Red Sox should only consider one Alex Cora replacement

In a somewhat expected turn of events, the Boston Red Sox chose to part ways with longtime skipper Alex Cora and five other coaches.

Beating the Baltimore Orioles 17-1 wasn't enough for Cora to keep his job, and a 10-17 record was just too much to overcome. As such, head of baseball operations Craig Breslow will be under a lot of pressure to find a suitable replacement. Nonetheless, the right guy for the job might be right in front of him: Chad Tracy.

The Red Sox need to keep Chad Tracy for the long run

Breslow already gave Tracy the "interim" manager tag, and for very good reasons. He earned his promotion from the Triple-A affiliate to the big show after five years at Worcester, logging a 323-295 (.523) record and playing an instrumental role in developing several of its current stars.

The 45-year-old has close relationships with Marcelo Mayer, Connelly Early and Roman Anthony, among others, and that should be a major factor in Breslow's decision. The free-agent pool isn't that attractive, and chances are they might be better off waiting until the end of the season to find a long-term replacement.

As such, they might as well allow their own guy to straighten the course of the ship and prove that he's ready to embrace a bigger challenge. The roster is admittedly flawed, so he might not be able to do much better than his predecessor. That said, he's earned a chance to at least make a case for himself.