It's Time to Can Cora

[Hitch]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

I think the team would STRUGGLE to find another CBO if they fired Breslow in the next year or two. They'd have to either hand it over to Cora or someone else internally. It'd be a big time shocker. Either move would be. At this point, Cora still is a guy they want around for a long time. I think they wouldn't "fire" Cora, but would move him to a FO position during an upcoming offseason. I think that's the most likely solution.

They'd be a laughing stock if they sacked Breslow now. And I do not think he is anywhere near deserving of the sack, even though there have clearly been some big mistakes.

As you say, they'd struggle big time to get anyone in of note if they did.

[Bellhorn04]

16 hours ago, dannycater said:

Ortiz did not back Manny, Pedro did...Ortiz was as selfish a player as any other during his Sox playing career....Ortiz was upset at Devers because I don't think he responded to some of his personal texts...Love Big Papi, but not going to say he doesn't flip-flop on things, and let's face it--still questions that he was on a list that indicated he used PEDs--he got a free pass when a few others did not. 

 You really have no idea that Ortiz wasn't just legit trying to help or that Devers wasn't a jerk about it. But those possibilities don't fit the narrative, so let's just tear down Ortiz, character and all.  

Everybody that was on the 2003 list of names that had a positive test got a free pass for it, as far as I know.

[mvp 78]

47 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

 You really have no idea that Ortiz wasn't just legit trying to help or that Devers wasn't a jerk about it. But those possibilities don't fit the narrative, so let's just tear down Ortiz, character and all.  

Everybody that was on the 2003 list of names that had a positive test got a free pass for it, as far as I know.

Papi just had to live stream a bunch of unanswered texts to prove some sort of point. What point? IDK. 

They asked Devers about it and Devers said "I love Papi. I know he loves the media. He can say anything he wants." 

Papi can keep running out there for the FO and saying what he wants, but it just looks like sour grapes to me. 

[Bellhorn04]

12 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Papi just had to live stream a bunch of unanswered texts to prove some sort of point. What point? IDK. 

They asked Devers about it and Devers said "I love Papi. I know he loves the media. He can say anything he wants." 

Papi can keep running out there for the FO and saying what he wants, but it just looks like sour grapes to me. 

Papi needs to let it go now.  I just think it's quite possible he was only trying to help and he got frustrated.  We'll never know all the details.    

[mvp 78]

15 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Papi needs to let it go now.  I just think it's quite possible he was only trying to help and he got frustrated.  We'll never know all the details.    

We don't need to know all the details! 

Papi is actively making the situation worse and somehow causes Devers to look more mature in the situation. 

[Bellhorn04]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

We don't need to know all the details! 

Papi is actively making the situation worse and somehow causes Devers to look more mature in the situation. 

Fair enough.

[mvp 78]

Raffy gets his new manager fired. 🤬

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

Raffy gets his new manager fired. 🤬

Quite a sensational leap.

[moonslav59]

So, Cora's boss trades away the team's best hitter, he loses his young, up and coming stars, Anthony and Mayer, to season ending injuries, and loses over 160 possible games started by his top 8-10 starting pitchers on the depth chart, including his 2024 ace (Houck) and IP leader (Crawford.) Add to that losing a 1Bman averaging 30 HRs per 650 PAs (Casas) and a guy (Hendriks) that some considered a 50-50 bet on becoming our closer. A few months here and there, lost by Bregman, Abreu, Dobbins, Fitts and others, and we still make the playoffs.

Yup: can Cora!

LMAO!

[moonslav59]

Perhaps the longest lasting criticisms of Cora, especially on the game threads was how he handled the pen.

Nobody here felt great or even good about our pen, last winter and into the start of the season, but it ended up being one of, if not our biggest strength.

This on top of losing Hendriks and Wink, all year, and Slaten for a big chunk of it. All the "extra SP"ers" we had on our winter depth chart, who were supposed to :help out in the pen" gave is close to nada.

[Kimmi]

19 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

So, Cora's boss trades away the team's best hitter, he loses his young, up and coming stars, Anthony and Mayer, to season ending injuries, and loses over 160 possible games started by his top 8-10 starting pitchers on the depth chart, including his 2024 ace (Houck) and IP leader (Crawford.) Add to that losing a 1Bman averaging 30 HRs per 650 PAs (Casas) and a guy (Hendriks) that some considered a 50-50 bet on becoming our closer. A few months here and there, lost by Bregman, Abreu, Dobbins, Fitts and others, and we still make the playoffs.

Yup: can Cora!

LMAO!

Not to mention how well Cora managed the clubhouse full of young players, especially with all the controversy surrounding Devers, both when he was with the team and after he was traded.

Such is the life of an MLB manager.  They are going to take a lot of criticism, most of which is unwarranted, even when things are going well.  Same goes for the GM.

[moonslav59]

32 minutes ago, Kimmi said:

Not to mention how well Cora managed the clubhouse full of young players, especially with all the controversy surrounding Devers, both when he was with the team and after he was traded.

Such is the life of an MLB manager.  They are going to take a lot of criticism, most of which is unwarranted, even when things are going well.  Same goes for the GM.

Yup.

Some blamed Cora for allowing the Devers situation to get out of control and his failure to demand Devers play where they needed him and to shut up and play. I will say, I have questions about this.

Still, I really like Cora and Brez.

[oldtimer]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

Yup.

Some blamed Cora for allowing the Devers situation to get out of control and his failure to demand Devers play where they needed him and to shut up and play. I will say, I have questions about this.

Still, I really like Cora and Brez.

I was ready to look for a new manager if the sox failed to make the pllayoffs again this year. Team performance is a reflection on management in general and the team has had a long period of poor performance. Now the team has made the playoffs under adverse circumstances. I like what Brez has done, for the most part. Some of the decisions made by Cora are head scratchers. The loss of so many 1 run games and his favoratism of some weak players are reasons to doubt him. Still, making the playoffs is a game changer for me.

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, oldtimer said:

I was ready to look for a new manager if the sox failed to make the pllayoffs again this year. Team performance is a reflection on management in general and the team has had a long period of poor performance. Now the team has made the playoffs under adverse circumstances. I like what Brez has done, for the most part. Some of the decisions made by Cora are head scratchers. The loss of so many 1 run games and his favoratism of some weak players are reasons to doubt him. Still, making the playoffs is a game changer for me.

I really can't see blaming Cora for doing poorly with bad rosters from 2020 to 2024. The 2021 was unexpected and partially due to his good managing skills.

I do think he tends to stick with certain players, too long, but some ended up coming through- like Story and Yoshida, this year and all the way back to Dalbec cin 2021. On playing guys like Toro and DHam, this year, we did not really have many other options, but I do share this concern with you.

[Duran Is The Man]

6 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Yup.

Some blamed Cora for allowing the Devers situation to get out of control and his failure to demand Devers play where they needed him and to shut up and play. I will say, I have questions about this.

Still, I really like Cora and Brez.

i think he shoulders some of the blame for the Devers situation and i've questioned him about a lot of other things. with that said, i wouldn't have fired him, had the Sox not made the playoffs, due to the simple reason that half the lineup is made of porcelain dolls that can't stay healthy for s***.

[moonslav59]

13 minutes ago, Duran Is The Man said:

i think he shoulders some of the blame for the Devers situation and i've questioned him about a lot of other things. with that said, i wouldn't have fired him, had the Sox not made the playoffs, due to the simple reason that half the lineup is made of porcelain dolls that can't stay healthy for s***.

Well said. 

Nobody is perfect. I think being a "player's manager" has some drawbacks, but the players often will put it all on the line for a guy like that. 

Cora's reluctance to have "the talk" with Devers might have been able to smooth the whole thing over, but we'll never know, now. It's in the past, already.

Let's hope JH allows Brez to spend the money saved in that trade, and he makes the right choices with the next contracts he hands out. A nice playoff showing would go a long way in helping us get over losing our best bat since Mookie.

[Kimmi]

On 9/30/2025 at 3:46 PM, moonslav59 said:

Yup.

Some blamed Cora for allowing the Devers situation to get out of control and his failure to demand Devers play where they needed him and to shut up and play. I will say, I have questions about this.

Still, I really like Cora and Brez.

Cora and Breslow are definitely partially to blame for the Devers situation.  Better communication up front would have helped to avoid any such situation.

I'm of the opinion that if a player, no matter how big a superstar he is, refuses to do what the manager or the team asks him to do, then he can ride the bench.  Easier said than done, I'm sure.  Devers acted selfish and childish, but Cora allowed it to happen.

Anyway, I'm pleased with the jobs that both Cora and Breslow have done overall.

[moonslav59]

49 minutes ago, Kimmi said:

Cora and Breslow are definitely partially to blame for the Devers situation.  Better communication up front would have helped to avoid any such situation.

I'm of the opinion that if a player, no matter how big a superstar he is, refuses to do what the manager or the team asks him to do, then he can ride the bench.  Easier said than done, I'm sure.  Devers acted selfish and childish, but Cora allowed it to happen.

Anyway, I'm pleased with the jobs that both Cora and Breslow have done overall.

One thing in Devers' favor was that apparently he wasn't asked to play 1B by his manager.

I'm not big on the blame game, so I'll just call it a push.

I'm happy with the new direction the team has taken from the farm to the 40 to the 26.

[notin]

17 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

One thing in Devers' favor was that apparently he wasn't asked to play 1B by his manager.

I'm not big on the blame game, so I'll just call it a push.

I'm happy with the new direction the team has taken from the farm to the 40 to the 26.

There’s nothing in Devers’ favor.

He was asked to fill in for an injured teammate and he pawned that off on Breslow.  
 

Devers was a great hitter, but not much of a teammate.  I normally don’t look too deep into the clubhouse and off-the-field stuff (painfully obvious.  I’ve been hyping Ketel Marte) because it’s rarely as one-sided as any story you find online.  But I lost a lot of respect for Devers…

[Old Red]

One interesting discussion I heard on the airwaves this morning is if Bregman walks he was a one year rental that pushed Raffy out the door, and now you have neither one. Most of the talk was unfavorable to Brez, which is so differently than what’s been mostly said on here. There was not much at fault with Cora either.

[drewski6]

8 minutes ago, notin said:

There’s nothing in Devers’ favor.

He was asked to fill in for an injured teammate and he pawned that off on Breslow.  
 

Devers was a great hitter, but not much of a teammate.  I normally don’t look too deep into the clubhouse and off-the-field stuff (painfully obvious.  I’ve been hyping Ketel Marte) because it’s rarely as one-sided as any story you find online.  But I lost a lot of respect for Devers…

I agree. Bonds was also a bad teammate, as was Ted Williams, as was Michael Jordan. Draymond Green punches his teammates. So does ex carolina wr Steve smith.  Manny was a bad teammate.

If you think Devers should do everything in his power to make the team better, that should also apply to Breslow. And the team with Devers at DH was better than no Devers. We might even still be playing right now.  Of course , it would have quieted down. It had mostly quieted down.  Winning cures.

 

[drewski6]

5 minutes ago, Old Red said:

One interesting discussion I heard on the airwaves this morning is if Bregman walks he was a one year rental that pushed Raffy out the door, and now you have neither one. Most of the talk was unfavorable to Brez, which is so differently than what’s been mostly said on here. There was not much at fault with Cora either.

You would expect Cora to be able to diffuse, and maybe he did.  But maybe Breslow's ego was dented and theres no coming back from that.  We did see him fire someone for calling him a stiff.  And he does seem quite pretentious to me.

[Old Red]

1 minute ago, drewski6 said:

I agree. Bonds was also a bad teammate, as was Ted Williams, as was Michael Jordan. Draymond Green punches his teammates. So does ex carolina wr Steve smith.  Manny was a bad teammate.

If you think Devers should do everything in his power to make the team better, that should also apply to Breslow. And the team with Devers at DH was better than no Devers. We might even still be playing right now.  Of course , it would have quieted down. It had mostly quieted down.  Winning cures.

 

Bogey was called a bad teammate on here too.

[mvp 78]

6 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

You would expect Cora to be able to diffuse, and maybe he did.  But maybe Breslow's ego was dented and theres no coming back from that.  We did see him fire someone for calling him a stiff.  And he does seem quite pretentious to me.

You think that someone who went to Yale would be pretentious?!?!?

[mvp 78]

5 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Bogey was called a bad teammate on here too.

Didn't happen.

[drewski6]

You can go to your bosses and demand more resources.  ANd if you cant sell em on it, its on you. But BLoom was all too content to have funsies trying to rebuild slooooooow.

Im a VP and if something goes terribly wrong, being understaffed wont save me.  Cuz my CEO will say you should have been loud that you werent getting enough resources to succeed. And theyd be right.

[moonslav59]

23 minutes ago, notin said:

There’s nothing in Devers’ favor.

He was asked to fill in for an injured teammate and he pawned that off on Breslow.  
 

Devers was a great hitter, but not much of a teammate.  I normally don’t look too deep into the clubhouse and off-the-field stuff (painfully obvious.  I’ve been hyping Ketel Marte) because it’s rarely as one-sided as any story you find online.  But I lost a lot of respect for Devers…

You have the link that says Cora specifically asked Devers to play 1B?

[drewski6]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

You think that someone who went to Yale would be pretentious?!?!?

Lavarnway's fine!

[Old Red]

5 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Didn't happen.

It did happen x2 that I remember. I won’t mention any names, but they can talk for themselves if they want to.

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Lavarnway's fine!

Hard disagree