Alex Cora accepted his own firing. What still bothers him is who else paid the price. To spark a turnaround after a disappointing 10-17 start, the Boston Red Sox fired World Series champion manager Alex Cora and five other coaches on April 25. Following their dismissals, Cora posted a photograph of himself and the fired coaches on social media, with the caption “Happy.” However, Cora has recently revealed that there is something that still bothers him about the firing.
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In an appearance on Rob Bradford’s Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast, Cora reflected on the abrupt end to his tenure in Boston. The former manager acknowledged that chief baseball officer Craig Breslow had the authority to make the decision. However, Cora revealed that he is not upset with Breslow for firing him. Rather, he saw it coming. But the decision to fire the coaching staff bothers him to this day.
“The thing that really upset me that Saturday was that other guys paid the price,” Cora said on Baseball Isn’t Boring, per Tyler Milliken. “Not only the coaches, but I felt like, you know, the players paid the price because you got to, you take away a whole group from an equation, and it’s going to take time.”
The Red Sox dismissed Cora after Boston had defeated the Baltimore Orioles 17-1 at Camden Yards, delivering its biggest win till then. So it came as a surprise when the team announced the firings. However, the decision was made before the first pitch was even thrown.
Cora recalled that Craig Breslow did not travel with the team. Breslow came together with CEO Sam Kennedy to deliver the news to Cora. He also revealed that when he received the text from Breslow requesting that he meet owner John Henry and Kennedy, Cora already knew what was coming.
Cora was not the only casualty.
Hitting coach Pete Fatse, third-base coach Kyle Hudson, bench coach Ramón Vázquez, assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson, and major league hitting strategy coach Joe Cronin were also dismissed. Former Red Sox captain Jason Varitek, who had been working in game planning and run prevention, was reassigned.
However, watching his coaching staff lose their positions one after another made the situation more difficult.
“If they were looking for a new voice, then I was the voice. Get rid of me,” Cora said on the podcast.
He also recognized that Breslow had made a decisive organizational choice, suggesting that the executive must have had doubts about the existing program to take such drastic action.
Cora also offered his assessment of why Boston’s leadership ultimately decided to act.
According to the former manager, the team’s pitching performance during April was a major factor behind the disappointing start. The Red Sox collectively recorded a 4.26 ERA with an 11-15 record.
“I honestly feel like we got fired, or I got fired, because we didn’t pitch in the month of April,” he said.
The Red Sox entered the season expecting their pitching staff to be a strength, but early inconsistency contributed to the team’s struggles. Cora believes that the Red Sox’s pitching would have improved even if they had not fired the coaches.
Boston’s leadership, meanwhile, defended the move as an attempt to give the team a fresh start and preserve its postseason ambitions.
Despite the difficult ending, Cora made clear that his relationship with Boston and its fans remains meaningful.
Cora said that he still wants to see the team win.
Alex Cora led the Red Sox to the 2018 World Series championship and compiled a 620-541 regular-season record during his tenure.
Cora’s departure marked the end of a significant chapter in the franchise’s recent history. However, his next stop in his managerial career is still uncertain. He had declined multiple offers from Dave Dombrowski to manage the Philadelphia Phillies. But Cora has not shut down the possibility of managing a team entirely in the next season. There is still a chance that he will return as a manager in 2027.