Chad Tracy helped the Boston Red Sox change their entire season.
Boston seemed like a goner when it emptied out its coaching staff early in the year and moved Tracy up from Triple-A Worcester to be the interim manager at the MLB level.
But now in mid-September, the Red Sox are holding onto a playoff spot and will likely finish strong enough to indeed go to the postseason.
Tracy, to whatever extent you believe a manager should get credit for such things, has been at the heart of it.
The Red Sox went on a 15-game winning streak with Tracy at the helm, tying a franchise record for wins in a row. And they’ve stayed relatively strong since then, too.
The main intrigue surrounding Tracy, though, has been the interim tag. Boston could’ve probably removed the “interim manager” label at some point, but that hasn’t happened.
It at least leaves the door open for what might happen in Tracy’s future. Would there be a world where he doesn’t return next season?
It’s certainly looking like he’ll be back.
MLB Insider on Chad Tracy
ESPN’s Buster Olney wrote a new article on Wednesday in which he examined a number of managerial decisions, including Tracy.
Olney suggests that Tracy isn’t going anywhere.
“Manager Chad Tracy has been working under an interim tag all season, something of a head-scratcher; it may be that the two sides talked about the idea of an extension in midseason but set aside the topic for the offseason,” Olney writes. “But Boston is now expected to retain both (Craig) Breslow and Tracy.”
Tracy is a former MLB player who has a lot of good relationships in the Boston organization after first managing in the minor leagues.
It may not have been the plan for the Red Sox that he does so well that he gets kept around for a long time. He was just a safe choice at the time of the interim hiring.
It has simply worked out better than anyone could’ve possibly imagined, and the Red Sox can’t run from that now.
Craig Breslow’s Future
When the Red Sox were scuffling, the fate of front office decision maker Craig Breslow seemed sealed.
But now that they’ve turned it around, as Olney mentions above, Breslow’s job seems safe, too.
“In mid-June, the growing perspective within some corners of the Boston organization was that the team would move on from Craig Breslow as the head of baseball operations,” Olney writes. “But Breslow’s vision of a team succeeding with pitching and defense fully manifested, and the Red Sox are closing in on a playoff berth and will likely face the Yankees in the wild-card round, again.”
Breslow has the odd front office background of being a former relief pitcher, but right now, it seems that his strategy has worked, and it’s the results that matter.
Red Sox Already Decided on Chad Tracy’s Future