Article: After A Rough Few Months Is It Time For Alex Cora To Be On The Hot Seat?

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

21 minutes ago, TedYazPapiMookie said:

Cheating doesn't align with my morales but if it does yours, then be open minded enough to understand why so many of us are offended by what he did.

The Astros' players who directly benefitted in '17 -- and got amnesty -- probably weren't offended when AJ Hinch and Cora took the fall for implementing a system developed by the Houston analytics department before AC was even hired there.

But what does line up with Franklin Morales is a 2013 Red Sox world championship. Rumor has it that even those players and coaches also tried to decode secret signs flashed by opposing catchers, pitchers, infielders and managers, as well as base coaches to batters and baserunners.

Anyone offended by that should find another sport to watch, because it's been part of baseball since the beginning of time.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

8 minutes ago, TedYazPapiMookie said:

That's a tough comment to agree with.  Managers make LOTS of decisions that can hurt a team dramatically in a game but very few can significantly help a team.  I've mentioned a classic Cora negative impact in games.  He uses his bench when he gets a feeling and subs a lesser hitter for a better hitter based on his intuition.  That's bad managing.  He often doesn't run when the team should.  He often sets his line-up with poor logic that causes the team to lose more 1 run games than they should.  An example is batting Devers 2nd behind Duran when Duran is cold. (hitting around .200).  If Duran is cold and Devers is still producing RBIs at a league high rate a good manager understands it's because Rafaela is getting on base in synch with Devers hitting.  Moving Rafaela (a right handed batter) to the 2 spot and moving Devers to 3rd potentially adds a run in the first inning that currently isn't happening.  With all the one run games, a smart manager can make an impact on winning and losing.  1 more run in the first might be the difference in those one run games!!

I agree with this post. Some fans think batting orders are overemphasized, but when discussing a losing team that leads the majors in LEFT ON BASE and ONE-RUN LOSSES, how can adjusting the order to optimize production not matter?

[notin]

5 minutes ago, TedYazPapiMookie said:

I get that you are having a hard time comprehending the point about Cora being a lazy player who didn't start most of his career but why TIto out of nowhere?  I never said anything about Tito and your big point is Cora was better than Tito.  That doesn't relate to the point of my comment.  I'm not side stepping anything.  You apparently have an issue with Tito that you somehow worked into a comment about Cora.  It makes no sense since Tito was never mentioned in my comment.

Cora was a lazy player?

This is a ridiculous criticism for multiple reasons. Please explain the relationship between successful playing career and successful managing career.  Then explain how Hall of Famer Tony LaRussa fits into that evidence …

[Bellhorn04]

45 minutes ago, notin said:

Cora was a lazy player?

This is a ridiculous criticism for multiple reasons. Please explain the relationship between successful playing career and successful managing career.  Then explain how Hall of Famer Tony LaRussa fits into that evidence …

I already tried this line of reasoning LOL  

TYPM is really locked in here.  Next thing he'll be telling us Cora was lazy even as a child...

 

[mvp 78]

2 hours ago, TedYazPapiMookie said:

Huge deal?  I am building a parallel between his performance as a player and as a manager since his traits were in common.  1 - No Talent, 2 - Uninspired attitude 3 - Willing to gain an advantage over his opponent any way possible.

Just a parallel not a big deal.

I go into a meeting and come out to the absolute craziest posts. 

[mvp 78]

2 hours ago, TedYazPapiMookie said:

Make stuff up?  That's vague.  Got any specifics.  

Don't read what I write and don't respond if you can't articulate your point.

Unfortunately, I'm cursed with reading every post since I'm a mod. 

🤠

[moonslav59]

16 hours ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

It is mind-boggling sometimes when fans blame the manager for not making the roster he's given by the front office perform better. Why can't he just order players to make better contact, throw more strikes, catch more outs, and never get erased on the bases?

I laugh when I here people say, "All the manager needs to do is sit down with ____ and tell him he needs to...

go the other way with the pitch.

take more pitches

focus more

not swing at balls in the dirt

only swing at strikes..."

 

Like it's that simple.

 

That being said, managers can and do make a difference. They make many key decisions that are subjective and may not be made by most or some other managers, including who plays out of the 26 players he is given, where they play and bat in the line-up. They make in game choices that can make or break a game and a team, but many of the chocies are judged in hindsight, without the casual or even maniacal fan knowing all the information needed to make those chocies.

It's hard to know if this team's issue is a lack of motivation.

It's hard to know how much a manager can force his players to be more focused.

Hard to know when the right time is to make a major change to a slot on the playing roster or line-up.

We've seen countless times where fans are screaming, "Why do you keep playing this bum?" or "Why don't you demote Devers in the line-up?" Then, BAM! Ooooopsie...

 

We like to assign blame. I guess that's natural.

 

[dgalehouse]

To say that it has been a rough few months is misleading.  Actually, it has been a few years now, 

[Bellhorn04]

1 hour ago, dgalehouse said:

To say that it has been a rough few months is misleading.  Actually, it has been a few years now, 

I think most of the blame for 2022-2024 has been assigned to ownership and the front office.

This year might be different.  If this team keeps sinking into the depths, they're going to have to make a move.

Even Francona only had an 8 year tenure, and his record was considerably better than Cora's. 

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I think most of the blame for 2022-2024 has been assigned to ownership and the front office.

This year might be different.  If this team keeps sinking into the depths, they're going to have to make a move.

Even Francona only had an 8 year tenure, and his record was considerably better than Cora's. 

I'm not so sure they'd make a move this offseason concerning Cora. He has plot armor. Maybe if they retool this offseason and the team still stinks up the joint next year. I did say there was a chance they were going to punt on this season prior to them signing Bregman. Without him in the lineup, it's kinda what it looks like!

[mvp 78]

Cora this morning:

“We’re always aggressive talking about mistakes, it’s not like we let them go by, we just have to pick and choose when, understanding the players,” Cora said, using someone forgetting how many outs there are as an example. “What are we going to do? When they come back be like ‘hey you have to pay attention to the scoreboard! You forgot the outs!’ They frickin’ know they forgot the outs. You tell them ‘hey be on top of it, let’s go.'”

Cora also noted that this year’s team being so young also makes for a different dynamic compared to his first season in 2018, when the majority of the roster was comprised of established veterans.

“The only guy that was young on that team was (Rafael Devers). The other guys were veterans, so you manage that one differently,” Cora said. “People are going to say ‘oh he can only manage a veteran team and win it,’ yeah, maybe? I don’t know. Shoot. But it’s different, a lot different, you have to teach the game, you have to be in constant communication about situations.”

Cora said that working with guys like Jarren Duran, Triston Casas, and more recently Ceddanne Rafaela — all of whom endured early-career struggles — has helped teach him the importance of patience and composure when it comes to managing young players.

“You have to be level. When things are going great don’t get too high, when things are going bad don’t get too low, especially in that dugout,” Cora said. “A lot of people are watching, especially the players. It’s like when you take your kids to the field and they don’t make a play, the first person they’re going to look at is dad. And if you’re upset that leaves a mark to your kids. So you better be there, be smiling, ‘come on kid you can do it,’ and inside you’re like come on man make that play. It’s the same thing. You’ve got to help them out. We’re here to help them out.”

But while he stands by his approach, Cora acknowledged that the team’s performance ultimately falls on him and that some kind of adjustments will have to be made.

“We get frustrated with the results but you have to trust the process, and right now I don’t know if the process is good, because we’re not seeing the results,” Cora said. “Maybe we have to change the process, and that’s on us, that’s on me.”

He's looking at this team like it's a little league team. That's what he thinks of this roster.

[moonslav59]

Counting this season, it's been 7 years since that magical 2018 season, actually, not so magical, when you consider all the planning and spending that went into constructing that team.

2021 seems like an outlier based on the remnants of the 2018 season along with the confluence of good seasons from just enough players.

1 in 7 years is not what Sox fans got used to, and when you look at the budget rankings of most of those teams it's hard to accept our placements in the years' standings. Without a doubt, the management and leadership had to be a major component in the lack of success, as was underperforming players, aging talent, too many key injuries and other factors.

While the farm seemed worse than we thought back in 2018, it was the one area that did improve and seems to still be perhaps our biggest asset, right now. We appear to have some good, young talent under team control at relatively low cost, as well as some well paid vets that have talent. Sure, we have sunken costs that rival other top sunken cost teams with Story, Yoshida & Giolito holding over $60M in AAV, this year. 

Seven years is a long time to go with the farm still being our biggest pride area, next to maybe Crochet.

I'm not optimistic about 2025, anymore. It's been one huge letdown, to put it mildly. There is still about 60% of the season to go, but there does not seem to be anything to feel hopeful about.

I'm tired of "wait til next year."

I'm tired of watching key injuries occur, then hoping against hope that returning players from the IL will somehow revive our team. It never happens.

Sure, we all expected some regression from guys like Houck, Duran and maybe a few others, but this has been extreme. Hardly anyone is doing better than expected, and just a few are doing close to what we expected. We have too many key players on the IL or just off it and not looking in form. Our team can't hit, pitch or field, and even our baserunning has been stumbling and bumbling.

I'm not sure there is a clear solution. We probably need at least 5-6 things to happen, and it's unrealistic to think they all will happen, together. I've not lost all hope, but I'm down to a thread.

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

“We keep making the same mistakes, we’re not getting better. At one point, it has to be on me, I guess, right? I’m the manager, so, I gotta keep pushing them to be better,” Cora said after the 4-3 loss in 10 innings. “They’re not getting better. They’re not. We keep making the same mistakes. I’ll be very honest about it, very open about it. You get frustrated, but at what point it’s like, OK, what we gonna do, what’s going to change? Because we keep doing the same thing.

“We can keep talking about one-run losses. …. It’s the same thing. Is it effort, preparation, attention to detail? I have no idea. I watched that game, I was like, ‘Wow, this is real.’ It’s frustrating.”

https://nypost.com/2025/06/04/sports/the-red-sox-have-broken-alex-cora-were-not-getting-better/

[Duran Is The Man]

4 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Counting this season, it's been 7 years since that magical 2018 season, actually, not so magical, when you consider all the planning and spending that went into constructing that team.

2021 seems like an outlier based on the remnants of the 2018 season along with the confluence of good seasons from just enough players.

1 in 7 years is not what Sox fans got used to, and when you look at the budget rankings of most of those teams it's hard to accept our placements in the years' standings. Without a doubt, the management and leadership had to be a major component in the lack of success, as was underperforming players, aging talent, too many key injuries and other factors.

While the farm seemed worse than we thought back in 2018, it was the one area that did improve and seems to still be perhaps our biggest asset, right now. We appear to have some good, young talent under team control at relatively low cost, as well as some well paid vets that have talent. Sure, we have sunken costs that rival other top sunken cost teams with Story, Yoshida & Giolito holding over $60M in AAV, this year. 

Seven years is a long time to go with the farm still being our biggest pride area, next to maybe Crochet.

I'm not optimistic about 2025, anymore. It's been one huge letdown, to put it mildly. There is still about 60% of the season to go, but there does not seem to be anything to feel hopeful about.

I'm tired of "wait til next year."

I'm tired of watching key injuries occur, then hoping against hope that returning players from the IL will somehow revive our team. It never happens.

Sure, we all expected some regression from guys like Houck, Duran and maybe a few others, but this has been extreme. Hardly anyone is doing better than expected, and just a few are doing close to what we expected. We have too many key players on the IL or just off it and not looking in form. Our team can't hit, pitch or field, and even our baserunning has been stumbling and bumbling.

I'm not sure there is a clear solution. We probably need at least 5-6 things to happen, and it's unrealistic to think they all will happen, together. I've not lost all hope, but I'm down to a thread.

i think to make the playoffs, we're going to have to win 86 games. and to get to that, we'll have to go 56-42 the rest of the way. realistically, i don't see that happening.

[Kimmi]

23 hours ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

It is mind-boggling sometimes when fans blame the manager for not making the roster he's given by the front office perform better. Why can't he just order players to make better contact, throw more strikes, catch more outs, and never get erased on the bases?

No matter what the manager does, ultimately, the players have to perform.

IMO, the way a manager handles the clubhouse is much more important than his in-game decisions.

[jdc69]

I don't want to speak too soon about getting someone new to manage, its still too early and one good streak could bring hope back again but since we just played the Angels, I'm a big fan of Ron Washington and his contract is up at the end of the season. He's old school and his players seem to think highly of him, and not in the, "Im the cool coach," kind of way. He seems to be big on fundamentals and basic stuff that seems to be what the Sox are missing. If not, maybe Cora or the FO could take a cue from his style.

[Kimmi]

12 hours ago, TedYazPapiMookie said:

If a manager was a pitcher and a pitching coach before being manager, I am a lot more confident in their choice of pulling a pitcher than a bad middle infielder who never pitched.  He gets blamed for being a political hire rather than a manager who earned his job.

Perhaps having some experience with pitching before being a manager might help, perhaps not.  I do not agree with the premise that a manager has to have experience as a pitcher in order to make good decisions regarding pitching changes.  That's why there are guys like Bailey and Varitek in the dugout.

[Kimmi]

11 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

The point is you keep making a huge deal out of Cora being a mediocre middle infielder as a player.

Cora was often touted for not making mental mistakes when playing the field.  He might make an error, but his head was always in the game.

[Kimmi]

8 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

I go into a meeting and come out to the absolute craziest posts. 

That's what you get for going into a meeting.

[Kimmi]

48 minutes ago, Duran Is The Man said:

i think to make the playoffs, we're going to have to win 86 games. and to get to that, we'll have to go 56-42 the rest of the way. realistically, i don't see that happening.

Right now, when we can't even win 3 games in a row, it seems like an impossible task.  That said, 56-42 is not an outrageous mark to reach.  Something has to give, though.

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

56 minutes ago, Kimmi said:

Right now, when we can't even win 3 games in a row, it seems like an impossible task.  That said, 56-42 is not an outrageous mark to reach.  Something has to give, though.

Exactly what about this team leads you to believe that they can play 14 games over .500 the rest of the way?

[Maxbialystock]

15 hours ago, TedYazPapiMookie said:

Losing Mookie was the 2020 season because Sale was gone too.  Cora's clone managed that year.  Cora provided him with the same mistakes in line-ups, playing time etc.  Cora directed from a far.

Utter nonsense.  2020 was a nonseason plus Cora had good reason to stay away from the Sox and not jeopardize his chances to return to MLB.

 

[Maxbialystock]

1 hour ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

Exactly what about this team leads you to believe that they can play 14 games over .500 the rest of the way?

Hope.  I feel the same way.  

[TedYazPapiMookie]

3 hours ago, Kimmi said:

Perhaps having some experience with pitching before being a manager might help, perhaps not.  I do not agree with the premise that a manager has to have experience as a pitcher in order to make good decisions regarding pitching changes.  That's why there are guys like Bailey and Varitek in the dugout.

I agree with you.  I just haven't seen Cora using his coaches that way.  I think Breslow would love that to happen as a former pitcher.  Cora seems to like being in charge and he seems to think he's got a great intuition when it comes to in game decisions.  The results of the unusual choices he makes seldom produces good results.

[notin]

2 hours ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

Exactly what about this team leads you to believe that they can play 14 games over .500 the rest of the way?

The fact that you don’t…

[moonslav59]

41 minutes ago, notin said:

The fact that you don’t…

LMAO!

How about looking at the rosters of all the other AL teams not named the Tigers and Yankees?

What makes anyone think enough can't go 14 games under .500?

[TedYazPapiMookie]

1 hour ago, notin said:

The fact that you don’t…

Let me suggest you move on from responding to me.  This response was childish.  You are embarrassing yourself.  Grow up and stop responding since you can't talk baseball concepts, you can only insult. 

[TedYazPapiMookie]

2 hours ago, Maxbialystock said:

Utter nonsense.  2020 was a nonseason plus Cora had good reason to stay away from the Sox and not jeopardize his chances to return to MLB.

 

So you can't comprehend how Cora's influence over Roenicke put the team on an autopilot of Cora's way of doing things? Wow.  I guess you didn't notice that Cora spent his first year quoting Hinch constantly.  He tried to mimic him.  Why wouldn't Roenicke do the same thing?  Heck, Cora was with Hinch one year and Roenicke was with Cora in both 2019 AND 2018.  

Hasn't anyone told you to declare something utter nonsense is insulting?  How very open minded of you.

[notin]

6 hours ago, TedYazPapiMookie said:

Let me suggest you move on from responding to me.  This response was childish.  You are embarrassing yourself.  Grow up and stop responding since you can't talk baseball concepts, you can only insult. 

Wait.  Are you also TheSplinteredSplendor?  Am I the only one who didn’t know this?

It is true that I am still naive enough to believe every login is a unique person, even after all these years of forum posting…

[notin]

6 hours ago, TedYazPapiMookie said:

So you can't comprehend how Cora's influence over Roenicke put the team on an autopilot of Cora's way of doing things? Wow.  I guess you didn't notice that Cora spent his first year quoting Hinch constantly.  He tried to mimic him.  Why wouldn't Roenicke do the same thing?  Heck, Cora was with Hinch one year and Roenicke was with Cora in both 2019 AND 2018.  

Hasn't anyone told you to declare something utter nonsense is insulting?  How very open minded of you.

Isn’t starting a sentence with “So you can’t comprehend…” also insulting?