The ‘What is going on?!’ texts were constant for about 24 hours. They’re panicking. Baseball is laughing at them. This is Craig Breslow’s team now.
And then there was this one.
“It’s like (pooping) your pants and changing your shirt.”
Some would say the message from the former Red Sox player was the perfect analogy for the Saturday night dismissal of manager Alex Cora and five coaches. The widely held perception is that the team wasn’t, in fact, tending to the real problem when trying to get the 2026 season back on the rails.
Well, maybe.
The fact of the matter is that Breslow and Co. have picked their priorities. And their message - which was reaffirmed in the chief baseball officer’s 20-minute press conference at Camden Yards before the Red Sox’s 5-3 win over the Orioles - is that they believe these are the right collection of players, no matter what the early returns. It was the group that was let go that served as the obstacles to success.
That is certainly Breslow’s prerogative to dig in on the projections and models. There wasn’t the same press conference statement as when Rafael Devers was dealt, proclaiming that the Red Sox would win more games doing it without the slugger than with him. But there might as well have been the same declaration.
Breslow knows that after an offseason of repeatedly pushing the “World Series or bust” narrative, winning is the only thing that matters. And he believes that this unbelievably unorthodox late-April maneuver is the proper path.
Again, maybe.
But while there is always a chance of the 11-17 Red Sox going on a heater, the uncomfortable elements of this equation shouldn’t be ignored.
1. This was like following the blueprints to build a skyscraper and then, after completing two floors, simply saying, “Never mind.”
Breslow didn’t have to sign Cora to his three-year contract extension in 2024, but he did. Breslow didn’t have to re-sign third base coach Kyle Hudson, hitting coach Pete Fatse, and game-planning coordinator Jason Varitek to new deals this past offseason, but he did. Now, a month into the season, they are all gone.
It would seem to behoove the Red Sox ownership and front office to trust their initial instincts, such as when a big bat was one of the two offseason priorities back in November. That would have been a wise path to take. They didn’t take it. And it would certainly seem like a good idea to trust the track record of the manager and his coaches, who were worthy of seeing it through for at least a few months longer.
Did the doubts, uncertainty, and lack of faith grow at a historic rate from March until the third week of April?
Did this group of coaches, which had proven itself enough to secure new deals, truly serve as the catalysts for all underperforming players?
And how, exactly, did Breslow determine that so many pieces of the coaching staff’s puzzle were the problem without admittedly asking the players who were working with them?
Sunday, there was the explanation from Breslow: “I don't think it's productive to get into the merits of an individual decision or action outside of saying that, again, we believe in the group we have in the clubhouse and we believe that a new direction is warranted, and new voices and this is something that enables us to make a fresh start."
And there was the reaction of at least a few key veteran players, such as Trevor Story: "I think those are some of the best coaches in the world, and obviously our performance on the field, you know, kind of cost them their jobs. So ... shocked. I hate this for AC. It doesn't seem fair."
2. When word came out that the Breslow-led meeting with the team on Sunday to officially inform them of the changes didn't include the opportunity for questions or comments from the players, two things happened.
First, stories emerged from current and former executives about how they routinely stood in the clubhouse and took the slings and arrows after making tough, unpopular decisions. And second, recent examples surfaced of former Red Sox chief decision-makers letting the clubhouse have at it, such as when Chaim Bloom weathered the anger from Sox players after releasing popular catcher Kevin Plawecki with just a few weeks left in the season.
The likelihood is that Breslow will be available for one-on-ones in Toronto, as was the case after the Devers deal. But this is different. The tone that Monday in Seattle was one of moving on and putting the disgruntled designated hitter in the rearview mirror. Without a proper forum for questions and answers, uncertainty and anger lingered through at least a good chunk of the Sox's clubhouse in Baltimore.
"They made it very clear that we get paid to play baseball and we need to just focus on playing baseball," Red Sox reliever Garrett Whitlock told reporters before the series finale.
Like so many other aspects of this entire saga, such cut-and-dried thinking is the true recipe for the Red Sox's disaster.
3. Connolly Early said after his start Sunday, "We talked within the team before the game, and just wanted to go out there and play baseball and support each other. I think we did a really good job today. Played some really good baseball, and played the way AC (Cora) would have wanted us to play."
The quote was telling for a few reasons. For one, it exhibited the loyalty the majority of the clubhouse has toward Cora. And, secondly, there was enough leadership to ensure the group was headed in the right direction. And that kind of guidance promises to be more vital than ever as Chad Tracy and his new staff figure out their new big league lives.
The conversation also highlights a major risk regarding Breslow's gambit.
Cora knew he was having to spend more time outside the manager's office than ever because of the lack of perceived clubhouse alphas. So now, who picks up that slack? Who are the hitters who leaned on Fatse going to rely on? How will the absence of Kyle Hudson's everyday outfield tutelage alter things?
Who is going to truly help navigate the pitfalls of a 162-game big league season in Boston?
It's one thing to alter instruction and approach. It's another to strip away the shoulders most of these players had become so accustomed to leaning on. That might not be a factor today, tomorrow, or next week. But navigating adversity is going to be an issue that has suddenly become a whole lot more complicated.
Much of this drama might dissipate quickly. That's just how a baseball season usually works. But it is the remnants of these caution-to-the-wind decisions that might not be pushed aside.
As the former player's text should remind us: The new shirt might look nice right now, but at some point, we'll find out whether they paid enough attention to the pants.
