It was Craig Breslow, not anyone else, who recommended that the Boston Red Sox fire Alex Cora and five other Red Sox coaches, a move that became official on Saturday.
Red Sox fans learned the precise nature of Breslow's role in the firings on Sunday morning as Breslow and team president Sam Kennedy fielded questions from reporters in Baltimore. When a timid-looking Breslow scrambled to brand the firings as a joint decision, Kennedy quickly moved to clarify that this was, in fact, Breslow's call.
Why did Sam Kennedy wipe his hands clean of Alex Cora firing?
With Kennedy being crystal clear that Cora's ousting was a Breslow-led process, it's painfully obvious that Breslow is engaging in some old-fashioned damage control and scapegoating tactics as he watches the roster he built continue to play like one of the worst teams in the American League.
After 27 games into a 162-game season (or sooner, depending on when Breslow first pushed for Cora's firing), Breslow decided Boston's failures could be fixed by removing anyone and anything connected to Alex Cora, while keeping all things Breslow in place (including all seven of Breslow's pitching coaches).
Sam Kennedy makes clear this was Craig Breslow’s decision and recommendation.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) April 26, 2026
Moreover, a report from The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal suggests that Breslow had been hearing plenty of negative noise inside Boston's building (from players and coaches alike) questioning Breslow's offseason moves. It's not hard to imagine the skittish Breslow panicking at the growing discontent from his co-workers and then plotting to blame Cora as a coping mechanism.
Craig Breslow scapegoated Alex Cora after hearing too much criticism inside the organization
Some Red Sox coaches and new players in recent weeks expressed alarm at the youth of the position-player group assembled by Craig Breslow, per @Ken_Rosenthal. pic.twitter.com/EOPBItkuyZ
— Gordo (@BOSSportsGordo) April 26, 2026
Breslow embarrassed himself in front of the baseball world this past offseason by declaring that the Red Sox needed to add offense before proceeding to bungle Alex Bregman's free agency. He then immediately resorted to reactionary scrambling, throwing $130 million at Ranger Suárez as a way to rebrand the Red Sox overnight as a "run prevention" franchise.
This is the same man who allowed his ego to run Rafael Devers out of town without any long-term plan to replace Raffy's slug. He has presided over a Red Sox era that has fans more enraged than they've been in years.
Yes, it is clear as day: Craig Breslow pushed Alex Cora out of Boston to save himself. But how long until Breslow becomes the next victim of John Henry's ever-ready guillotine? Does Breslow not realize that all of the bootlicking, all of the finger-pointing, and all of the scapegoating will one day soon come back around to do him in like he's just done in Cora? Nothing would be less surprising to Red Sox fans. For some reason, Breslow can't see it.
Cora, meanwhile, is already enjoying his vacation as he awaits what promises to be a flurry of calls about his next job opportunity, possibly as early as this season. At some point in the near future, Cora will be managing an MLB baseball team again, and Breslow will be unemployed by the Red Sox. None of Breslow's self-preserving, backstabbing plots can save him from that destiny. And in the meantime, the Red Sox are still stuck with the same mediocre roster that he built as they task a Triple-A manager to figure it out.
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