Time for AC to GO

[Arnold P Buckleflucker]

I'm sorry.  19 1 run losses.  14 blown saves. Leading the league in errors and unearned runs.

That's ALL on the MANAGER.

I'm not sure how Alex Cora got this rep as being a "great manager."  There is enough talent on this team, despite the injuries, to contend for a playoff spot.  Go look at the RECORD since AC has been manager. It's time for AC to GO.

[Brock Beauchamp]

7 hours ago, Arnold P Buckleflucker said:

I'm sorry.  19 1 run losses.  14 blown saves. Leading the league in errors and unearned runs.

That's ALL on the MANAGER.

While I have no strong opinions on Cora in either direction, that's definitely not all on the manager.

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

Outside of 2018 & 2021, he's basically been a .500 manager.

[Jasonbay44]

2 minutes ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

Outside of 2018 & 2021, he's basically been a .500 manager.

While this is true, the front office has put together .500 rosters or worse for him to manage; especially in the rotation. 

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

4 minutes ago, Jasonbay44 said:

While this is true, the front office has put together .500 rosters or worse for him to manage; especially in the rotation. 

The question is, does he get the most out of the talent he does have?

Also, his handling of the devers fiasco made it look like he doesn't have control of the clubhouse IMO.

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

The question is, does he get the most out of the talent he does have?

Also, his handling of the devers fiasco made it look like he doesn't have control of the clubhouse IMO.

There were no issues in the clubhouse. The issues were between Devers and Breslow. That's not a clubhouse problem. The perceived Devers vs Campbell problem was made up. Nobody in the clubhouse knew about it. 

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

There were no issues in the clubhouse. The issues were between Devers and Breslow. That's not a clubhouse problem. The perceived Devers vs Campbell problem was made up. Nobody in the clubhouse knew about it. 

I disagree.

It appears that he was afraid to approach devers regarding a move to 1B or to even go back to 3B after bregman went down.

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

I disagree.

It appears that he was afraid to approach devers regarding a move to 1B or to even go back to 3B after bregman went down.

He wasn't asked to play 3b after Breggie went down. Why would they want Devers there when they don't like his defense and thought Mayers (great glove) would be ready? 

If he's not able to communicate with his players, it's not a clubhouse issue, it's a Cora issue. It's the same as the issue Breslow had with a lack of communication over the offseason and Cora's lack of communication prior to ST when both he and Devers were in Fort Myers. Cora never spoke with Houck all season, even when he was struggling. Houck said he was dealing with some arm issues. Cora never knew about it because they weren't speaking to each other. Seems like there's a common thread here...

[illinoisredsox]

Cora is still owed around $17M through 2027.  Henry isn’t going to pay him to do nothing.  The bottom line is more important than results to JH.

IMO, Cora is probably not the right guy for this young roster; he’s better with a veteran group.

[mvp 78]

7 minutes ago, illinoisredsox said:

Cora is still owed around $17M through 2027.  Henry isn’t going to pay him to do nothing.  The bottom line is more important than results to JH.

IMO, Cora is probably not the right guy for this young roster; he’s better with a veteran group.

If they want Cora out of the managerial position, they are going to bump him up to some EVP position upstairs and pay him out that way. 

[Bellhorn04]

It's extremely hard to say if Cora is part of the problem or not.

With Devers gone, the team is very low in proven major league position player talent.

There's Bregman, but he's out.  There's Story, who ain't what he used to be.

It's mainly youngsters and utility players.

 

 

[Bellhorn04]

51 minutes ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

I disagree.

It appears that he was afraid to approach devers regarding a move to 1B or to even go back to 3B after bregman went down.

"Appears" is the right word....all we have to go on is appearances.   

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

It's extremely hard to say if Cora is part of the problem or not.

With Devers gone, the team is very low in proven major league position player talent.

There's Bregman, but he's out.  There's Story, who ain't what he used to be.

It's mainly youngsters and utility players.

There are many problems. He's part of the problem right now. Bailey seems to be part of the problem and so does Breslow. There is enough blame to spread across half the roster (at least) too. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Look deeply at the roster and the line-up since 2021 before you start throwing around the word "talent."

No one can say for sure, but Cora may have achieved .500 teams with .300 collections of replacement players.

[dannycater]

In 2018, Cora had Betts 1.078 OPS, .346, 47 doubles, 32 HR, had JD 1.031 OPS, 43 HR, 130 RBI, had Xander 23 HR, 103 RBI, had Benintendi 16 HR, 87 RBI, had Devers 21 HR, 68 RBI, had a great defensive CF in Bradley, had Vazquez-Leon catching duo, had Mitch Moreland at 1b, added Steve Pearce to be a clutch HR hitter in playoffs, a real bench guy in Holt, had Price, Eavoldi, Sale, Porcello, Kimbrel (fell apart in postseason)....in other words, they had monster talent and real MLB players. He has a glorified minor league team with a few over the hill veterans, one real pitching ace, a real closer, and that's it. This isn't losing the clubhouse, it's grasping for straws with the absolute joke of a roster these past few seasons. It's a clown car. I'd probably still fire him, but it's all on the front office.

[notin]

1 hour ago, Jasonbay44 said:

While this is true, the front office has put together .500 rosters or worse for him to manage; especially in the rotation. 

That’s a bit presumptuous.  Could any manager have won with those rosters?

No one thought the 2025 roster was a .500 team in March.

And essentially if his defense is, your defense boils down Cora essentially adding nothing. “Give him a .500 roster and he finishes .500.”  Yeah, manager…

[Bellhorn04]

1 hour ago, notin said:

That’s a bit presumptuous.  Could any manager have won with those rosters?

No one thought the 2025 roster was a .500 team in March.

And essentially if his defense is, your defense boils down Cora essentially adding nothing. “Give him a .500 roster and he finishes .500.”  Yeah, manager…

Maybe we vastly overrated the 2025 team.

More likely, it was another year when we needed a lot more things to go right than wrong, and once again it just didn't happen.

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Maybe we vastly overrated the 2025 team.

More likely, it was another year when we needed a lot more things to go right than wrong, and once again it just didn't happen.

Houck fell off so far he's no longer in the rotation (was considered at least the #2), possibly due to injury

Bello, Gio, Fitts all missed time

Buehler should be sent to the pen and makes us miss Newcomb

Crawford will miss the whole season

Bregman injury will have him miss almost two months

Story's defense slid back, offense has been awful

Casas injury after suckitude

Duran regression to '23 or worse numbers (expected mild regression, not this much)

Masa will not appear in a game prior to July

They dealt Raffy with no MLB additions yet

That's a lot of things to go wrong from some big contributors.

 

[cp176]

I’m not sure how I feel about a number of things relating to this team from Cora to Duran etc.  With respect to Cora, I only can make a personal judgement by what I see on the field.  He looks at best mediocre to me at what he does.  Duran has always been a favorite of mine but If he isn’t making contact with the baseball and getting on base, he is just not as valuable as he could be.  I don’t need everybody to try to hit the ball out of the park.  I find myself getting excited when some of our guys hit a foul ball these days and that includes Duran.

[Maxbialystock]

5 hours ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

Outside of 2018 & 2021, he's basically been a .500 manager.

1.  JH has never, ever been hesitant to fire a manager.  He fired 2 different managers after 1 season each.   He fired Francona after he won 2 WS.  He fired Farrell whose Sox won the WS in 2013 and won the division title in 2016 and 2017.  

2. Cora managed the best Sox team ever in 2018.  3 years later--and the year after the Sox went 24-36 (.400) under an interim manager--the Sox got the wild card with 92 wins.  And, unlike Farrell who had better teams in 2016 and 2017 and got blown away in the ALDS both years, Cora managed the Sox to a wild card win over the Yankees, a 3-1 ALDS win over the 100 win Rays, and lost 4-2 to the Astros in the ALCS.  Without a closer.  

3.  JH knows as I know and very few others on Talksox appear to know, that after paying top dollar (highest payroll) in 2018 and 2019, he fired DD and hired CB with the clear intent to see if CB could do more with less, as the Rays have become masters of.  It didn't work because CB was caught between the devil (JH) and the deep blue sea (where you sink or swim on your ability to find bargains).  

3. I think Breslow is better than Chaim Bloom, despite some bad decisions.  Adding Crochet, Bregman, Chapman, and Narvaez has been a real godsend.  

4. However, the Sox payroll is still ranked 12th in MLB @ $192M and the effective payroll (not counting those on the IL and other nonplayers still being paid) is $105M.   Included in those numbers are two significant overpays, Story and Yoshida, from the CB era.  

5. Thus is the Sox pitching staff a trainwreck and the lineup without Bregman and Devers.  Cora is starting 3 rookies and earlier started a 4th.   That the Sox are just 2 games under .500 is amazing. 

 

 

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

43 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

1.  JH has never, ever been hesitant to fire a manager.  He fired 2 different managers after 1 season each.   He fired Francona after he won 2 WS.  He fired Farrell whose Sox won the WS in 2013 and won the division title in 2016 and 2017.  

2. Cora managed the best Sox team ever in 2018.  3 years later--and the year after the Sox went 24-36 (.400) under an interim manager--the Sox got the wild card with 92 wins.  And, unlike Farrell who had better teams in 2016 and 2017 and got blown away in the ALDS both years, Cora managed the Sox to a wild card win over the Yankees, a 3-1 ALDS win over the 100 win Rays, and lost 4-2 to the Astros in the ALCS.  Without a closer.  

3.  JH knows as I know and very few others on Talksox appear to know, that after paying top dollar (highest payroll) in 2018 and 2019, he fired DD and hired CB with the clear intent to see if CB could do more with less, as the Rays have become masters of.  It didn't work because CB was caught between the devil (JH) and the deep blue sea (where you sink or swim on your ability to find bargains).  

3. I think Breslow is better than Chaim Bloom, despite some bad decisions.  Adding Crochet, Bregman, Chapman, and Narvaez has been a real godsend.  

4. However, the Sox payroll is still ranked 12th in MLB @ $192M and the effective payroll (not counting those on the IL and other nonplayers still being paid) is $105M.   Included in those numbers are two significant overpays, Story and Yoshida, from the CB era.  

5. Thus is the Sox pitching staff a trainwreck and the lineup without Bregman and Devers.  Cora is starting 3 rookies and earlier started a 4th.   That the Sox are just 2 games under .500 is amazing. 

 

 

And so?

What does any of that have to do with the fact that outside of the 2 seasons I mentioned that cora has been basically a .500 manager?

[Bellhorn04]

As we've talked about here so many times, Henry tried to take the team in a totally different direction starting in 2019, with the trade of Betts being the first shocking evidence of this.  He's hired 2 CBOs with zero experience and we've had some horrible signings and some wacky roster issues.

The facts that Cora still has his job, that he got hired back after a suspension, and that he got a 3 year extension, and that he's been mentioned as a candidate for becoming part of the front office, suggest that ownership must really think highly of him.        

 

[Maxbialystock]

7 hours ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

And so?

What does any of that have to do with the fact that outside of the 2 seasons I mentioned that cora has been basically a .500 manager?

All of "that" is why Cora hasn't been fired and is on a 3 year extension.   

Did you know that Farrell was fired after winning a WS in 2013 and winning back to back AL East titles in 2016 and 2017?  The guy who fired Farrell is the same guy who hired Cora, who has now managed under 3 different CBO's.  

You can take your ".500 manager" and stick it where the moon don't shine.  

[moonslav59]

15 hours ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

Outside of 2018 & 2021, he's basically been a .500 manager.

What if he's a .500 manager of .400 teams?

I mean it is possible, right?

[moonslav59]

To me, the biggest issue I've seen with Cora was his inability to even ask Devers to play 1B.

If he was told to do it, but didn't, it makes it worse.

Many of us don't even think it should have been a gentle question asked, but a demand.

That's pretty major, but I don't have any other issues with the way he manages the team.

[jdc69]

On 6/25/2025 at 11:54 PM, Arnold P Buckleflucker said:

I'm sorry.  19 1 run losses.  14 blown saves. Leading the league in errors and unearned runs.

That's ALL on the MANAGER.

I'm not sure how Alex Cora got this rep as being a "great manager."  There is enough talent on this team, despite the injuries, to contend for a playoff spot.  Go look at the RECORD since AC has been manager. It's time for AC to GO.

I agree, its him and/or the analytics team. They're in game moves have directly affected the outcomes of games in a negative way. And it seems as if these bad moves affect the team for multiple games afterwards, which leads to the team over compensating on everything, which leads to those stats that indicate performance under pressure. Eventually the team get back on a groove and start winning again until Cora makes another bone headed move and screws it all up again.

Breslow shares some of the blame too for the Devers fiasco that started in spring training. Trading him after a Yankees sweep is just beyond comprehension. 

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

7 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

What if he's a .500 manager of .400 teams?

I mean it is possible, right?

What if your aunt had balls?

We can "what if" all day. The bottom line is that he's been a .500 manager outside of two seasons.

[Bellhorn04]

On 6/26/2025 at 1:54 AM, Arnold P Buckleflucker said:

I'm sorry.  19 1 run losses.  14 blown saves. Leading the league in errors and unearned runs.

That's ALL on the MANAGER.

I'm not sure how Alex Cora got this rep as being a "great manager."  There is enough talent on this team, despite the injuries, to contend for a playoff spot.  Go look at the RECORD since AC has been manager. It's time for AC to GO.

"There is enough talent" is a pretty vague statement.  Who are you talking about, why are they not producing more wins and what does Cora have to do with it?

 

 

[TheSplinteredSplendor]

7 hours ago, Maxbialystock said:

You can take your ".500 manager" and stick it where the moon don't shine.  

So you are saying that he hasn't been a .500 manager save for 2 seasons?

And what the heck does what happened to farrell have to do with cora's record??!!

[Bellhorn04]

8 minutes ago, TheSplinteredSplendor said:

What if your aunt had balls?

We can "what if" all day. The bottom line is that he's been a .500 manager outside of two seasons.

Yeah but we can also list a pile of reasons that the record is not necessarily his fault, things like trading Betts for nothing, signing Story and Yoshida for big money, lousy pitcher signings and so on.