Red Sox News: Alex Cora reportedly interviewed for team’s managerial position
Alex Cora has interviewed for the Red Sox manager position.
According to numerous reports, former Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora has been interviewed by the team over a potential reunion in Beantown. Alex Speier of the Boston Globe wrote on Wednesday morning that the Red Sox had in fact met with Cora last week over the open managerial position. Cora is now one of the front-runners for the role, which would bring him back to Boston after just a season away.
Cora’s return would certainly be a welcome one among fans in Boston, who’ll have nothing but positive memories of him after that tremendous 2018 campaign when Cora led the Red Sox as they won a franchise-record 108 regular-season games, and dropped just three postseason games on their way to hoisting the commissioner’s trophy.
We now know that the former boss is definitely a contender for the job. However, there is plenty of competition for him. The organization has conducted interviews with nine other candidates – conducting second interviews with four of these, other than Cora. Nostalgia from the recent past would usually put Cora as the outright favorite for the role, but we’re well aware that Chaim Bloom won’t prioritize that sort of characteristic in a manager that he sees fit for the current state that the ballclub is in.
Since Cora left in January of this year, things have changed dramatically. The campaign following the championship year was one of the most disappointing title defenses in recent history, but this was still a team that could be competitive with the right work in the offseason. That, of course, never happened. Cora was dismissed following the sign-stealing scandals, Ron Roenicke took over, Bloom traded Mookie Betts and David Price, and injuries to Boston’s top two guys on the mound left the Red Sox with very little hope for 2020.
The Sox are now in a very different position to what they were in when Cora was still in charge, just ten months ago. They’ve gone from needing a bit of work to be back at the top to being in a situation where a total rebuild will be happening. But, Cora is the only managerial candidate with that top tier experience. First and foremost he is a great baseball manager and that’s really what the Sox need right now to start playing winning baseball on the field again.
Bloom has his regime, and he’ll continue with that whether Red Sox fans like it or not. He’ll now assemble the team that he wants to in order to make this team a winning one again. What he needs now is a manager who can produce with whatever roster he gives him, a manager who can coach players and create a winning environment in the clubhouse as well as on the field – and that is what Cora is.
Next. Qualifying offers could cross targets off list. dark
Whether he’s brought back into the fold or not, Cora will remain special in the hearts of Red Sox fans for years to come. What he and the 2018 side did remains up there with the greatest accomplishments in franchise history. His tenure with the Sox did, however, end very abruptly and you just can’t help to feel like there is unfinished business there.