Cora shoulders blame for Breslow's offseason failures

Craig Breslow certainly has interesting timing.

Less than one year ago, Breslow traded away Rafael Devers immediately after the Red Sox swept the New York Yankees. The move was such a shock that the team needed to delay their flight, as Devers was already onboard when the deal went down.

On Saturday, hours after Boston wrapped up its biggest win of the season - a 17-1 drubbing of the Baltimore Orioles - Boston's chief baseball officer went scorched-earth on the team's coaching staff.

Longtime manager and World Series winner Alex Cora was fired. Hitting coach Peter Fatse, third base coach Kyle Hudson, bench coach Ramón Vázquez, assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson, and major league hitting strategy coach Joe Cronin were also handled their walking papers. Cora, and all of his guys, are now gone from the organization.

Even game planning and run prevention coach Jason Varitek was reassigned - barely preferable to the alternative.

This was the Boston equivalent of the Red Wedding from "Game of Thrones," with Breslow playing the role of Lord Walder Frey.

So, how did we get here? The Red Sox were a team on the rise heading into last season, as years of mediocrity appeared to be in the rearview. Boston reached the postseason for the first time in four years and had a core emerging with multiple young players signed to extensions. Cora, an experienced manager that had already won multiple championships as a coach, was finally being handed another quality roster to lead.

No grace was given for last season's wild-card appearance, though. A 10-17 start that sees the Red Sox rank last in homers and 21st in ERA was enough for Breslow to blame the coaching staff.

Ownership, after years of backing Cora over anyone, clearly supported the move. It's evident John Henry believes more in Breslow than Cora moving forward.

In Boston right now, there's plenty of blame to go around. But the biggest issues stem from the roster construction, and that comes from the top.

Breslow does have wins on his resume. He nailed the Garrett Crochet trade and extension. The Aroldis Chapman signing was excellent. The Roman Anthony extension could turn out to be the best move of his tenure. But there's also a number of moves that have backfired, and those are the root cause of some of the team's biggest problems.

Breslow was expected to be a player's executive due to the 12 years he spent in the league. But he seems completely out of touch with what bonds a clubhouse. On numerous occasions, he's acknowledged needing to be a better communicator with staff and players.

Destroying the relationship with Devers - and receiving an underwhelming trade return - was at least made more palatable with Bregman getting the keys to third base. But the front office overplayed its hand this winter and was too overconfident in negotiations with Bregman. Bregman left for Chicago, due in part to the Red Sox being unwilling to hand him a no-trade clause.

Boston aimed to land two impact bats this winter, and with Bregman gone, settled on Willson Contreras and Caleb Durbin. Contreras has been one of Boston's better hitters early on, while Durbin ranks 171st out of 178 qualified hitters by OPS.

From Devers, to Bregman, to Durbin.

Breslow's inability to land that middle-of-the-order bat significantly put unfair pressure on the likes of Anthony to be the face of the franchise. Instead of being able to ease into his major-league career as a complementary piece, he's now been thrust into a lineup with little protection and limited veterans to insulate him.

The Red Sox continue to roster too many outfielders and an inefficient infield. Breslow failed to address that imbalance. The job of the front office is to give its coaching staff the tools to succeed, and it's clear that's not what Cora was awarded. Cora used six different players in the cleanup spot this year trying to ignite the offense, but little worked for a club devoid of power.

After failing to improve the offense, Breslow leaned in on a philosophy of pitching and defense. "Run prevention" was the buzzword. Heading into Sunday, the Red Sox have allowed the 12th-most runs in the majors, while sitting 21st in runs scored. Interestingly enough, the entire coaching staff involving the pitching side was spared Saturday.

Clearly, Breslow believes the lineup's lack of production was the fault of the coaching staff.

That might be partly true. There are plenty of those in Red Sox Nation that will welcome this change. Cora's tenure lasted eight years, and every manager eventually loses his voice.

This is a team that, for years, has struck out too much, and made far too many mental errors on the field. Some will attribute those problems to improper coaching. Is that on Cora and his staff to be teaching fundamentals at the major-league level, or does that speak to organizational dysfunction? Cora should be managing a team that's in a championship window, not teaching a young team how to win.

With Chad Tracy set to takeover on an interim basis in Boston, we'll see if this flawed Red Sox roster responds to the shakeup. Cora will likely be in high demand, and it will be interesting to see where he lands next. There are plenty of teams in their championship window that could use a manager like Cora. He'll likely be unemployed only as long as he wants to be.

Cora's run in Boston ends with a 620-541 record (.534), a World Series title, and three playoff appearances. He's third on the franchise's all-time manager wins list.

For the last decade, the Red Sox hitched their wagon to Cora. They stuck with him and rehired him after the Astros' cheating scandal. He seemed destined to eventually move into the front office. Now it's clear it's Breslow's organization now. For better or for worse.