The Boston Red Sox made a bold move pretty early into the 2026 season when they fired multiple coaches, including manager Alex Cora. Former Triple-A manager Chad Tracy replaced Cora.
The move didn’t elicit much excitement from casual fans. However, those who followed the Worcester Red Sox were intrigued. Tracy had never led Worcester to a losing record. It was surprising that he wasn’t scooped up by another organization and given a chance to manage a major league team either of the last two offseasons (Go find my takes, I promise this isn’t revisionist history).
With that being said, there’s another manager in the system who needs to be locked down. We have to go all the way down to Greenville, South Carolina, where the High-A affiliate of the Red Sox resides.
The Red Sox have another minor league manager to lock down in Liam Carroll
Liam Carroll has been the manager of the Drive since 2025. Before that, he was the Single-A Salem RidgeYaks (then Salem Red Sox) manager for the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
In the last four years, Carroll has managed some ridiculous talent. He has helped mold players who have helped the Red Sox in recent times, such as Zack Kelly, Connelly Early, Eduardo Rivera, Roman Anthony, and Payton Tolle. Meanwhile, other players reached the majors but for other organizations, as well as prospects who are close to Fenway *coughs in Franklin Arias.*
Every coach throughout the minor leagues has been instrumental to the development of the players in the system. I don’t want to downplay anyone’s importance, but I do want to specifically highlight Carroll.
It hasn’t taken Carroll long to rack up a few accomplishments. He’s been on the coaching staff of Great Britain in the World Baseball Classic. Meanwhile, he was promoted from the Single-A manager to the High-A manager, and he’s already over 200 wins in the minor leagues.
Still under 45, Carroll has incredible experience under his belt, but plenty of time to grow as a manager. The Red Sox hopefully have their manager of the future in Tracy. However, clubs need people they can trust to help build prospects into the players they want them to be. Not just on the field, but in the locker room as well.
Carroll stands out for a few reasons. He coaches with a lot of passion, and I absolutely love that. He also lets the kids be kids. They’re playing a game, and they’re all extremely young, and it seems like he’s letting them have fun out there. But he also knows when it’s time to lock in. A great example of this is Justin Gonzales. The giant prospect (in more ways than one) was a big part of Greenville’s lineup this season.
Gonzales was known for taking his time rounding the bases following one of his signature monster home runs. Once again, let the kids enjoy playing a game. However, one such instance led to a brawl.
After the fight (for which Gonzales was suspended), Gonzales seemed to have a bit of a pep in his step rounding the bases. I have no such knowledge, but I’d be willing to bet Carroll had a little chat with the budding superstar and told him that he was too important to the team to be getting suspended. Gonzales, to his credit, seemed to take it in stride.
Carroll is the perfect balance of fun, passion, knowledge, and leadership. He has the credentials, and he’s proven himself to be an incredibly well-respected and well-loved presence in the organization and around the league. If the 2026 season has taught us anything, it should be not to undervalue the personnel in the minor leagues. Carroll’s one of the best in the business. Figure it out.
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