The Boston Red Sox made it official on Tuesday, September 22: Chad Tracy is no longer the interim anything. The club signed him to a three-year contract, locking him in as manager through at least 2029, with a club option for 2030. He becomes the 49th manager in franchise history — and arguably the most unlikely one in recent memory.
From 10-17 to the Postseason
When Boston fired Alex Cora on April 25 — along with six members of his coaching staff, including Jason Varitek — handing the job to Tracy was a massive gamble. The man had never managed a single game in the major leagues. His entire résumé was four seasons running the Worcester Red Sox in Triple-A.
What he built over the next five months is one of the strangest stories of the season. Tracy inherited a team tied for the second-worst record in the American League. By June, Boston had slid to 32-46. Then July happened.
The Red Sox reeled off 15 consecutive wins — tying the franchise record set by the 1946 club. They didn’t stop there: between July and August, Boston went 31-5 over a 36-game stretch. The clinch came on September 20, two days before Tracy’s contract was announced.
Historically, the 2026 Red Sox are the first AL team ever to lose 46 of their first 81 games and still reach the playoffs. The only comparable feat in MLB history belongs to the 1973 Mets — the «you gotta believe» team — making this one of the most statistically improbable turnarounds the game has ever seen.
Tracy’s Numbers Make the Case
The résumé that convinced Boston to hand him a guaranteed deal:
- 74-55 (.574) since taking over — second-best winning percentage in the AL over that span
- 15-game winning streak, tying a franchise record
- Postseason clinched on September 20
- First back-to-back playoff appearances for Boston since the 2016-2018 run
Breslow Extends Too — Boston Is Building Something
Tracy’s signing didn’t come alone. The same day, the Red Sox exercised the 2029 and 2030 contract options for Baseball Operations Director Craig Breslow, cementing the front-office partnership that steered this comeback. Since Breslow arrived in October 2023, Boston has gone 254-226 (.529), the third-best record in the AL over that period.
At 84-72, the Red Sox sit third in the AL East and are set to face the New York Yankees in the Wild Card Series starting September 29. If the comeback was already a great story, a first-round matchup against their oldest rival is exactly the sequel it deserves.
Tracy is 41 years old and the son of Jim Tracy, who managed the Dodgers, Pirates, and Rockies in the big leagues. Baseball was always in the family. Nobody just didn’t expect his first full season in the majors to look quite like this.
