The Boston Red Sox continued reshaping their coaching staff Wednesday by hiring Jason Bell, the Houston Astros’ longtime major league field coordinator and outfield coach, according to Astros beat writer Brian McTaggart.
Bell, who spent a decade in the Astros organization, will join manager Chad Tracy’s major league staff for the 2027 season. Tim Healey of the Boston Globe reported that Bell will serve primarily as the outfield instructor, with additional duties still being finalized.
“Source: Jason Bell, who served last year as the Astros’ Major League field coordinator and outfield coach and had spent a decade with the organization, is leaving the club to join the Major League staff with the Boston Red Sox,” McTaggart wrote on X.
The move comes as both clubs adjust after early postseason exits. The Red Sox, who finished 87-75 and placed third in the American League East, lost to the New York Yankees in two games in the AL Wild Card Series.
Boston’s season featured one of the more dramatic midyear managerial changes in recent franchise history. After a 10-17 start, the club fired manager Alex Cora and several coaches on April 25. Tracy, then the manager of Triple-A Worcester, took over as interim manager the next day.
Tracy guided the Red Sox to a 77-58 record over the final 135 games. That stretch included a franchise-record-tying 15-game winning streak in July and a 27-3 run over a 30-game span that ranked as the best in team history. The club clinched a playoff berth on Sept. 20 and formally removed the interim label from Tracy two days later, signing him to a three-year contract through 2029 with a club option for 2030.
“Today is a great day for the Boston Red Sox organization,” Red Sox president and CEO Sam Kennedy said at the time of Tracy’s permanent appointment. “We couldn’t be more pleased with the news of earlier today. We’ve had a roller coaster of a year and a season, and we are just so pleased to make these announcements.”
Bell’s path to a major league coaching role was unconventional. He began coaching at the collegiate level, including a stint as pitching coach at the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore, before joining the Astros in 2017 as a development coach.
In 2018, he managed the short-season Tri-City ValleyCats to a 42-33 record and a New York-Penn League championship. He later spent several seasons as the Astros’ minor league field coordinator before joining the major league staff in 2024 as quality assurance coach. He served as field coordinator and outfield coach in 2025 and 2026.
Bell, 36, has also coached internationally with Puerto Rico and Israel. The Astros organization indicated earlier this month that Bell was among a group of coaches expected to return in 2027 after owner Jim Crane decided not to retain manager Joe Espada following Houston’s sweep by the Chicago White Sox in the AL Wild Card Series.
Instead, Bell will move to Fenway Park. The Red Sox have already reassigned several members of Tracy’s interim staff, including third-base coach Chad Epperson and first-base coach Pablo Cabrera, creating openings on the big league coaching roster heading into next season.
Bell’s addition gives Tracy another coach with extensive player-development experience and recent major league outfield instruction responsibilities. The Red Sox finished the regular season with a 3.54 team ERA, ranking third in the American League, while the club’s outfielders combined for strong defensive metrics in several advanced categories during the second half.
The hiring marks the latest offseason adjustment for a Red Sox organization that turned a 10-17 start into a playoff appearance under Tracy. Boston has not won a World Series since 2018, when Cora managed the club to 108 regular-season wins and a title.
Both the Red Sox and Astros enter the winter with managerial and coaching continuity questions resolved in different ways. Houston is searching for a new manager, while Boston continues building around Tracy after his successful interim stretch.
