Meet the New Sox, Same as the Old Sox

We will get fooled again, guaranteed

The first month of the season is complete. 31 games, 10 series, 3 series wins, 6 series losses, and one tie. Small sample size is in the rear view. We are not in Kansas anymore.

Alex Cora led the team to a 10-17 record before being fired along with a slew of coaches loyal to him. From all accounts they are all very happy to be free from the chains of Craig Breslow. It turns out the guy is not very well liked by people inside the organization. He’s not very well liked by people outside the organization either. John Henry allowed all of this to happen even though he is an Alex Cora fan. He put this decision on Breslow, and he will allow him to sink or swim, and might even provide him with a pair of cement shoes.

The Chad Tracy era has begun. One look at his first lineup and I was encouraged. For 27 games, these are the lineups Cora turned in:

At the start of the season, it made sense to put Roman Anthony in the leadoff spot given his high OBP from a year ago. That quickly faded as he struggled in the leadoff spot. Trevor Story didn’t make much sense in the 2-hole either. Typically, you put a good contact hitter there and he is anything but that. The 2025 Trevor Story is long gone. He is a strikeout machine currently hitting .197. Most critics thought Duran should be in the leadoff spot instead of the 3-hole. Caleb Durbin started out in the 6 spot but has been awful no matter where he’s hit.

Not only did the lineup not make sense, but there was no consistency. Duran hit anywhere from leadoff to the 7 spot. Rafaela was all over the map as well. And of course, “Masa needs to play” and hit as high as the 3 spot. Just crazy. Cora seemed to have a vendetta against some players. Let’s start with those bizarre comments about Marcelo Mayer in the preseason that everyone thought were just “motivational tools.” He only started in 19 of the first 27 games. Jarren Duran, who played 160 games in 2025 and 157 in 2026, only started in 21 of the first 27. What exactly was Cora trying to prove? Given what we now know about the relationship between Cora and Breslow, was this Cora’s way of demonstrating Breslow’s flawed roster?

Chad Tracy quickly installed Duran in the leadoff spot, Contreras second, Anthony third, and Abreu cleanup. Rafaela and Mayer followed. In the first two games, it worked. They scored five runs in each game including 2 doubles, a triple, and 2 home runs. In game 3 he subbed Yoshida for Rafaela, and in game 4 all hell broke loose as Anthony was back in the leadoff spot, Duran and Mayer were out, and the great Isiah Kiner-Falefa was in. They scored one run in two games and lost both.

The starting pitching has continued to be inconsistent. They got two good starts from Early and Suarez, a disappointing start from Tolle, and another disastrous start from Bello. Crochet is now on the IL and all of a sudden, the rotation is in tatters. Sonny Gray is expected back, and they may need Jake Bennett to make a start or two. It goes from bad to worse.

My favorite Twitter account, @redsoxpayroll, recently speculated that if the Red Sox wanted to get under the first CBT line, they would essentially need someone to take the full remaining contracts of Story, Yoshida, Chapman, Gray, and Contreras. Sounds crazy, right? Let’s put it this way, John Henry might be willing to pay CBT penalties for a winning squad, but for this pile of garbage? No way. He will salary dump until the cows come home. He will force Craig Breslow to do it, and then he will fire his ass too. 2027 might be a dead year, and Henry is probably fine with that. He’s got plenty of money coming from NASCAR, LFC, and his other businesses, plus he just sold the Penguins for a big profit.

The big question is what Red Sox fans will do with their summers now that watching Red Sox games is out of the question. Get out and explore. Here are some ideas:

• Take a drive up the Kancamagus highway

• Take the ferry over to the Vineyard and drive over the Chappaquiddick bridge

• Tour the Newport mansions and marvel at what you could never afford

• Head down to Coney Island for the July 4^th Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating contest and see if you can eat 84 hot dogs in 10 minutes to beat Joey Chestnut’s record

• Stalk Mike Vrabel to see if you can catch him in the act again

• Head over to TD Garden and count the number of bolts in the parquet floor

• I hear the Moncton tidal bore is lovely this time of year

Whatever you do, don’t spend a minute on the Red Sox. Trust me, you owe it to your mental health.