Buckle up, Boston fans. 2026 is going to be a long season.

Headlines and discourse surrounding the Red Sox have been critical for several weeks now as the club has struggled through the start of the 2026 season. With a 10-17 record, the club sat tied for the third-worst mark in the major leagues. Virtually the entire roster has underperformed.

On Saturday, the Sox’s bats broke out in a 17-1 win on the road in Baltimore. Every starter in the lineup had at least one hit and scored, but it still wasn’t enough to save the team from a shocking series of changes — reportedly decided that morning, before principal owner John Henry, team president/CEO Sam Kennedy, and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow flew to Baltimore to join the club on the road. Following the game, manager Alex Cora and five members of his coaching staff were fired. The group includes bench coach Ramón Vázquez, hitting coach Pete Fatse, assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson, hitting strategy coach Joe Cronin, and third-base coach Kyle Hudson.

Game-planning and run-prevention coach (who comes up with these titles?) Jason Varitek has been “reassigned to a new role within the organization” — though, that’s merely a formality to appease the fanbase. He was also fired, but ownership can’t acknowledge that outright without upsetting a substantial portion of their fans who revere Varitek. (Reportedly, Varitek was “pissed off” about the decision.)

Triple-A Worcester manager Chad Tracy will serve as the team’s interim manager. Colin Hetzler, Worcester’s hitting coach, will join his staff in Boston along with Chad Epperson, the manager at Double-A Portland.

(A particularly curious choice, as pulling Tracy and Epperson away from their teams will surely create new disruptions in player development throughout the club’s minor league system, especially if these interim assignments become prolonged.)

The moves mark the first time the Red Sox have made a manager change during the season since 2001, when Jimmy Williams was fired in August.

Alex Cora spent 14 seasons in the big leagues as an infielder, hitting a combined .243/.310/.338 (72 OPS+) in nearly 4,000 PA. Four of those seasons came in Boston, after the Sox acquired Cora in a July 2007 trade with Cleveland (for the same Ramón Vázquez who would later serve as his bench coach). Cora slashed .252/.321/.350 (73 OPS+) during his time with the Red Sox and was a part of the team’s 2007 World Series-winning roster.

Cora was first hired to manage the Red Sox in October 2017. The club would win a franchise record 108 games in his first season at the helm, then went 11-3 in the postseason to win the 2018 World Series.

Facing a suspension for his role in the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal (Cora was Houston’s bench coach in 2017), Cora and the Red Sox mutually agreed to part ways ahead of the 2020 season. The club would re-hire him barely a year later.

Cora spent eight seasons overall in the dugout for Boston, with a 620-541 (.534 winning percentage) record. He was under contract through the 2027 season after agreeing to a three-year extension in July 2024.

Cora is widely respected throughout the league, particularly by the players he manages. Many of them expressed shock and frustration over the decision.

Cora and Breslow have long maintained a bumpy relationship, however. Cora was already entrenched in his role before Breslow was hired, leading some to wonder whether the pair would ever be able to work together. The relationship appeared more like a “power struggle” than a partnership. Many of those perceptions were confirmed by Cora’s response to the firing — first posting a photo of himself and the other fired coaches, then posting a clip from a Mookie Betts interview in which he laments how the “business of baseball” is handled in Boston, and then finally simply stating “I’m happy.” when reached via text by several members of the team’s media contingent. Cora also wasted no time unfollowing the Red Sox team accounts on virtually every social media platform.

Cora will get another opportunity to manage a team in the big leagues; it’s merely a question of how long he plans to let himself “reset” before stepping into a new job. Some have already speculated that he could be a candidate for the job in Philadelphia if the Phillies elect to move on from Rob Thomson, given his history with Dave Dombrowski. Cora could also simply wait for an opportunity closer to his home in Puerto Rico.

While a move was likely necessary, Boston’s failures to start the 2026 season are not the fault of Cora and his coaching staff. Instead, much of that blame must fall on Craig Breslow.

Boston won 89 games last season before being eliminated by the Yankees in the Wild Card Series. Breslow and team president Sam Kennedy both expressed confidence that the club was “entering a window of contention” during their season-ending press conference.

Yet, Breslow spent the offseason focused on “pitching and run prevention”. He failed to add a bat to the lineup (especially once Alex Bregman opted to sign with the Cubs) and didn’t address the apparent logjam in the outfield. Most of the team’s big moves were through trades, an area in particular where Breslow has struggled to get back a fair return (outside the Garret Crochet acquisition):

Time and time again, Boston has failed to end up on the positive side of a trade under Breslow’s watch.

It is still early in the 2026 season. Heading into Monday, the Red Sox sit just 3.5 games out of a wild-card spot (most of the American League has struggled early). There is still a long season to play.

Short of a dramatic run that concludes with a World Series title, don’t expect Breslow to still be in his role when October ends.

Entering play on Thursday, the Philadelphia Phillies sat in last place in the NL East with an 8-17 record, having lost their last eight games (a streak that reached 10 games on Friday and was ended on Saturday). Plenty has gone wrong for the Phillies in the early weeks of the 2026 season.

Right-hander Taijuan Walker has been a particularly troubling spot for the team so far. The 33-year-old made four starts (and one relief appearance) for the club, posting a 9.13 ERA (47 ERA+) in 22.2 IP. The Phillies have sent 18 different players to the mound this season, and none has allowed more earned runs (23), home runs (8), walks (11), or has a lower bWAR (-0.7) than Walker.

With Zack Wheeler returning from the IL on Saturday, Philadelphia’s patience with Walker ran out. The team released him on Thursday despite still owing him $15 million this season (the final year of a four-year, $72M contract signed ahead of the 2023 season).

Walker’s first year with the team wasn’t poor — a 15-6 record, 4.38 ERA (98 ERA+) in 172.2 IP, 2.6 bWAR — but his Philadelphia tenure since has been marred by inconsistencies. Both 2024 and 2025 saw Walker split his time between the rotation and bullpen, which didn’t help (his already subpar strikeout rate plummeted when pitching in relief). Philadelphia clearly saw no value in moving Walker back to the bullpen again based on those results, opting instead to simply release him.

Between Walker’s $15M and the $20M the team is paying Nick Castellanos (who is batting just .146/.196/.208 in 51 PA for the Padres), the Phillies have a significant amount of payroll going to players no longer on the roster.

A quartet of franchise legends will be inducted into the Athletics’ Hall of Fame, according to an announcement by the club. Ceremonies will be held on Sept. 12 before the A’s face the Seattle Mariners.

Center fielder Dave Henderson played for the team from 1988 through 1993, batting .263/.325/.445 (117 OPS+) with 143 2B, 104 HR, and 377 RBI. He helped the A’s win the 1989 World Series (4-for-13 with 2 HR) and was an AL All-Star in 1991.

Second baseman Mark Ellis was with the team from 2002 to 2011, hitting .265/.331/.397 (95 OPS+) with 204 2B, 86 HR, and 434 RBI.

Right-hander John “Blue Moon” Odom pitched for the franchise in both Kansas City and Oakland from 1964 to 1975, posting a 3.53 ERA (92 ERA+) over 1414.2 IP. Odom was an AL All-Star in both 1968 and 1969.

Former general manager Sandy Alderson rounds out the group. Alderson served as the A’s GM from 1983 to 1997, during which the club won four AL West titles and went to two World Series. Alderson returned to the organization from 2019 to 2021 as an assistant general manager to Billy Beane.

In February, Yasiel Puig was found guilty in federal court in California on two counts of lying to federal investigators during an investigation into the outfielder’s ties to an illegal sports gambling ring. Each count could carry a sentence of up to five years in prison. Puig could be facing additional time for an obstruction-of-justice charge.

Puig is set to be sentenced on May 26.

Despite potentially facing up to 15 years in prison, the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Canadian Baseball League announced on Thursday that they had signed the 35-year-old. Puig is expected to be in the lineup when the Maple Leafs open their season on May 10.

Puig slashed .277/.348/.475 (122 OPS+) with 132 HR during his seven-year career in the majors. He’s spent the last several seasons playing in Mexico and Korea.

Following a 17-year career in the KBO (interrupted by two seasons in the U.S.), one of the league’s greatest home run hitters has formally retired. ByungHo Park, now a coach with the Kiwoom Heroes, was honored in a special retirement ceremony on Sunday ahead of the Heroes’ game against the Samsung Lions.

Park’s career began in 2005, but it would take until the 2012 season for him to fully break out and become one of the most revered sluggers in league history. Park hit .290/.393/.561 that season with 34 2B, 31 HR, and 105 RBI, winning the KBO MVP Award. He would top those numbers in 2013, slashing .318/.437/.602 with 37 HR and 117 RBI to collect a second-straight MVP Award. Park would hit more than 50 home runs in each of the next two seasons, while driving in a KBO-record 146 RBI in 2015 (a mark that wouldn’t be broken until 2025).

Following that four-year stretch, Park wanted to challenge himself in MLB. The Heroes agreed to make him available through the posting system, with the Minnesota Twins winning the rights to negotiate with him before signing Park to a four-year, $12 million contract (the Twins also paid a $12.85M posting fee to the Heroes). Park hit .191/.275/.409 (82 OPS+) with 12 HR in 244 PA (62 games) for the Twins in 2016 before the team optioned him to Triple-A. Park would remain there through the 2017 season before asking the Twins to release him so that he could return to Korea.

Park played eight more seasons upon returning to Korea, leading the KBO in homers twice. In all, the six-time Gold Glove-winning first baseman slugged 418 home runs during his career in the league, which stands third all-time.

Yankees right-hander Cam Schlittler has drawn plenty of attention for the start of his career. The results the 25-year-old has produced thus far place him in exceptionally rare company. In fact, Schlittler is just the fifth pitcher in MLB history to begin his career with an ERA below 2.70, 120+ strikeouts, and fewer than 40 walks through their first 20 career starts.

Skenes is considered among the best arms in the sport today. The 2024 NL Rookie of the Year won his first Cy Young Award in 2025. deGrom was the NL ROY in 2014 and won back-to-back Cy Young Awards in 2018 and 2019. Strasburg spent his whole 13-year career with the Nationals, helping the franchise win the 2019 World Series.

Nolan is likely the least-known of the group. The right-hander made his debut at age 19 in 1967, posting a stellar 2.58 ERA (147 ERA+) with 206 SO in 226.2 IP as a rookie for the Cincinnati Reds. Nolan would finish third in NL Rookie of the Year voting, though many argue he had a better season than the award-winning Tom Seaver. Nolan won 110 games with a 3.08 ERA (117 ERA+) over a 10-year career that included a pair of World Series titles (1975 and 1976).

Veteran catcher Sandy León received his release from the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate on Wednesday. The 37-year-old hit just .118/.268/.118 in 41 PA before reportedly asking to be released so that he could sign with the Saraperos de Saltillo in the Mexican League.