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Buster Olney, ESPN Senior Writer
Around the world of managers, some of Alex Cora’s peers were hoping he would follow Craig Counsell’s lead and get to free agency after this season, putting his services on the open market. And for the past five months, it appeared that’s what would happen. Across baseball, it was taken as a given, and it seemed that way to those involved, too: When Cora spoke with Boston Red Sox owner John Henry early this year, there was an understanding that whatever happened this season, any conversation about a new contract would be deferred until after this year.
That the Red Sox would wait made sense, given their recent context. They have slashed payroll and they brought in a new head of baseball operations in Craig Breslow, meaning that Cora was working for an executive who didn’t hire him. Friends of Breslow have wondered how he would work with Cora, given some differences in their personalities.
Cora, too, had reason to wait; as one of the most respected men in the position, he had the chance to continue to push the salary ceiling, like Counsell did in signing a record deal with the Cubs.
But Breslow recently asked Cora to meet him at his home, and that conversation developed the first steps toward a three-year, $21.75 million contract that gives Cora the second-highest salary for any manager, behind Counsell. Cora, 48, is getting the first really big payday of his baseball life, and the peers who wanted the best for Cora were thrilled. “He earned it!” texted one.
For the Red Sox, the signing of Cora goes well beyond the dugout — his retention is a symbol of organizational credibility for a team that needs that. No matter what happens before next week’s trade deadline, the signing of Cora is likely to be the most difference-making move the Red Sox will make — and certainly the most expensive.
The extension is also an endorsement of the way Cora manages, connecting with players through constant communication, regardless of their level of stardom or talent. When Rafael Devers was a young player, Cora worked to reward his efforts to get better defensively, encouraging him to improve his conditioning. He has been a big supporter of Jarren Duran, getting emotional when he announced to the team this month that Duran had been selected for the AL All-Star Game. When Duran hit a home run in the All-Star Game and was named the MVP, Cora texted him the same words he had told him over and over: “I love you.”
When speaking about a poor performance, a mistake by one of his players, he’ll acknowledge the problem through the use of the word “we.” “We didn’t make the pitch. We didn’t make the play. We didn’t catch the ball. We need to do better.” But this is not to say Cora is soft. His starting pitchers know that getting caught on the phone when they retreat to the clubhouse between innings is a big no-no; he famously benched Alex Verdugo last year for not hustling.
Still, Cora remains popular among his players in part because he has had a range of experiences, good and bad: a star collegiate player, a draftee of the Los Angeles Dodgers, a regular for a few years in L.A., then a part-time player. Terry Francona, the former Red Sox manager, asked him to mentor a young infielder named Dustin Pedroia, and this is how Cora became head counselor for a player who was effectively taking at-bats that might’ve otherwise gone to Cora. After 14 years as a player, Cora worked in television for ESPN, as a general manager for team Puerto Rico, and then as A.J. Hinch’s bench coach with the Houston Astros.
In the aftermath of the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal and Cora’s one-season suspension for his role, he would open conversations with players new to the Red Sox by hitting that topic head on. “He gave no excuses,” said one player. “He just owned it, and got it out of the way, and then moved on.”
Cora won a championship with the Red Sox as a player in 2007, managed the team to its last title in 2018, and even with the team’s struggles in recent seasons, he has been a constant, talking about winning and making adjustments in how he manages and in his own life. Late last season, Cora took up running and has talked about how much better he feels.
This offseason, the Red Sox made very few substantive moves (other than hiring Breslow), and what they do at the trade deadline is still to be decided. But they’ve been one of baseball’s surprise teams, climbing closer in the wild-card chase and nearer the top of the AL East in recent weeks, and now they’ve made the first big move of late July.
There’s plenty more to be done to remain competitive: Boston is in need of an injection of pitching, as borne out by Wednesday’s horrific 20-7 loss to the Colorado Rockies; their rotation is thin and their bullpen could use a veteran or two. “Right now, it’s Kenley Jansen and a bunch of young guys,” said one evaluator.
In the end, the Red Sox might not make the playoffs this year, and it’s still unclear whether they will make the sort of aggressive player acquisitions — “full throttle” — that their unsatisfied fan base wants. But they have paid top-of-the market money to lock down their manager, and that will matter to a fanbase looking for something to cheer.