Sean McAdam: Red Sox’ Alex Cora went from first-year winner to survivor; Eventually, though, time ran out for him

Cora and Bloom frequently clashed when it came to roster makeup, with Cora urging a more aggressive approach in consecutive trade deadlines while Bloom, perhaps under some restraints imposed from above, took a more cautious approach.

Bloom’s replacement, Craig Breslow, inherited Cora, but chose to extend Cora with a three-year, $21.75 million extension in August of 2024 that runs through the end of 2027. That Cora was not only retained by Breslow, but also given a lucrative multi-year deal, seemed to offer further evidence of his ability to survive any situation.

Every time a shakeup hit the organization, which has gone through four heads of baseball operations in the last 11 years, Cora managed to remain in place. After Bloom was fired in September of 2023, Cora even publicly mused about a desire to move into the front office himself.

But in the end, Cora became the scapegoat for a 2026 season that veered off the tracks early. Even with Saturday’s win, the Red Sox were tied with Houston for the second-worst record in the American League and ranked at or near the bottom in virtually every hitting and pitching category.

Upper management determined it could wait no longer.

It’s worth noting that Cora always seemed to do better with more established players on his roster. The 2018 team had homegrown stars just coming into their own like Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts, yes, but also, was buffeted by veterans like J.D. Martinez and Mitch Moreland, and a veteran pitching staff led by established starters like David Price, Rick Porcello and Chris Sale.

More recently, Cora was charged with winning at the big league level while simultaneously overseeing the development of top young players like Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer and Wilyer Abreu. When several underachieved this season, leading to the poor team-wide start, Cora was held responsible.

It could well be that having Dombrowski as his first boss in Boston set an unrealistic precedent. An old school executive, Dombrowski made it his job to act on his manager’s wishes. That type of dynamic seldom exists in the modern game, with younger executives exerting more influence, asking for less feedback from their managers.

In the end, it may be no more complicated than this: The Red Sox, as an organization, have been, with few exceptions, in turmoil over the last decade, shifting lead baseball executives and philosophies on an almost annual basis.

Having seen that didn’t produce the desired results on the field and in the standings, they chose a more conventional route for a losing team: blame and fire the manager.

More Red Sox coverage

• Former Red Sox outfielder says team should have fired Craig Breslow
• Who’s Chad Tracy? Red Sox interim manager replacing Alex Cora is in his fifth season with organization
• What John Henry said about the firing of Red Sox manager Alex Cora
• Red Sox fire manager Alex Cora and five coaches in massive shakeup
• Red Sox newcomer has career day (with grand slam) in rout: ‘It’s fun to see him popping off’

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