BOSTON, Massachusetts
(CSNNE/Staff Report) -- Larry Lucchino, who has served as president and CEO of the Red Sox since John Henry purchased the team in 2002, is stepping down.
Lucchino will relinquish his roles by the end of the year, to be replaced as president by Sam Kennedy, who is currently an executive vice-president and Chief Operating Officer of the Sox. The CEO position, according to the Boston Herald "will remain unfilled for the time being."
The Herald first reported the news, which was later confirmed by the Boston Globe and MLB.com. Lucchino told Dan Shaughnessy of the Globe: "I'll be 70 in September. That's sort of why I'm ready to step back.''
Ian Browne of MLB.com reported that, according to sources, Lucchino would like to remain involved with the Red Sox in some capacity. Team chairman Tom Werner told the Herald: "We are hopeful and confident that we will conclude an agreement with Larry going forward where he will continue to be an integral part of upper management."
According to the Herald:
The Red Sox have been exploring a succession plan from Lucchino for some time. With his contract expiring at the end of the year, the club finally decided the time was right for Lucchino's everyday responsibilities to come to an end. A key factor in the timing also was the club's desire to promote, and not lose, the next generation of leaders, topped by Kennedy, in the Red Sox' executive branch.
Kennedy, 42, will not have a hand in baseball operations. The Herald reported he will "formally assume his new duties as soon as the end of October but a transition of duties has already begun."
Lucchino told the Herald: "The truth is Sam is an important part of this puzzle. He's been working for me for 20 years, right out of college. He's certainly my choice, as well as that of John [Henry] and Tom [Werner], to be promoted to the position of president."
During the last year, Lucchino has been less visible than he was in the past, partly because of a motorcycle accident he suffered over the winter but also because he has one of the key members of a group that purchased the Pawtucket Red Sox, the Sox' Triple-A team. Since the death of James Skeffington, one of his main partners, several months ago, Lucchino has been spearheading the drive to build a new stadium for the PawSox on the Providence waterfront.
(Comcast SportsNet New England is an NBC partner)
