An eventful offseason of Red Sox front-office change continues to gain names.
Longtime Red Sox mental skills coordinator Bob Tewksbury, who had been hired by the team after the 2004 season and worked with players in the organization in that capacity for 11 of the last 12 seasons (he spent the 2014 season working for the MLB Players Association), said that his contract was not renewed for the 2017 season.
“It’s disappointing having started the program in 2004 under [then-farm director Ben Cherington], but I understand the decision to move forward and am looking forward to the next opportunity,” said Tewksbury.
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ALEX SPEIER: Making sense of shuffling in the Red Sox front office
For years, numerous players in the system have praised the role Tewksbury — who was hired full-time by the Sox after receiving his Master’s degree in sport psychology and counseling from Boston University in 2004 — played in helping them to overcome professional adversity. Many spoke highly of the ability to relate to a pitcher who spent 13 seasons in the big leagues from 1986-98.
With Tewskbury out, it seems likely that the team will promote Laz Gutierrez — who spent several years as a coach and scout in their organization before becoming a mental skills coach with upper-level minor leaguers in recent seasons — to work with the big league team.
Tewksbury joins a growing list of members of the Red Sox baseball operations staff who have left the organization since the end of the season. Others include former Sox GM Mike Hazen (Diamondbacks GM), former VP of amateur and international scouting Amiel Sawdaye (Diamondbacks assistant GM), senior analyst Tom Tippett, assistant amateur scouting director Steve Sanders (Blue Jays director of amateur scouting), Pacific Rim scouting coordinator Jon Deeble (Dodgers), and physical therapist Dan Dyrek.
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Alex Speier can be reached at alex.speier@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter@alexspeier.