The Minnesota Twins interviewed several manager candidates before hiring former Pirates skipper Derek Shelton in late October. New York Yankees hitting coach James Rowson, Kansas City Royals third base coach Vance Wilson and (now former) Boston Red Sox bench coach Ramón Vázquez, whom the Red Sox fired along with manager Alex Cora and four other coaches on Saturday, all reportedly interviewed for Minnesota's manager vacancy.
The other four coaches whom the Red Sox fired are hitting coach Peter Fatse, third-base coach Kyle Hudson, assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson and hitting strategy coach Joe Cronin. Additionally, game planning and run prevention coach Jason Varitek "has been reassigned to a new role within the organization," the team announced.
The Red Sox have had an awful start to the season. As it stands, Boston sits in last place in the American League East with a 10-17 record, tied with the Kansas City Royals for the worst in the AL. Still, the Red Sox's decision to fire Cora and five coaches is shocking, considering we're only about a month into the season and Boston made the playoffs last season with an 89-73 record.
Boston's firing spree shows how unstable MLB jobs are. In July 2024, Cora signed a three-year, $21.75 million contract extension for 2025-27. Cora, who has a 620-541 managerial record and led Boston to a World Series title in 2018, isn't even halfway through his lucrative contract. Yet, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow decided this season's slow start was enough reason to fire the highly regarded manager.
As for Vázquez, going from a legitimate MLB manager candidate to out of a job within about six months further proves how volatile MLB jobs, especially coaching roles, are.
Ex-Twins manager candidate Ramon Vázquez should land new job in offseason after being fired by Red Sox
It's difficult to imagine that Vázquez played a part in the Red Sox's slow start. As a bench coach, he probably had little influence on game outcomes.
Vázquez, 49, joined the Red Sox's coaching staff in 2018 and was promoted to bench coach in the 2022-23 offseason. Before that, Vázquez served as a coach in the Astros' minor league system and on the Padres' MLB staff. Vázquez, a native Puerto Rican, has managed in the Puerto Rican Winter League and for one season in A-ball in the Houston system.
Since the Twins considered Vázquez for their manager vacancy in the offseason, the former Red Sox bench coach will likely have no trouble finding a coaching job this offseason.
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