Boston Red Sox legend Pedro Martínez made sure to verbally defend Jason Varitek on Friday night when Martínez visited Fenway Park and took part in Boston's 125th anniversary of the Red Sox organization's first home game.
Per The Athletic's Jen McCaffrey, Martinez expressed "staunch" support for Varitek and Alex Cora, who were both let go by the Red Sox on April 25 (subscription required). Although the Red Sox publicly declared that they had re-assigned Varitek to a different role within the organization, a league source has since asserted that Varitek was, in fact, fired alongside Cora and five other coaches.
Pedro Martínez questions Red Sox's treatment of Jason Varitek
Boston's handling of Varitek was curious at best and, by the looks of it, publicly dishonest. It's caused great confusion amongst Red Sox fans and amongst former Red Sox legends like Pedro himself.
“[The organization is] going to let me know [what happened with Varitek] ... there’s got to be a reason because Tek means so much to this city,” Martínez said, per McCaffrey. “To me, Tek is a legend here, and I’m not going to go into details because I don’t know [what happened]."
While Martínez admitted that he hasn't spoken to Varitek yet (explaining that Varitek isn't a phone person), he did say that he's spoken with Cora.
Alex Cora, Jason Varitek will likely have new MLB jobs soon
Less than 48 hours after being fired by Boston, Cora was offered the Philadelphia Phillies manager job by Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, who at the time was planning to fire Rob Thomson within a matter of days. Cora turned down Dombrowski's offer, choosing instead to spend time with his family for the rest of the season, and Dombrowski ultimately slotted in bench coach and New York Yankees legend Don Mattingly to replace Thomson on an interim basis.
Martinez predicted (without going out on a limb) that both Cora and Varitek will be working in MLB again soon. There's been plenty of speculation linking Cora to the Phillies, as well as to the New York Mets, who are widely expected to move on from sitting manager Carlos Mendoza ahead of the 2027 season.
As for Varitek, there is a large legion of Red Sox fans who would've liked to have seen Varitek manage Boston. With the organization siding against Cora, however, that was simply never going to happen, at least not with the current regime in charge. Varitek's loyalties obviously lie with Cora, and had Cora left Boston on his own terms one day, perhaps Varitek would have considered putting his name in for managerial consideration.
Jason Varitek gives a thumbs down as the fired group of Red Sox coaches flies back to Boston (via Alex Cora’s IG story). pic.twitter.com/QoOIrhzPTC
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) April 26, 2026
Now, we know that Varitek won't be anywhere near the Red Sox as long as Craig Breslow is the club's chief baseball officer. Just like Martinez, fans are upset that the strong tie between the Red Sox and Varitek has been severed in this fashion. Varitek doesn't belong in any other uniform.
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