Why the Red Sox should rehire Alex Cora for the 2021 season
Whether there is a 2020 regular season or not, Alex Cora will not be in the Red Sox dugout. He will, however, be able to return to baseball, in any role, for the 2021 season. After lengthy sign-stealing investigations for both the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox, which started back in November of 2019, Cora finally received his 1-year suspension at the end of April.
With him out of the league for only one season, it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary if he returned to the Red Sox in 2021. There are several reasons why the Sox should welcome back our beloved AC for the 2021 campaign.
First of all, he is a great manager. In just 2 seasons with Boston, he finished with a 192-132 record and brought another World Series to Fenway. He managed the Red Sox in arguably their best season in franchise history. In the playoffs, he led them past three 100-plus win teams including at least one that was cheating.
The importance of team chemistry and relationship bonding to Cora helped the Red Sox immensely in winning their most recent championship. It also helped that AC had a 13-year playing career.
Despite what many people called a “down year”, the Red Sox still had more wins than losses in 2019 as well. Eduardo Rodriguez, Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts, Brandon Workman, and more also had career-best seasons.
Another reason why the Red Sox should re-hire Cora to be the manager is that he didn’t cheat in Boston. It was concluded that Cora is only being penalized for his part in the Astros’ sign-stealing scheme. It was reported back in January that ex-GM of the Astros Jeff Luhnow placed all of the blame on the former bench coach.
He also said he had no idea that it was happening. I guess he forgot that it started when Cora was with ESPN and ended when he was managing Boston. Sox fans should, therefore, take Luhnow’s statement with a grain of salt.
Also, in Rob Manfred’s Red Sox investigation report, he mentioned that most coaches, including Alex Cora, played no part in decoding signs in 2018. It was proven that the World Series championship was not tainted. Instead of incorporating the sign-stealing scheme that was used in Houston, he managed the team his own way, which all Red Sox fans should be thankful for.
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The Sox also don’t even have a manager past the 2020 season. Current Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke’s contract will be up at the end of the season. If he does not receive an extension by the end of 2020, they’ll need to sign a manager for 2021 and beyond.
Chaim Bloom and the Red Sox ownership will have to decide who they think should be the manager of the future. It should be an interesting next couple of months as the Sox figure out what direction they want to move in.
It doesn’t appear that Alex Cora himself is completely opposed to returning with Boston in 2021, as well. In an interview with Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe, when Cora was asked whether or not he would like to manage in 2021 he said:
"“I would love to be back in 2021 to some capacity. I love managing at the big league level.”"
He also discussed the importance of focusing on his daughter’s education, since she is now a senior in high school. Either way, he didn’t give a definite no when asked about possibly returning to the big leagues.
With everything being considered, there is a chance that Alex Cora could return as Red Sox manager for the 2021 season. Although some Sox fans are against the idea, their hatred towards Cora isn’t really justified. He won a championship for Boston. He is a proven manager that most of the players love. He deserves a second chance after proving he doesn’t have to cheat to win, which he has already done in Boston.