John Schneider and Chad Tracy’s long baseball journeys never crossed paths until recently. Both men now occupy the manger’s chair of American League East teams — Schneider with the Toronto Blue Jays, Tracy with the Boston Red Sox as of two days ago.
That didn’t stop Schneider from reaching out to Tracy, who was promoted from the manager of the Boston Red Sox’s Triple-A affiliate when Alex Cora and five coaches were suddenly fired April 25.
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“People did that to me, especially in our division, when I was literally in that same spot,” Schneider told reporters before the two teams played each other April 27. “I don’t know him and I’ve never met him, but I felt like it was the right baseball thing to do, to reach out and offer my support.”
Tracy has never managed in the big leagues, but his father has.
Jim Tracy managed the Los Angeles Dodgers (2001-05), Pittsburgh Pirates (2006-07) and Colorado Rockies (2009-12) following several stops in the minors.
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Chad Tracy has already carved a similar path. After spending three seasons (2015-17) managing in the Los Angeles Angels’ system and parts of five seasons (2022-26) managing the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox, he’s getting thrown into the fire.
“Fire” was the operative word April 25, when the Red Sox cleaned house after beating the Baltimore Orioles 17-1.
In addition to Cora, the Red Sox parted ways with hitting coach Peter Fatse, bench coach Rámon Vázquez, assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson, third base coach Kyle Hudson, and Major League Hitting strategy coach Joe Cronin were also let go in the early-season purge.
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The Red Sox technically reassigned game planning coach Jason Varitek — who had been with the organization since his MLB debut as a player in 1997 — rather than firing him, but he seems unlikely to return.
Now, Red Sox general manager Craig Breslow will entrust one of the most high-pressure jobs in sports to a rookie manager with no big league playing or coaching experience.
Tracy guided Boston to a win in Baltimore in his debut April 26. Perhaps Schneider’s support will help cushion his landing even more.