The Red Sox haven’t taken the interim tag off Chad Tracy yet, but the direction of this thing is getting harder to miss. According to a baseball source who spoke to MassLive’s Chris Cotillo, Tracy is more likely than not to get Boston’s full-time managerial job before the 2027 season. The organization is still expected to wait until after the season to make it official.
That delay looks less like uncertainty and more like a team buying time before confirming what the last four months have already made pretty clear. Tracy has put together a strong case, and the numbers back it up.
Boston entered Monday at 71-59, sitting eight games up in the American League wild-card race. Since Tracy took over for Alex Cora on April 26, the Red Sox are 61-42, and they own Major League Baseball’s best second-half record at 25-11.
He’s also in the mix for AL Manager of the Year.
The bigger story, though, is how he got here. Tracy stepped into a 10-17 team after Cora’s stunning dismissal and inherited a clubhouse that had been jolted by the exits of Cora and several coaches.
He didn’t try to bulldoze the place on day one. He watched, talked, adjusted and slowly put his own structure in place.
“Put yourself in our shoes,” Tracy said Sunday, per MassLive. “The first three weeks, you’re not gonna come in and say, ‘We’re changing A, B, C, D and E’ when you haven’t even watched a game live and in-person.”
That approach fit the moment. The Red Sox had injuries to manage, personnel churn to absorb and an ugly opening month hanging over them.
Tracy’s steady presence helped settle things down. His time managing Triple-A Worcester also gave him a head start with some players, and the ones who didn’t know him before seem to have bought in, too.
“It wasn’t easy in the situation he came in,” Willson Contreras told MassLive. “He found a way to gain players’ trust. He has been great with the communication and that’s been the key with all of us.”
Contreras said the players like Tracy and would support his return, while also noting that the final call belongs to the front office.
Nick Sogard was even more direct.
“I also just think he deserves it,” Sogard told MassLive. “He’s done a great job.”
For now, Tracy says he and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow haven’t had much in the way of detailed talks about his future. He previously said he would “love” to manage the Red Sox beyond this season, but his attention is on the race in front of him.
“We haven’t gotten into it a whole lot yet,” Tracy said Friday, per MassLive. “I know that if and when the time comes, Brez will come to me.”
Boston has the luxury of waiting. Tracy reportedly signed a two-year contract that runs through 2027, so the Red Sox already control his contract for next season. They can also use the final 32 regular-season games, and potentially the postseason if the slide doesn’t come, to keep evaluating him without turning the situation into a sideshow.
The club could still look around after the season. Former Minnesota Twins manager and Rhode Island native Rocco Baldelli could be in the mix, and Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo would be a name to watch if he becomes available. But Tracy brings something an outside candidate can’t instantly duplicate: a clubhouse that already trusts him, plus evidence that his style works with this team.
The Red Sox haven’t made any promises. They may not need to. Tracy’s run has made the eventual answer feel awfully close to obvious.
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Willson Contreras and Ceddanne Rafaela landed among the top five names in the American League MVP race, while Payton Tolle and Jake Bennett cracked the top 10 for Rookie of the Year. Veteran starter Sonny Gray also surfaced in the Cy Young conversation at eighth, giving Boston a spread of recognition that usually comes attached to teams with real staying power, even if the bigger question is how long the Red Sox can keep forcing their way into those discussions. [Read more 🡒]