The Boston Red Sox organization shook up its coaching staff on October 21. Third base coach Chad Epperson is taking the role of manager of the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox along with a few other coaching changes throughout the minor league system.
One of those changes was Liam Carroll being promoted from his role as manager of the High-A Greenville Drive to manager of the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs (according to Tommy Cassell). It didn’t take long for my thoughts on Carroll to age well. The Red Sox are clearly high on him, too.
With all the moves after the mass firings of the coaching staff during the season, there were a lot of holes in the minor leagues that needed to be filled. With Epperson now the Triple-A manager (another hole that was created with Chad Tracy taking over as the big league manager), Carroll is here to save the day.
Former High-A Greenville manager Liam Carroll promoted by Red Sox to Chad Epperson's former role in Double-A
Carroll has been phenomenal since joining the organization. Becoming the Single-A Salem RidgeYaks (then Salem Red Sox) manager in 2023, he spent two seasons in that role before taking over as the High-A Greenville Drive manager in 2025. Now, he’s on to Double-A.
Over four seasons, Carroll has amassed over 200 wins as a manager. That might not sound like a large number, but a few factors are worth weighing. First, lower levels of the minor leagues have shorter seasons than the majors. Carroll also doesn’t manage every single game, getting a week off during the year to give other people a shot in different roles (the minor leagues are a trip).
There’s also the very obvious fact that winning isn’t the lone priority in the minor leagues. You are trying to build prospects into better players/people, especially at the lower levels when they are at such a young age.
Players who have already impacted the Red Sox that Carroll has managed include Payton Tolle, Roman Anthony, Connelly Early, Eduardo Rivera and Zack Kelly. There are also some massive prospects on the horizon who he has helped mold, such as Franklin Arias and Justin Gonzales.
Carroll has made his mark throughout the system. He’s still under 45, is early in his career, and has experience in the World Baseball Classic with Great Britain.
We’re only in Year Five, and the Red Sox have already bumped him up from Single-A to High-A, and now to Double-A… and it’s all been deserved.
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