectations have reinforced Cora’s reputation around the league as one of the game’s most respected managers, and should make him an enticing managerial candidate in the event that he doesn’t return to the Red Sox in 2025. Cora’s situation brings to mind that of former Brewers manager Craig Counsell, who departed Milwaukee after choosing to enter the 2023 season without an extension in favor of a five-year, $40MM contract with the Cubs this past winter.
McCaffrey notes that Cora was “keenly aware” of Counsell’s deal with the Cubs this past season, and it would hardly be a surprise if he hoped to land a similar deal for himself this winter. On the other hand, it’s at least possible Cora could look to take his impending free agent status as an opportunity to move out of the dugout entirely. The 48-year-old has previously suggested that he would like to move to a front office role at some point down the line, although he noted last autumn that he was not yet ready to make the jump.
Coincidentally, the Red Sox themselves figure to be in the market for an addition to their front office brain trust this winter, with Sean McAdam of MassLive.com noting that Breslow recently told reporters he doesn’t expect to hire a second-in-command until this winter. That’s hardly a surprising development, as it was reported just last month by Alex Speier of the Boston Globe that the club had hired an outside consulting firm to conduct an audit of the organization and offer Breslow recommendations regarding potential changes. As noted by McAdam, Breslow suggested that the ongoing audit could have an influence over his decision regarding the GM job, noting that it could nudge them toward promoting an in-house candidate or indicate that they’d be best served hiring from outside the organization.
While the opening in Boston’s front office and Cora’s previously stated long-term career goals appear to line up, there’s been no indication from either side that Cora and the Red Sox are considering the possibility of their manager moving upstairs next season. Instead, it appears that decisions by all parties, both regarding Cora’s future in the organization and the vacant GM role below Breslow in the baseball operations hierarchy, will be set aside until this winter as the club attempts to weather a storm of injuries and return to the postseason after back-to-back last place finishes in the AL East.
Red Sox Notes: Rotation, Cora, Ownership, Boddy
Upgrading the Red Sox rotation has been a well-established goal for the club this winter, but they’ve achieved little on that front beyond swapping out Chris Sale for Lucas Giolito to this point despite pursuits of players such as Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga this winter. While chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has indicated that the club remains “engaged” in the market for starting pitching, club CEO Sam Kennedy recently cast some doubt on the possibility of the club making a significant addition by noting that the club is unlikely to match its 2023 payroll in 2024.
With that being said, at least one member of the Red Sox pitching apparatus feels confident about the club’s internal options headed into the season. In a conversation with Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, newly-minted pitching coach Andrew Bailey disputed the notion that the club needs to add another starting pitcher to its rotation mix while adding that he feels the group, which consists of Giolito, Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford and Nick Pivetta with the likes of Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock in competition for the fifth spot, has the talent to succeed. That group of pitchers combined for a 4.51 ERA in 791 innings of work last year.
Bailey’s optimism regarding the club’s internal options for the rotation is fortunate as its unclear whether the club will be successful in adding another arm to the rotation this offseason. According to RosterResource, the club’s current projected payroll is just $21MM below its 2023 level, likely leaving room for little more than a lower-level acquisition such as Mike Clevinger, Hyun-Jin Ryu, or perhaps a reunion with James Paxton. More significant additions such as a deal for Jordan Montgomery or Blake Snell would surely require the club to move an existing salary such as that of closer Kenley Jansen, particularly the club’s continuing pursuit of a right-handed hitter such as Adam Duvall.
More notes from Boston…
- While manager Alex Cora is entering the final year of his contract in 2024, the 48-year-old skipper recently told reporters (including MassLive’s Chris Cotillo) that he has yet to have any significant discussions with the club regarding his future, though he added that he’d be “very selfish” to focus on that and take his attention away from the upcoming season. Cora has previously indicated that he would like to move upstairs to a front office role at some point, though it’s worth noting that he added that he’s “not ready” to make that jump at this point in his career. If he remains in the dugout following the 2024 season, whether at Fenway or elsewhere, he’ll do so as one of the league’s most well-respected managers with a record of 440-370 through five seasons at the helm in Boston.
- One piece of the Red Sox management puzzle that seems unlikely to change any time soon is ownership. As noted by Christopher Smith of MassLive, club chairman Tom Werner recently spoke to reporters about the ownership group’s plans to remain in Boston long-term. Werner noted that the Red Sox are the “cornerstone” of Fenway Sports Group, the club’s parent company that also owns other major sports teams such as Liverpool F.C. and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Werner added that ownership hopes to remain at the helm in Boston “for a couple more decades at least.”
- The Red Sox made a significant hire for their front office earlier this week as The Athletic’s Eno Sarris reports that pitching guru Kyle Boddy has joined the club as a special advisor to Breslow. Boddy is best known as the founder of Driveline Baseball, a data-driven independent player development facility. Aside from his work at Driveline, Boddy also served as the Reds’ pitching director from October 2019 to September 2021. This offseason has seen the Red Sox focus heavily on hires with backgrounds in pitching development, with both Breslow and Bailey joining the club’s ranks in addition to Boddy over the past few months.
Managers & Top Front Office Executives On Expiring Contracts
On paper, a longer contract equals a larger amount of job security. And yet every year, we seem to be adding a longer list of caveats to this annual post detailing which managers and front office bosses (a GM, president of baseball operations, chief baseball officer, or whatever the title may be) are entering the final guaranteed year of their contracts.
First off, this list is somewhat speculative — some teams don’t publicly announce the terms of employee contracts, nor are details always leaked to reporters. It is entirely possible some of the names listed have already quietly agreed to new deals, or were already contracted beyond 2024. Secondly, obviously a contract only carries so much weight if a team drastically underperforms, and if ownership feels a change is needed in the dugout or in the front office. Or, ownership might still desire a change even if the team is doing well on the field, i.e. the Marlins parting ways with Kim Ng after a wild card berth last season.
Craig Counsell‘s five-year, $40MM deal to become the Cubs’ new manager also provides an interesting wrinkle to the managerial market. With Counsell’s contract setting a new modern benchmark for managerial salaries, some of the more established skippers on this list will surely be looking to match or top Counsell’s deal. These managers might choose (as Counsell did) to finish the year without signing a new contract and then test the open market, since you never know when a mystery team like the Cubs might swoop in to top the field.
As always, thanks to Cot’s Baseball Contracts for reference information on some of these contract terms.
Angels: The Halos have had eight consecutive losing seasons, including the first three years of Perry Minasian’s stint as general manager. Minasian now faces the challenge of trying to break this losing streak without Shohei Ohtani on the roster, and even before Ohtani joined the Dodgers, Minasian was clear that the Angels weren’t going to be rebuilding. This tracks with the overall aggressive nature of owner Arte Moreno, yet this approach has also manifested itself in five non-interim GMs running the Angels since Moreno bought the team in 2003. As Minasian enters the last year of his contract, it will take at least a winning season to keep Moreno from making yet another front office change.
Athletics: There hasn’t been any word about an extension for general manger David Forst, even though Forst’s last deal purportedly expired after the 2023 season. It can therefore probably be assumed that Forst inked a new deal at some point, as it has appeared to be business as usual for the longtime Oakland executive this winter (or as “usual” as business can be given the Athletics’ bare-bones rebuild and the unusual nature of the team’s impending move to Las Vegas). Manager Mark Kotsay would’ve been entering the final guaranteed year of his original deal with the A’s, except the team exercised their club option on Kotsay through the 2025 season.
Braves: Alex Anthopoulos is entering the last season of his three-year extension as Atlanta’s president of baseball operations, and one would imagine that ownership will aim to lock Anthopoulos up to another deal as soon as possible. The Braves have won six straight NL East titles and the 2021 World Series championship during Anthopoulos’ six seasons with the organization, and look to be contenders for years to come thanks to the core of star players under long-term deals. Anthopoulos would seemingly be eager to stay in Atlanta for this same reason, though if he did choose to play out the year and test the market, he would undoubtedly command a lot of interest from teams looking for a new chief executive.
Cardinals: For just the third time in the last century, a Cardinals team lost 91 or more games. This unexpected interruption in the Cards’ run of success has naturally put a lot of heat on Oliver Marmol, who is entering the final season of his three-year contract. Unsurprisingly, the team had yet to have any extension talks with Marmol as of early December, and it remains to be seen if Marmol will get even one extra year of security. With such franchise stalwarts as Yadier Molina or Joe McEwing perhaps waiting in the wings as managers of the future, Marmol will surely need a quick start and at least a winning record in 2024 to retain his job.
Guardians: Chris Antonetti’s contract details haven’t been publicly known for more than a decade, yet there isn’t any sense that the longtime executive will be leaving Ohio any time soon. Antonetti has been part of Cleveland’s front office since 1999, and he has been running the baseball ops department (first as GM and then as president of baseball operations) since 2010. While the Guardians stumbled to a 76-86 record last year, Antonetti has a long track record of building contending teams on low payrolls, and he’ll now embark on a new era with Stephen Vogt replacing Terry Francona as the Guards’ manager.
Mariners: Another somewhat speculative situation, as while president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto and manager Scott Servais signed extensions in September 2021, the exact length of those extensions wasn’t reported. It is probably fair to assume both men are signed beyond 2024, though Servais’ previous two deals were three-year contracts, and 2024 would be his final guaranteed year if the skipper’s latest contract was also a three-year pact.
Orioles: Baltimore is particularly mum about the details of any employee contracts, as GM Mike Elias’ contract terms have never been publicized since he took over the club in November 2018. Manager Brandon Hyde has already signed one extension that flew under the radar, and that deal has apparently stretched beyond the 2023 season, as there hasn’t been any suggestion that Hyde won’t return to the AL East champions. In either case, Elias and Hyde won’t seem to have any worries about job security given how the Orioles won 101 games last year, and might be budding powerhouses for the next decade given the amount of young talent on the roster and in the minor league pipeline.
Pirates: Ben Cherington is entering his fifth season as Pittsburgh’s general manager, and terms of his original deal weren’t reported. With the Bucs perhaps starting to turn the corner after their long rebuild, there wouldn’t appear to be any reason for ownership to move on from Cherington, if he hasn’t already been quietly signed to a new deal. The Pirates already extended manager Derek Shelton back in April, in another hint that ownership is satisfied with the team’s direction.
Rays: Kevin Cash‘s last extension was a lengthy six-year deal covering the 2019-24 seasons, with a club option for 2025. It seems like a lock that the Rays will at least exercise that club option and seek out another multi-year deal, and Cash has a good case to argue for a Counsell-esque contract. Widely considered one of baseball’s best managers, Cash is 739-617 over his nine seasons in Tampa Bay and has led the team to five consecutive postseason berths.
Red Sox: Alex Cora is entering the final year of his contract, and the Red Sox are coming off a pair of last-place finishes in the AL East. Despite these results, the blame seems to have been placed on now-fired chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, as there hasn’t been much indication that ownership is dissatisfied with Cora’s performance as manager. Since Cora has hinted that he might like to run a front office himself in the future, it will be interesting to monitor if he might pursue those ambitions as soon as next offseason, or if he might sign a new extension with the Red Sox as manager, or if Cora could perhaps let the season play out and then accept bids from several suitors outside of Boston.
Rockies: In each of the last two Februarys, Bud Black has signed a one-year extension to tack an extra year onto his run as Colorado’s manager. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Black do the same this spring, as past reports have indicated that Black and the Rockies are working on an unofficial roll-over arrangement with the manager’s contract status. As loyal as owner Dick Monfort is known to be with his employees, however, one wonders if the Rockies’ 103-loss season in 2023 (or their five straight losing seasons) might lead to questions about Black’s future, even if the team’s roster construction or their boatload of pitching injuries last year can’t be blamed on Black. For what it’s worth, the terms of GM Bill Schmidt’s deal weren’t publicized when Schmidt was promoted to the full-time position after the 2021 season, though Schmidt isn’t thought to be in any danger of being replaced.
Twins: Chief baseball officer Derek Falvey and GM Thad Levine are both apparently entering the final year of their contracts, though Minnesota has been known to be somewhat quiet about employee contracts (such as manager Rocco Baldelli‘s last extension). The duo known as “Falvine” have been on the job for seven seasons, with something of an all-or-nothing track record of either losing seasons or playoff berths, and the Twins were on the upswing again with an AL Central title in 2023. Assuming either exec hasn’t already signed an under-the-radar extension, the Twins would seemingly be eager to retain both Falvey and Levine, though either could explore options elsewhere for at least leverage purposes. For Levine in particular, he could be looking to lead his own front office, after being a finalist for Boston’s CBO job this fall and previously getting some consideration for front office vacancies with the Rockies and Phillies in recent years.
Yankees: Perhaps no skipper in baseball faces more public pressure than Aaron Boone, given how a lot of Bronx fans were calling for his ouster even before the Yankees missed the playoffs and won only 82 games in 2023. Boone is entering the last guaranteed year of his contract, and the Yankees have a club option on his services for 2025. For as much loyalty as owner Hal Steinbrenner and GM Brian Cashman have shown to Boone, it is hard to imagine the manager would be retained if New York doesn’t at least make the postseason again, and another miss could also raise some new questions about Cashman’s status (though his deal runs through the 2026 season).
AL Notes: Orioles, Astros, Red Sox
The Orioles figure to have something of a logjam in the outfield next year, as established starters Anthony Santander, Cedric Mullins, and Austin Hays will be joined by top prospects Colton Cowser and Heston Kjerstad on the grass in the majors at some point next year. As noted by Roch Kubatko of MASN, that could come as soon as the start of the 2024 season, as GM Mike Elias has indicated that both Cowser and Kjerstad could be in the mix for the Opening Day roster next season. That leaves the Orioles with five starting caliber outfielders headed into the 2024 campaign, and that ignores depth options like Kyle Stowers and Ryan McKenna.
Needless to say, given the club’s logjam, the club figures to field interest on their outfielders this offseason, with Kubatko noting that “industry speculation” suggests the Orioles could look to move one of their five primary outfield options in order to free up playing time. Among them, Kubatko indicates that Santander and Hays have drawn the most interest, while the Orioles are likely to consider Cowser in particular to be untouchable in trade talks. Subtracting either Santander or Hays from the club’s 2024 outfield mix would leave them with a very lefty-heavy outfield, as each of Mullins, Cowser, Kjerstad, and Stowers bat left-handed. Given that, Santander might be the most sensible player for the club to move as a switch-hitter with just one year of control remaining, compared to Hays’s two years of team control and righty bat.
More from the American League…
- Dusty Baker has announced his retirement from managing, prompting the Astros to begin a managerial search. That search, of course, is still in its early stages with Houston having just been eliminated from postseason contention less than a week ago. Houston bench coach Joe Espada and former Angels and Tigers manager Brad Ausmus are both reportedly under consideration for the position, but questions remain as to who exactly will conduct the club’s managerial search. Chandler Rome of The Athletic discussed that uncertainty earlier this week, noting that owner Jim Crane and adviser Jeff Bagwell both wield considerable influence in the front office, even with GM Dana Brown at the helm of the baseball operations department. Rome notes that Bagwell was particularly influential in the club’s 2022-23 offseason following the departure of former GM James Click last November, while Crane was a key engineer of the Justin Verlander trade at the deadline this year. Rome indicates that the duo’s influence over baseball operations will continue with the upcoming managerial search, with each having “immense say” over the next manager alongside Brown.
- The Chaim Bloom era of Red Sox baseball is now officially in the rearview mirror as the club hired former major league pitcher and Cubs executive Craig Breslow as the club’s new chief baseball officer earlier this week. MassLive’s Sean McAdam discussed the importance of Breslow and manager Alex Cora building a strong relationship together in the early stages of their partnership, and in doing so noted that the relationship between Bloom and Cora frayed during the “last year or so” of Bloom’s tenure at the helm. While Cora was frustrated with Bloom’s lack of urgency in returning to contention, McAdam notes that the pair’s relationship was complicated by Cora temporarily departing the club during the 2019-20 offseason, mere months after Bloom was hired to replace Dave Dombrowski. Fortunately for the Red Sox, Breslow and Cora should have no such roadblock as they look to build a strong working relationship going forward.