Alex Cora Rightfully Isn't Worried About His Job Security With Red Sox

While appearing on WEEI Afternoons on Thursday, May 29, Alex Cora was asked if he was worried he would be fired after calls for his termination have gotten louder among fans. His answer was a solid no. Cora said, “No, not really, from my end. I actually don’t ask coaches about that. I just ask them to do their best on a daily basis. But I can answer that question personally: no.” 

That was the right answer. Yes, Cora has made some questionable decisions during his tenure in Boston, but as I’ve written recently, there’s few options in house who could realistically replace him over the full season. Ramon Vazquez did well in his two games managed in 2025, and he will likely get interviewed for open positions around the league during the offseason, but he’s not Cora. Additionally, it’s highly unlikely that Fenway Sports Group, and specifically CEO Sam Kennedy, would let Cora go after flying to Colorado in 2024 to sign him to a three-year extension. There’s been little proof of the front office being willing to eat money they have given just to pivot to something else.

When Cora was hired going into the 2018 season, he was a highly sought-after managerial candidate after spending time as the bench coach for the Astros and as a media baseball personality. He then managed a team full of big personalities to a World Series victory and watched as the front office decided to cut corners and jettison those players in deals that the Red Sox haven’t come close to winning. He went from Dave Dombrowski to Chaim Bloom and now to Craig Breslow as his President of Baseball Operations. All have their strengths and weaknesses, but neither Bloom nor Breslow so far have proven to have the full trust of ownership like Dombrowski did. This has left Cora to manage a roster of players who, realistically, are role players on good teams at best. A team that constantly trots out Nick Sogard, David Hamilton, and yes, even (the 2025 version of) Trevor Story on a daily or almost-daily basis isn’t serious. 

What is Cora supposed to do here? He only has the players he has. It’s not his decision to call up Roman Anthony. If it were, I guarantee you Anthony would be on the team already. He’s caught flack for having Marcelo Mayer bat cleanup less than a week into his major league caree,r but when you look at the roster, who else makes much more sense? Krisitan Campbell is trying to figure out how to get out of his month-long slump, Carlos Narvaez has been hitting well but doesn't have middle-of-the-order power, and Wilyer Abreu has had a few chances to bat cleanup and hasn’t lived up to expectations. Why not try out one of the hottest hitting players in the minor leagues to see if that sparks something? 

Maybe the biggest reason that Cora shouldn’t be worried though, is it suddenly appears as though a lot of the decisions that he has been blamed for came as a front office directive. Craig Breslow appeared on WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show and was asked who made the call to limit Garrett Crochet to 85 pitches against the Mets. He answered that it was a “discussion”, but that the front office evaluates pitch limits based on recent trends to help prevent injury, thus suggesting Breslow himself made the call to limit Crochet’s pitch count. After pulling Crochet, Cora was lambasted on social media and through the press. He could have very easily thrown Breslow under the bus, but he didn’t. He stood as the manager of the team and spoke about the reasons behind the quick hook. The same can’t be said for not allowing Brayan Bello to get through the fifth inning against the Brewers on May 28th, but Bello hasn’t given Cora much of a reason to trust him in tight situations lately. If the front office is controlling things like pitch counts, what else could they be telling Cora to do?

Alex Cora is very aware that people are calling for his job, but he’s not worried about it. While his seat should be a bit warm, I fully expect him to manage his way out of this slump and get the most out of the players on the roster that has been put together for him. I have my faults with Cora, as do most fans, but he’s a far better manager than he’s currently being given credit for, and until he is charge of roster construction, he shouldn't be the name fans are calling for as the Red Sox struggle.