HOUSTON — In the aftermath of the Red Sox’s Saturday night bloodbath, Aaron Boone spoke with his good friend and now-former counterpart, Alex Cora.
While Boone did not divulge the specifics of his conversation, after Cora and five of his coaches were stunningly fired after a win in Baltimore, the Yankees manager called it a “really good talk.”
“I think somebody of Alex’s stature in the game, and obviously being a division rival and our chief rival, obviously caught us all off guard, shook the world — or shook us a little bit, like, ‘Who saw that kind of shakeup coming at this point?’” Boone said Sunday morning at Daikin Park, after having some time to digest the news that came out just before first pitch here Saturday night.
“He’s going to be fine and great. He’ll have many opportunities to do whatever he wants moving forward.”
Former Yankees hitting coach Dillon Lawson, who was an assistant hitting coach with the Red Sox, also got fired, along with hitting coach Peter Fatse, bench coach Ramon Vazquez, third base coach Kyle Hudson and major league hitting strategy coach Joe Cronin.
Former Red Sox great Jason Varitek, who was serving as the club’s game planning and run prevention coach, was also “reassigned” to a to be determined role in the organization.
The Yankees may have had at least a partial hand in the gutting of the Red Sox coaching staff after sweeping them in Boston earlier this week. Red Sox decision-makers said Sunday they came to the decision to fire Cora and his coaches on Saturday morning.
Boone called Cora “a really good friend,” after the two spent time together at ESPN before they were both hired by their respective teams entering the 2018 season.
