While it will not be an overhaul, and probably not the kind of major changes we saw last winter, this will be a busy offseason for the Red Sox, without a doubt. They’ll need more pitching. They’ll need more power. And they’ll need to decide what to do with Alex Bregman.
But coming into the winter, there will be stability at the top. Manager Alex Cora was always going to return for next season, his eighth as the team’s leader, after getting the Red Sox to 89 wins, the best showing since 2021. This weekend, too, it was reported that the Red Sox will have the coaching staff as a whole back.
As WEEI’s Rob Bradford wrote on Twitter/X: “Per sources, Red Sox hitting coach Pete Fatse, pitching coach Andrew Bailey, third base coach Kyle Hudson, first base coach Jose Flores, bullpen coach Chris Holt and bench coach Ramon Vazquez will all be returning.”
Not All Coaches Are Popular Choices
Certainly, there can be some quibbling with the Red Sox’s decision to bring back the entire crew there. Nobody ever likes the third-base coach, because the only time he gets noticed is when he makes mistakes. So there was some complaining about Hudson.
But for the most part, the staff did its job in 2025. At the plate, the Red Sox ranked fourth in batting average at .254 and eighth in on-base percentage at .324. They were ninth in slugging, at .421, but that’s mostly a front-office issue–there were not enough sluggers on the roster with the Triston Casas knee injury and the trade of Rafael Devers.
On the mound, Boston rated fifth in ERA overall, at 3.70, despite being just 17th with a 1.29 WHIP. More strikeouts and better defense will be on the 2026 agenda, but the results were good in 2025 nonetheless. The Red Sox had the second-best relief ERA in baseball, at 3.41.
Red Sox Optimistic on Team Direction
At the Red Sox’s season-ending press conference, Cora was optimistic about the future. The team dealt with a raft of pitching injuries throughout 2025, but saw an influx of young talent that should be able to anchor the team going forward.
“I think we took the steps in the right direction,” Cora said. “Last offseason, during the season, not only as far as what the front office did, but what we did on the field. It was a much better team than the last few years. But that thing that excites me going into the offseason is the pitching. … What we have in player development is real.”
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