Alex Cora Is Not Blameless In The Red Sox Dumpster Fire

Cora The Incorrigible

When the axe fell on Cora and his staff, the team at least took the high road, arranging for ground transportation and a private plane to ferry the fired coaches from Baltimore back to Boston. (The mode of transportation left something to be desired.)

On the tarmac, the group took a picture, with long-time Red Sox player and coach Jason Varitek (who, technically, was not fired, just reassigned), posing with his thumb down. Cora posted that picture on his Instagram account. Late that night, Cora also posted:

Cora is entitled to his opinion, and he is entitled to vent. He is even entitled to claim he got a raw deal based on the front office’s repeated failures to deliver impact players (refusing to give Bregman a no-trade clause; not trying to match Baltimore’s offer for Pete Alonso; no parting with Jarren Duran in return for another pitching arm; etc.). But Cora is not blameless in this sad saga. Cora — as evidenced by his social media postings — has not always covered himself in glory as the Red Sox repeatedly underachieved.

Cora The (Non) Communicator

Prior to the 2025 season, Boston was in active pursuit of Bregman or Nolan Arenado, then a member of the Cardinals. Both of these guys play third base. So, too, did Rafael Devers, who the Red Sox bestowed a $313.5 million contract just a few years prior. It was incumbent on Cora, known as a players manager, to prepare his superstar for what was potentially to come. He could have flown down to the Dominican Republic during the winter and broken the news to Rafy; explained the situation; told him that the team would want him to take some reps at first base during spring training; that Boston would never embarrass him, and would only put him out there if he and they felt comfortable. He could have assured the player with the largest contract in franchise history that he was still the face of that franchise, still beloved, and still very-much needed. Suffice it to say, Cora didn’t do any of that.

Cora claimed he tried to reach out to Devers, but the player tends to “go off the grid” in the winter, so they couldn’t hook up. That is, at best, a weak excuse; at worst, a true failure of leadership. But it gets worse. The team signed Bregman to a three-year contract, but with opt outs after each season. Thus they knew they were getting a rental at third base. And yet, when spring training came around, they told Devers to stash his glove and become the everyday designated hitter.

Devers, predictably, blanched at this. And when he reminded the press that the team promised him when he signed his ​ten-year contract that he would be their third baseman, and that third base “is my position,” Cora responded by saying:

“Different people are here, right? There’s a different leader here. Chaim is in St. Louis right now.”

Some might call that tough love. Others might call it callous indifference and a recipe for disaster.

And then disaster struck. On May 2nd, Casas blew out his knee, and the Red Sox asked Devers to move to first base. He refused. Was that petulant? Yes. Was he being a good teammate? No. Was his response, “I know I’m a ballplayer, but at the same time, they can’t expect me to play every single position out there,” reasonable? Absolutely not. But Cora was the adult in the room. Cora needed to keep his clubhouse together. Cora needed to understand the visscitudes of his mercurial star and react accordingly. He did none of that.

And then Breslow let Cora off the hook, trading Devers to the Giants. Which takes us to 2026.

Cora Couldn’t Course Correct

The Red Sox started the 2026 season 2-7, playing uninspired baseball. As could be expected based on the players he had available, power was nonexistent. And the vaunted pitching staff that Breslow put together over the off-season underperformed out of the gate. However, there were small things that Cora could control, but didn’t. With the advent of the ABS challenge system, teams were stealing balls and strikes and turning around at-bats on a consistent basis. Many teams toyed with strategies during spring training and thought deeply about how and when to best utilize their challenges. Apparently, not the Red Sox. They repeatedly blew through their challenges in the early innings, and then were left with none in high leverage situations. Players who had no business questioning the umpire (see, Rafaela, Ceddanne), were using them up before players who have a vastly superior knowledge of the strike zone (see, Anthony, Roman) could change an at-bat. Each night it was curious how and why Cora was allowing this to happen, and/or why he hadn’t instituted some form a game plan around the ABS.

And then there was the hitting. Per Red Sox Nation Stats, as of April 27th, the Red Sox had the 4th lowest swing rate at pitches in the strike zone this season (63%), while also swinging 30.7% of the time out of the zone (10th worst in the league). Yes, much of that can be blamed on the hitting coach and that group, but the buck has to stop with the skipper, who, ostensibly, is privy to the statistics, and needs to step in and try to course correct. That does not seem to have happened.

Cora The Uncooperative

There is an old adage, if you meet three jerks in a day, maybe you are the jerk. Well, Cora is getting close. There was much reporting in the Boston media that Cora didn’t see eye-to-eye with Chaim Bloom, Boston’s former Chief Baseball Officer. Bloom was trying to build for sustained long-term success, and Cora was in win-now mode. Without opining on which is the better approach, it is clear that having the front office and the field manager on the same page gives a team a much better chance for success. Cora won that battle, with Bloom getting fired in ​2023. In came Breslow.

The Chief Baseball Officer/former pitcher and the Manager/former infielder had roughly the same issues as the previous regime. Breslow wanted to put his stamp on “his team,” ordering a Sportsology audit of the entire front office shortly after taking the reins. And he, like Bloom, was interested in building for the future. Despite the apparent disconnect, prior to the 2025 season, the team gave Cora a three-year, $21.75 million contract. One would think that would be enough security to create some bonhomie. One would be incorrect.

Cora Gets Canned

In the end, Breslow — unlike Bloom — won the battle. Cora and his coaching staff were let go in such a sweeping manner that the team needed to dredge the depths of their farm system to fill the coaching ranks. Within hours of Cora’s firing, Dave Dombrowski, his former general manager — one with whom he has a much better relationship — offered him the soon-to-be-vacant manager position in Philadelphia. Cora elected to stand pat, spend the summer in Puerto Rico with his family, and check his bank account every two weeks to make sure that the roughly $13 million the Red Sox still owe him is properly deposited.

The press has gone easy on Cora because it is so easy to go hard on Breslow and the ownership group. But that does not mean Cora is blameless or shouldn’t wear some of this failure. He won a World Series in 2018 with arguably the best team in Red Sox history. But he finished in last place two of the other six seasons, making the playoffs just twice. He didn’t communicate with the team’s biggest star; he couldn’t keep blend the youngsters and the veterans; and, most importantly, he couldn’t get along with his bosses. And ultimately, that, as much as Boston’s record, is what cost him his job. In all of the vitriol pointed upstairs, let’s not forget that.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com