There also are at least three or four other teams that could consider changes once the season ends. That all accounts for a third of the league.
For now, the Nationals are the only team seeking a new general manager, after firing Mike Rizzo in July. They could retain interim GM Mike DeBartolo and allow the Bedford native to hire a new manager.
The latest on what could be an offseason of turnover:
Angels: Montgomery was a long shot to retain the job from the start. The team’s poor performance since mid-August has seemingly sealed that. Washington, 73, is open to returning.
Owner Arte Moreno could want a bigger name, such as Albert Pujols.
Braves: Brian Snitker has sent signals since spring training that this season could be his last. He turns 70 next month and wants to spend more time with his family.
Atlanta snapped a run of seven consecutive postseason appearances this year but will return a strong roster. The Braves won’t lack for good candidates. David Ross and Skip Schumaker are ready to return to managing.
Former Brave Mark DeRosa, who is set to manage the United States in the World Baseball Classic, is another candidate. Presumably he would hand the WBC team off to somebody else.
Mets: Carlos Mendoza is not necessarily in trouble, but if his team misses miss the postseason with a payroll of $323 million, will owner Steve Cohen just sit idly by?
Nationals: The first order of business is to replace Rizzo as GM. If it’s not DeBartolo, prominent assistant GMs Eddie Romero (Red Sox), Amiel Sawdaye (Diamondbacks), Matt Forman (Guardians), and Josh Byrnes (Dodgers) are good candidates.
Another Red Sox assistant, Paul Toboni, also interviewed. But it’s more likely he stays with the Sox as their GM, a post that has been vacant for two seasons.
Orioles: Baltimore is over .500 under Tony Mansolino since Brandon Hyde was fired after 43 games. But is the Orioles’ young core of talent emerging as hoped?
Former Orioles player (and Maine native) Ryan Flaherty might be a good fit. He’s ready to become a manager.
Pirates: Pittsburgh has played better under Don Kelly than it did under Derek Shelton. Kelly also would be cheaper than a bigger name, which is always important with that franchise.
Rangers: Bruce Bochy’s contract is up after the season. He could elect to stay with Texas, retire again — he is 70, after all — or consider a different team.
The probable outcome is that he stays to give it another shot.
Rockies: Interim manager Warren Schaeffer was a minor league manager with the organization and a good choice to guide the young players there.
Plus, the Rockies don’t like change. Bud Black was only their fourth manager since 2003.
Twins: Rocco Baldelli won 87 games in 2023, then 80 in 2024, and will be fortunate to get to 70 this season with a tough schedule remaining.
Does that merit change or is this more an organization-wide malaise triggered by ownership trimming payroll? Baldelli’s option for 2026 was picked up in June, and he should return. The fall isn’t his fault.
Trevor Story went into the weekend having stolen 31 bases in 32 attempts. His 31 successful steals to open the season was the longest streak ever by an American League player and the longest since Vince Coleman stole on his first 44 attempts for the 1989 Cardinals.
Coleman wasn’t caught until July 28 of that season, by Expos catcher Nelson Santovenia. Story was finally nabbed on Wednesday by Shea Langeliers of the Athletics.
Story didn’t come into the season intending to be one of the top base stealers in the majors, but the 32-year-old did want to get back to using his speed more frequently after three seasons marked by injuries.
“I’ve always made 25 or so a goal in November. Whether I get there or not during the season depends on a lot of things,” Story said.
Story also has tried to be smart about when he takes off.
“I don’t like people who steal just to get their numbers,” he said. “To me it’s about efficiency and making sense in terms of the game.”
The numbers back that up. Story has gone on to score 16 times after stealing a base.
“It’s been impressive,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who judges base stealers on their success rate. “He takes a lot of pride on doing that.”
Because Story is fast enough to score from first on a ball in the gap, getting thrown out stealing is particularly costly. He has to be sure, or close to it, to take a chance.
He’s been successful on 89.5 percent of his attempts since joining the Red Sox in 2022.
“I remember [a time] he got thrown out — and he doesn’t show a lot of emotion in the dugout — he was very upset. That’s the reason,” Cora said. “But the process is good … with him it’s not a gamble.”
Story is 14th among active players with 160 steals.
A few other observations on the Red Sox:
⋅ Nothing against Nate Eaton, David Hamilton, or Nick Sogard, but it’s quite something that they’re all on the major league roster as the Sox fight for a playoff spot in September and Kristian Campbell, The $60 Million Dollar Man, is not.
Campbell has been with Triple A Worcester since he was demoted on June 20. To hear Cora talk, that’s not about to change.
“He’s had some good days hitting the ball hard and others not so great,” Cora said. “He’s been getting hits. He’s been playing better defensively in the outfield. There’s still work [to do] offensively.”
Worcester’s season ends on Sunday. The Red Sox will have six games remaining. Might Campbell still be considered for the bench?
“Everybody is, right?” Cora said. “We’ll see what we have in the next few days.”
That sounds like a no.
Cora said Campbell has been able to drive the ball in the air at times but has been inconsistent in doing so, and there are additional parts of his game where the team still seeks improvement.
Campbell has a .802 OPS in Triple A. Eaton (.855), Hamilton (.894), and Sogard (.778) produced at that level, too, and are considered better defenders.
Campbell is 23 and the worthiness of his eight-year contract extension won’t be determined any time soon. But this season raises questions, as does his apparent lack of a position.
⋅ Alex Bregman told the Globe’s Tim Healey back on Aug. 9 that he had tabled any contract talks until after the season, essentially saying he would return to free agency and make his decision then.
No surprise there.
But Bregman has hit .248 with a .710 OPS since returning from his quadriceps injury on July 11 and came out of the last homestand with only six RBIs in his previous 23 games.
He hit .299 with a .938 OPS before the injury. Watching Bregman run, it’s clear he’s being very cautious with his leg, and that seems to have affected his swing. This has not been the platform season he hoped for.
⋅ The Sox finished 4-8 at home against the Angels, Athletics, Twins, and Pirates. If they miss the postseason, that’s why.
⋅ Just a reminder: There are no longer tiebreaker games for the wild card. The season ends Sept. 28.
The first tiebreaker is head to head, then record within the division. The third tiebreaker would be record against the other two divisions.
If there is somehow still a tie, it would be record against a team’s entire league in the second half.
The Sox have the tiebreaker against the Astros (4-2) and Guardians (4-2), but not against the Rangers (3-4). They were 3-3 against the Mariners, so that is to be determined.
It’s not unusual to have a unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year.
Gunnar Henderson (Orioles) and Corbin Carroll (Diamondbacks) were in 2023, as were Kyle Lewis (Mariners) in 2020 and Yordan Alvarez (Astros) in 2019.
It’s Nick Kurtz’s turn.
Barring a renegade member of the BBWAA voting for somebody else, Kurtz would seem like an easy unanimous choice. The 22-year-old Athletics first baseman has been the best hitter in baseball since June 1 based on OPS (1.081) and WRC+ (191).
He had 32 homers and 80 RBIs through 108 games.
The 6-foot-5-inch, 240-pounder was the fourth pick of the 2024 draft out of Wake Forest. He had 12 minor league games last season and 21 this season before being called up.
Athletics manager Mark Kotsay lobbied to have Kurtz on the roster for Opening Day. He settled for April 23.
Kotsay said there is value in having a player stop at each level of the minors and gain that experience, even if it’s for a brief time.
“But the dominance that he displayed in a short period forced the hand to bring him here,” Kotsay said.
Beyond Kurtz’s abilities, what impressed Kotsay in spring training was the leadership he showed.
“He has an easy way of leading people,” Kotsay said. “He leads by example, but there’s a little side of him that’s not afraid to challenge guys in stepping up to meet his expectations. He’s brought that element to this group, which I really love.”
Kurtz also has turned Kotsay on to the Marvel cinematic universe, something he was unfamiliar with.
When a rookie gets the manager to watch “Iron Man,” you know he’s having an influence.
“The guys here welcomed me,” Kurtz said. “It’s been a great environment.”
The Athletics want to have a contender by the time they arrive in Las Vegas in 2028. In Kurtz, center fielder Lawrence Butler, catcher Shea Langeliers, left fielder Tyler Soderstrom, and shortstop Jacob Wilson, they have a core of position players.
When the Athletics lost to the Red Sox at Fenway on Wednesday, Kurtz sat in front of his locker for 10 minutes in his uniform, furious about striking out four times.
He came back the next day and scored two runs as the Athletics won the series.
Clayton Kershaw will not go off into retirement with fond memories of the Red Sox. He didn’t face the Red Sox in the regular season until this past July 26, when he allowed four runs on six hits over 4⅔ innings in a game at Fenway Park the Sox won, 4-2. The last Sox hitter he faced was Roman Anthony, who doubled in a run. Kershaw started twice against the Sox in the 2018 World Series, and he allowed nine runs over 11 innings and took two losses, including Game 5. Kershaw’s 194⅓ innings in the postseason are the most for any player in history with one franchise. He also will leave the Dodgers as their career leader in strikeouts … Justin Verlander was 1-10 with a 4.55 ERA over 22 starts for the Giants after getting knocked around by the Padres on Aug. 21. He is since 2-0 with an 0.87 ERA over five starts, dropping his ERA to 3.75. Verlander, who turns 43 in February, will become a free agent after the World Series and this late surge could lead to opportunities for next season. He’s 265-157 in his career and wants to pitch in 2026. It’s unrealistic to think he can get to 300 wins, but getting to 275 would put him 32nd all time and he’d pass six Hall of Famers, including Bob Feller and Jim Palmer … At 29, Kody Clemens is becoming much more than a footnote. The youngest of Roger Clemens’s four sons had 19 homers and 50 RBIs in his first 103 games for the Twins after being obtained from the Phillies. He homered three times against Arizona last Friday at Target Field. The rebuilding Twins were able to give Clemens extended playing time for the first time in his career. He’s been primarily a second baseman with some time in the outfield. “I’m thankful for the opportunity I’ve had here,” Clemens said. “It’s the first time I’ve had that kind of chance.” … One of the oddest stories of the season has to be Brewers manager Pat Murphy reading his players a letter he said was written by Bob Uecker before his death in January. When the Brewers clinched their postseason spot, Murphy gathered the group and read from a letter he said Uecker wrote that somehow included references about the season. Murphy read the letter in Uecker’s voice, hoping it would inspire the players … Matt Silverman, who joined the Rays in 2004 with outgoing owner Stu Sternberg, stepped down as co-team president on Wednesday. Silverman was president of baseball operations before he was promoted in 2017. Erik Neander, who had been general manager, moved up and remains in that role. Neander is expected to remain with the team under the new ownership … Two players from New England schools were named to the Cape Cod League All-League team, which recognized performance on the field and leadership. Boston College righthander Kyle Kipp made the first team. He’s a sophomore from Stamford, Conn. Brown righthander Ryan Oshinskie also made the first team. He’s from Fairfield, Conn. Kipp didn’t allow a run over 17⅓ innings for Brewster and struck out 17. Oshinskie had a 1.93 ERA for Orleans and struck out 38 in 28 innings … Roy Hobbs certainly belongs with Crash Davis, Ricky Vaughn, Dottie Hinson, and Kelly Leak in the pantheon of fictional baseball greats in film. Robert Redford, who died this past week, went to the University of Colorado to play baseball and looked like he knew what he was doing in “The Natural.” … Happy birthday to Dave Sax, who turns 67 on Monday. He played 28 games for the Red Sox from 1985-87 after signing as a free agent. He was a catcher, outfielder, and played one game at first base. Sax made the team out of spring training in 1985, but didn’t get into a game until April 21. Sax played more in June as Rich Gedman’s backup and caught a three-hit shutout by Oil Can Boyd on June 9 at Baltimore. He also went 2 for 5. Sax appeared in only six games from 1986-87, but managed to hit his only major league homer on Sept. 21, 1986, off Jimmy Key in Toronto. Sax is the older brother of five-time All-Star Steve Sax, and one of his nephews is Red Sox utility player Nick Sogard.