Is this remotely surprising? Chad Tracy and the Red Sox have agreed to a three-year deal that will make him the team’s 49th full-time manager, hopefully at least through the 2029 season. At the same time, Red Sox ownership has exercised the 2029 and 2030 options it held on Craig Breslow’s contract, giving him the big chair for at least four more seasons. Given the way this season has played out, the Tracy deal in particular was a foregone conclusion. But you certainly wouldn’t have said that back
in June, and the fact that Breslow is being extended today instead of fired is evidence of the team’s remarkable turnaround.
“Craig and Chad are two exceptionally talented leaders who have earned these opportunities in very different ways,” said Red Sox President & CEO Sam Kennedy. “Over the last three years, we have watched Craig bring clarity, discipline, and conviction to the work of building our baseball operation. Chad was asked to step into a difficult situation with little notice, but the trust he immediately commanded at the major league level was earned through years of work across our organization. What this team has accomplished over the past several months has been historic. Results matter greatly in this business, but so do judgment, character, and the ability to bring out the best in others. Craig and Chad have demonstrated all of those qualities, and they have earned our confidence in leading us forward.” (MLB.com)
FSG appears to be hoping to finally achieve some continuity in the front office and dugout with this move, which is something they’ve struggled to find in recent years. “Since Francona and Epstein ended their successful run together in 2011, the Red Sox have had eight manager/baseball operations head combinations, including Ron Roenicke’s one-year stint alongside Bloom in between Cora stints in 2020. The longest of those pairings — the ill-fated Bloom-Cora marriage — lasted fewer than three years during Cora’s second stint, from the start of 2021 to September 2023.” (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)
But Tracy and Breslow still have some work to do this year, because the Red Sox offense is seriously scuffling right now. As a team, the Sox are barely hitting above the Mendoza Line over their last 11 games, while averaging fewer than 3 runs scored. Part of that is due to the absence of some key pieces, like Willson Contreras and Ceddanne Rafaela, but lineup mainstays like Wilyer Abreu and Adley Rutschman are fighting slumps, too. “Just got to stay with it,” Chad Tracy said after Sunday’s loss. “Obviously we’ve got to hit and score runs. But we’re getting our way back to health, and we’ll get there.” (Peter Abraham, Boston Globe)
If the offense doesn’t get going and the Sox get bounced in the first round without playing a single game at Fenway, just like they did last year, does that change the ultimate perception of the job Craig Breslow did this year? Perhaps. Of course the perception of the job he’s done has already changed several times over the past few months, which may be a product of his willingness to shake things up mid-season. “I always try to be guided by what I believe to be right and best for the organization,” Breslow said. “Oftentimes, most people in these jobs would say their initial read or inclination of a situation was largely a correct one, but friction and inertia and emotion prevented you from acting on that. Then, you look back and say I wish I would have done whatever it was you were thinking at the time more often than you say that was probably not the right decision, and I wish I hadn’t.” (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)
One of those decisive mid-season moves was the trade of Marcelo Mayer — the man who was once heralded as the future of the Red Sox by the Red Sox themselves — to the San Fransisco Giants for middle reliever Erik Miller. But while the move divided Red Sox fans, his family is thrilled with the trade, as they say Mayer faced undue criticism and even threats from Boston fans. “When his dad found out about the trade to San Francisco, Enrique said he “jumped 10 feet in the air.” ‘I can’t explain how happy we are… Marcelo got a cortisone shot to be ready to come back a month and a half early to help the team in the playoffs and then he gets the rap he doesn’t play in pain? That couldn’t be further from the truth.” (Susan Slusser, San Fransisco Chronicle)
