The day after the conclusion of the World Series was a busy one for the Red Sox, including the announcement of some of new manager Alex Cora's coaching staff and picking up the contract options on Chris Sale and Craig Kimbrel.
Former Milwaukee Brewers manager Ron Roenicke will be Cora's bench coach, former Double-A Portland manager Carlos Febles will be third-base coach and Tom Goodwin will be first-base coach. Dana LeVangie remains bullpen coach. The hitting and pitching coach vacancies remain to be filled.
Roenicke was 342-331 and led Milwaukee to the National League Central title in 2011 as Brewers manager from 2011-15. Goodwin, a former outfielder, had been the Mets first-base coach since 2011. Febles, a former infielder, has been a Sox minor league manager and coach since 2007.
The 2018 options for lefty ace Sale ($12.5 million) and closer Kimbrel ($13 million) were picked up, while the Sox parted ways with lefty reliever Robbie Ross Jr. and infielder Josh Rutledge when they were outrighted from the 40-man roster and chose to become free agents. Joining them as free agents from the 2017 Sox are lefty reliever Fernando Abad, righty relievers Blaine Boyer and Addison Reed, outfielders Rajai Davis and Chris Young, righty starter Doug Fister, first baseman Mitch Moreland and infielder Eduardo Nunez.
Minor league outfielder Bryce Brentz and lefty reliever Williams Jerez were added to the major league roster. Brentz, 28, hit 31 homers and had 85 RBI at Triple-A Pawtucket and Jerez, 25 had a 3.27 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 63 1/3 innings, primarily with Portland.
Also, infielder Marco Hernandez, right-handed reliever Tyler Thornburg and knuckleballer Steven Wright were activated off the 60-day disabled list.