The Boston Red Sox will have a new first base coach next season.
Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom announced Monday during an end-of-season news conference that Tom Goodwin won't be back in 2022.
Goodwin spent the past four seasons as Boston's first base coach and won a World Series as a member of manager Alex Cora's staff in 2018.
"It's certainly true in this case -- I think it's true in almost every case in good organizations -- that even though we're making this change, it doesn't diminish how we feel about him as a person, what he helped accomplish here," Bloom said of Goodwin. "He helped bring this organization and this city a championship. It's a tough decision. It doesn't take away from any of that, and we're so appreciative of all that he helped happen here."
Goodwin missed time in August after being deemed a close contact of a Red Sox personnel who tested positive for COVID-19. He didn't coach first base during Boston's postseason run, either, as Major League Baseball mandated that only COVID-vaccinated staff would be allowed on the field and in the dugout throughout the playoffs.
That said, Bloom clarified Monday that Goodwin's vaccination status had nothing to do with the move, calling it a "baseball decision."
So, what are the Red Sox looking for in their next first base coach?
"In baseball, there's always changes, right? We love Goody, but we felt, I felt, as a group, we needed to move forward," Cora said. "There's not a specific thing that we're looking for. There's a lot of things that we need to do as a group. And it's not only in that position, but in all the positions. We have to keep improving. From digging information to connecting with players to connecting with the coaching staff, connecting with the front office.
"This is not a knock on Goody. It's just what we're trying to do as a group. That was part of the conversations, and we'll see where we get. But whoever we decide is going to be our first base coach, he's going to be a good one and he's going to help us to win games."
According to Bloom, the rest of Boston's coaching staff is expected to remain intact.
"It's early and we haven't put pen to paper with everybody who we need to, but the intent is that everyone else will be back," Bloom said.
The Red Sox finished the 2021 regular season with a 92-70 record. They defeated the New York Yankees in the American League Wild Card Game and the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL Division Series before losing the Houston Astros in the ALCS.
