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Alex Cora should be relieved - The Red Sox mess is somebody else’s problem now
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- Alex Cora should be relieved - The Red Sox mess is somebody else’s problem now
Nobody likes to be fired, but if Alex Cora was hooked up to a polygraph, there’s a really good chance that he would admit he was relieved.
The Red Sox made Cora the fall guy. After starting the season 10-17, thumping the Orioles 17-1 wasn’t enough to keep him from getting fired on Saturday.
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But for him, there’s likely some comfort in knowing that Boston ’s ill-constructed roster is no longer his problem. He’ll get paid while somebody else is asked to make magic out of a mess.
The job Cora was fired from is a different one than he was hired to do. In 2018, the Red Sox still prioritized winning championships and being competitive annually. Cora was given a loaded roster and he led it to a World Series championship. Every year since, his players have been progressively less talented.
Cora was loosely comparable to Joe Torre. He was exceptional at leading great players and getting the most out of them. That’s not as easy as it sounds or as easy as he made it look.
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Baseball history is loaded with star-laden teams who underachieve. But Cora was a good tactician during the regular season and an aggressive one in the postseason. His management of the 2018 pitching staff in the playoffs with David Price ’s fragile mindset early, Craig Kimbrel ’s implosion and Chris Sale ’s injury, remains a masterclass.
But the Red Sox are no longer a franchise that flexes its muscles. Ownership has convinced itself that a team can be an annual contender without consistently investing in stars.
That’s why a parade of top MLB executives declined to even be considered to lead Boston’s baseball operations after Chaim Bloom was let go. Craig Breslow wasn’t their top choice, just the top choice willing to take the job.
Cora is a scapegoat for management and for ownership. He’s being blamed, not for his mistakes, but his failure to fix mistakes made by Bloom, Breslow and Henry.
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The Red Sox were just good enough to reach the playoffs last year and didn’t improve their roster. Replacing Lucas Giolito withf Sonny Gray was at best a wash. They never replaced Rafael Devers or Alex Bregman .
“Run prevention” wasn’t really a strategy, but it sounded better than calling the team’s approach “Too cheap to get enough hitting.”
They were desperately hoping that their young players would have no growing pains and would hit their career peaks immediately. When that predictably didn’t happen, Cora was blamed.
Would a better manager have figured out how to better utilize a roster with too many outfielder/DHs? Would a better manager have made Caleb Durbin functional?
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Cora wasn’t the one who traded Mookie Betts , Rafael Devers and Chris Sale for almost nothing. They continue to be fleeced on so many high profile trades. Garret Crochet was a great acquisition, but the Red Sox gave up a lot to get him and didn’t surround him with enough.
To nobody’s surprise, John Henry made a statement and retreated back into his lair to avoid answering the bigger questions. Sam Kennedy will once again take the bullets for him at a press conference in Baltimore on Sunday.
It was a slight surprise that Jason Varitek wasn’t the interim manager. If the Red Sox had sacked Cora and hired Varitek, a big chunk of the fanbase would have been excited. None of them have any idea whether he’d be a good manager or not, but the mere mention of the former stalwart catcher brings to mind some of the region’s happiest sports memories.
But he’s out too, reassigned to a “new role within the organization.” Maybe he called Breslow a stiff.
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The Red Sox still don’t have enough offense. And now in addition to relying on players without much big league experience, they’re leaning on a manager in the same situation.
Cora won’t be unemployed long if he doesn’t want to be. It’s not hard to see him managing either team in New York or maybe back with Dave Dombrowski in Philadelphia , where the owners are likely to give him a team ready to win.
No manager is going to fix the Red Sox. Until ownership realizes they aren’t smarter than everyone else and commits to acting like a big market team again, anyone they hire is going to find the same fate.
Meanwhile Cora had another year left on his $21.75 million contract, so he can afford to be choosy until a team that’s serious about winning comes along.
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