The dismissal of Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora and five veteran coaches Saturday shocked the baseball world, but those inside the organization say the tension driving the decision had been building since Craig Breslow's arrival after the 2023 season. The Red Sox were 10-17 when Breslow delivered the news in person in Baltimore following a 17-1 victory.

Breslow pushed back on the notion that the outcome was predetermined. "The idea that this was some predetermined outcome is just not true," he said Tuesday in Toronto.

Multiple sources granted anonymity described a front office at odds with the hitting staff throughout 2025. Breslow had questioned the methods of hitting coach Pete Fatse and his assistants, with prospect Kristian Campbell's struggles at the major league level cited internally as a primary source of frustration. Campbell posted a .664 OPS before being optioned back to the minors in June 2025 and has not returned.

Third baseman Alex Bregman repeatedly advocated for the embattled hitting coaches. One source said Bregman "stepped in last year and stopped the firings." Bregman, now with the Chicago Cubs on a five-year, $175 million deal, declined to address the situation directly but said: "I got all the love in the world for those guys."

Saturday's purge also claimed franchise icon Jason Varitek, bench coach Ramon Vazquez, assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson and major league hitting strategy coach Joe Cronin. No coaches who predated Breslow's tenure remain on the major league staff.

The two newly elevated hitting coaches, John Soteropulos and Collin Hetzler, both have backgrounds at Driveline, the analytics-driven training facility whose founder Kyle Boddy joined Boston as a special advisor in 2024.

"It's his show," one source said. "He's going to run it his way."