Remember when the Boston Red Sox's leadership basically lied to the public about the status of ousted coach Jason Varitek back in April? Red Sox reporters certainly do! That's why it wasn't shocking to hear Red Sox president Sam Kennedy asked about Varitek during Monday's end-of-season press conference.
Whereas Kennedy did his best to beat around the bush back in the spring when it came to speaking on Varitek, he wisely used a more transparent approach this time around.
When prompted on Varitek, Kennedy flat-out confirmed that Varitek is not with the Red Sox organization in any capacity. His comments about a potential reunion weren't promising.
"We've connected with each other, but I've got no update on that ... but [we] look forward to continuing dialogue as we move forward," Kennedy said.
Red Sox president Sam Kennedy just confirmed that Jason Varitek isn't working with the organization
Sam Kennedy said today that Jason Varitek has not yet been reassigned. They have connected, but he is not with the organization currently. pic.twitter.com/RBvZRoVXzV
— Gordo (@BOSSportsGordo) October 5, 2026
This was all Kennedy's way of softly putting an end to the Varitek narrative that made the organization look bad five months ago. Remember, at the time of Alex Cora's firing, there was confusion from the outside looking in about whether or not Varitek had been included in the housecleaning.
Seeing as Varitek is a fan favorite and a Red Sox legend who spent his entire playing career in Boston, it makes sense that Kennedy and perhaps other members of the team's current leadership didn't want to make it seem like they'd given Varitek the boot, as this might cause a PR crisis.
What the Red Sox appeared to do was fire Varitek but frame the situation as if they hadn't. Varitek had been "reassigned," the Red Sox claimed. But the details of that reassignment never surfaced, and by the way, we're pretty sure Varitek would've declined.
With multiple reports pointing to the "reassignment" narrative as propaganda, and with other Red Sox legends like Pedro Martínez speaking out in defense of Varitek, the current regime in Boston has had no choice but to take a massive L with this situation. In light of all of that, Kennedy was actually fairly gracious and composed on Monday when asked about the ordeal.
The Red Sox are considering coaching changes, but Jason Varitek won't be involved
When prompted on Monday about potential coaching staff changes, Chad Tracy did reveal that he'll be discussing that prospect with Boston's brain trust in the coming days. But for Red Sox fans thinking that Varitek could be in play, Kennedy's remarks have already ruled out the possibility, haven't they?
It's clear that Kennedy and the Red Sox understand how important Varitek is to the fanbase. At least there's that. And it's not outlandish to believe that Boston actually wanted to keep Varitek around. But things became too messy given Varitek's ties to Cora. Retaining Varitek was never going to work out, and the Red Sox could've and should've been a lot less shameless about how they branded the episode to the media.
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