It's MLB Opening Day, and it feels like the timer on Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora's contract has begun to tick down.
With just 162 games to go (except in the unlikely event that the Red Sox make the playoffs), Boston has a real timeline to either get discussions going to extend its manager or let him walk away in the fall.
The news surrounding Cora's future with Boston has been sparse, and seemingly intentionally so. Cora has dismissed questions surrounding his plans and his discussions with the Red Sox.
As Boston enters yet another year that feels like a rebuild, changing managers seems unwise. It could be a tall order for the Red Sox to find someone to fill Cora's shoes next season if he decides to leave, but the front office doesn't seem all too concerned about convincing him to stay.
“No, we haven’t talked about it, and I respect that,” Cora said on WEEI’s “Jones & Mego” show on Wednesday. “From my end, it’s the same thing. We understand where we’re at as an organization, and where I’m at contract-wise.”
Alex Cora still has not had discussions with the Red Sox about a contract for next season
From @byJulianMack: Alex Cora’s future, uneasiness in the rotation, and other thoughts as the Red Sox wrap up spring training https://t.co/HnQQftk9kJ
— Boston Globe Sports (@BGlobeSports) March 24, 2024
If the Red Sox hoped to bring Cora back to manage again, not starting discussions during spring training may have hurt the organization's chances. Many managers and players don't want to negotiate during the season — they already have enough to deal with playing or managing 162 games in six months.
Cora will also be an appealing candidate to other clubs if he reaches the managerial free agency that Craig Counsell cashed in on. Cora brought the 2021 Red Sox to the playoffs as well as a World Series to Boston just three years prior to that. The public has begun to place the blame for the Red Sox's poor performances on ownership — where it rightly belongs — and Cora may get off scot-free for the Sox's multiple last-place finishes.
Despite ownership's shoddy treatment of the club, Cora expressed his interest in staying in Boston if the two parties can negotiate a deal. Hopefully, the Sox can find a way to bring him back. Few other managers could have coached the 2021 Red Sox just two games from the World Series, and the 2023 Red Sox to the record they finished with. Cora's done his best with what he's been given for the past four years, and it's impressive the team has fared as well as it has.
"I love this place, my family enjoys being around the city and we love where we live. And the summers are great (in Boston). But understanding that this is business, my job is to help this team to be successful and play in October," Cora said.
“Whatever we decide, whatever happens in the future is the future, but right now, man, we’ve got to live in the present because the last two years everybody knows what we’ve done. We finished last. That’s not acceptable for me, for the organization, for you guys, for the fanbase. So, I’ll keep it at that."