The Red Sox have put their baseball leadership in place for the long haul, exercising Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow’s club options for 2029 and 2030 while removing Chad Tracy’s interim tag and naming him the 49th manager in franchise history.
Tracy has agreed to a three-year deal running through the 2029 season, with a club option for 2030. The decision comes after a dramatic turnaround under the 41-year-old manager, who took over the major league club on April 26 following a 10-17 start.
Boston has gone 74-55 (.574) since Tracy stepped into the dugout, a mark that ranks second in the American League and fifth across the majors over that span. The club’s surge included a 27-3 (.900) run from July 3 through Aug. 7, the best 30-game stretch in Red Sox history.
That charge featured a 15-game winning streak from July 3 through the first game on July 22, matching the franchise record set by the 1946 Red Sox. Boston also went 21-4 in July, producing the best winning percentage for a calendar month in club history among months of at least 20 games.
Tracy earns the permanent job
Tracy arrived in Boston’s clubhouse with a lengthy player-development résumé and nearly 500 minor league wins. He collected his 499th career victory as a minor league manager on April 25, one day before being asked to guide the Red Sox on an interim basis.
The Illinois native had managed Triple-A Worcester since 2022, leading the WooSox to winning records in each of his four complete seasons from 2022 through 2025. Before joining Boston’s organization, he spent seven seasons with the Angels, including managing assignments at Low-A Burlington in 2015 and High-A Inland Empire from 2016-17. He later worked as the Angels’ minor league field coordinator from 2018-21.
Red Sox President and CEO Sam Kennedy said Breslow and Tracy had taken different paths to their opportunities, but each had earned the organization’s confidence. Kennedy credited Breslow with bringing clarity, discipline and conviction to the baseball operation, while noting that Tracy gained immediate trust in the major league room after taking over under difficult circumstances.
Kennedy said the club values results, but also the judgment, character and ability to get the best from people that both executives have shown.
Breslow’s options signal organizational continuity
Breslow, 46, became Boston’s Chief Baseball Officer on Oct. 25, 2023. Over his first three seasons in the role, the Red Sox have compiled a 254-226 record (.529), good for third in the American League and ninth in the majors.
A member of Boston’s 2013 World Series championship club, Breslow is the fourth former Red Sox player to oversee the team’s baseball operations. He is the first ex-player to hold that type of leadership position for the club since Haywood Sullivan served as general manager from 1978 through 1983.
Before returning to Boston, Breslow spent five seasons in the Cubs’ front office. He joined Chicago in 2019 as Director of Strategic Initiatives, working on data-driven processes throughout baseball operations while assisting the organization’s pitching development structure.
He was promoted in 2020 to Director of Pitching and Special Assistant to the President and General Manager. Breslow then served as Assistant General Manager and Vice President of Pitching in 2021 and 2022 before becoming Assistant General Manager and Senior Vice President of Pitching in 2023.
From Pepperdine to the Fenway dugout
Tracy’s professional baseball career began when the Rangers selected him in the third round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft out of Pepperdine University. He played eight professional seasons, from 2006-13, in the Texas, Colorado and Kansas City organizations.
At Pepperdine, Tracy was named West Coast Conference Player of the Year in 2005 and earned first-team all-conference recognition. Now, after building a reputation throughout the minor leagues and changing the course of Boston’s season, he has the permanent manager’s office at Fenway Park.
