Red Sox add three interim coaches after Cora firing

The Red Sox kept reshaping a rattled dugout, adding three interim coaches just as Chad Tracy settled in as Boston’s new interim manager. José David Flores was named interim bench coach, Pablo Cabrera became interim first base coach and outfield instructor, and Jack Simonetty was added as interim hitting assistant.

The hires came two days after Boston fired Alex Cora and five members of his coaching staff following a 10-17 start that forced the club into a sharp reset. The overhaul swept out hitting coach Pete Fatse, third-base coach Kyle Hudson, bench coach Ramón Vázquez, assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson and major league hitting strategy coach Joe Cronin. Jason Varitek was also reassigned to a new role within the organization, with further details still to come.

The rapid reshuffling pointed to more than a simple staff change. It marked a franchise trying to restore control after a weekend meeting at the team hotel with owner John Henry, president and CEO Sam Kennedy and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow ended with Cora’s dismissal and a staff purge that changed the structure of the dugout overnight.

Tracy, the manager at Triple-A Worcester, took over as interim manager and began with a 5-3 win over the Orioles at Camden Yards. Boston’s next step was to round out his staff before the club moved on to a series against the Blue Jays in Toronto, a sign that the Red Sox wanted the turnover settled quickly even as the season was still in its opening month.

The public explanation for the move added another layer to the instability. Kennedy said Breslow initiated the decision to fire Cora, and Breslow said Monday that he was open to criticism of his communication style after the abrupt changes drew scrutiny. Together, those details suggested a club not only searching for better results on the field, but also trying to steady its leadership structure after a messy break with a manager who had been central to the Red Sox identity.

With Flores, Cabrera and Simonetty now joining Tracy’s group, Boston entered the next stretch of the season with a rebuilt interim staff and little margin for another misstep. The Red Sox had already made the rare choice to clear out a large portion of a major league coaching staff, and the additions only reinforced how unsettled the organization remained after the firing that set all of it in motion.