BOSTON — Pedro Martínez expressed his support for Jason Varitek and Alex Cora, who were fired by the Boston Red Sox last month as the organization made sweeping changes to its coaching staff.
Martínez was at Fenway Park on Friday night to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the franchise’s first home game. All living Red Sox alumni with retired numbers were part of the team’s pregame ceremony, including Martínez, Carl Yastrzemski, Wade Boggs, Carlton Fisk, David Ortiz and Jim Rice.
Martínez was particularly close with Varitek, his catcher for all seven seasons he played in Boston. And he was staunch in his support of Varitek, who’d served in various roles for the club since his retirement in 2011.
“They’re going to let me know, there’s got to be a reason because Tek means so much to this city,” Martínez said. “To me, Tek is a legend here, and I’m not going to go into details because I don’t know. If I knew, I’d tell you straight up, too. I’d tell you why (he was reassigned), but I don’t know. But it’s very unfortunate that I don’t get to see my batterymate out there, giving me a hug or probably receiving the baseball from me when I threw it today.”
Though the Red Sox said they reassigned Varitek to a different role in the organization after he was fired as the team’s game-planning coordinator, a league source said that was not the case. The Red Sox have yet to clarify the role offered to Varitek, noting in a news release the night of the firings that details of his reassignment will be announced at a later date.
Though Martínez said he hasn’t been in touch with Varitek — “Tek is not a phone kind of person,” Martínez said — he’s spoken with Cora.
“I was able to reach out, but they all know they will soon be in baseball,” Martinez said. “That I can tell you. Every one of those coaches probably will be in baseball in not too long. Cora could have easily been in baseball if he wanted to, but he chose to rest, and I really respect that. I know what it’s like and I really like the fact that he went to his family to take care of his family first, until he finally gets back to baseball. If he does.”
Cora turned down a job to manage the Philadelphia Phillies, who fired manager Rob Thomson days after the Red Sox fired Cora.
Martínez, who’s served as an adviser for the club for several years, often working with pitchers in spring training, noted he’d be more than willing to take on a larger role with the organization.
“I’m always open to help out,” he said. “I’m not going to go for 162 (games) with the team, that I can tell you right away. I’m not going to be with the team 162, but in any other role that they need me to be, could be to be here more frequently, could be (to) join the team anywhere or join the front office in some ways, like they normally do. I don’t mind. I’m here to help, and I’m committed. And they know it. It’s just a matter of putting it all together and picking the spots where they. They feel like I’m helpful.”