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Red Sox and Cora in contract extension talks
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Post by vokuhila on Jul 24, 2024 14:29:05 GMT -5
UUUUH BABY!!!
What a way to kick of the trade deadline!
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Post by thegoodthebadthesox on Jul 24, 2024 14:30:24 GMT -5
I’ve long held the notion that most MLB managers probably don’t make a huge impact over the long run, and I’m still not convinced that Cora is in the group of those that can be consistently counted on to do so, but he’s also clearly don’t an excellent job this year and I’m happy they’re rewarding that/maintaining some continuity.
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cdj
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Post by cdj on Jul 24, 2024 14:31:25 GMT -5
I’ve certainly been critical of him from time to time but this year has been his best managing job to date
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Post by Don Caballero on Jul 24, 2024 14:31:36 GMT -5
Hell yeah, HELL YEAH! Alex Cora is an absolute legend and one of favorite Red Sox related people ever, just an incredibly interesting guy. Just a winner and a great manager. He's our guy!
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Post by patford on Jul 24, 2024 14:32:36 GMT -5
This is great to hear. Cora is the best manager in Baseball and the Sox are right on the cusp. This isn't their year but major parts coming back from injury and big free agent signing (Burnes) and at least one of their high ceiling prospects blossoming and the Sox will be one of best teams in MLB and likely to contend for a decade.
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Post by notstarboard on Jul 24, 2024 14:33:41 GMT -5
I am so mad. Incompetent in game and a cheater, but everyone looks past that because he's a nice guy, people like him, and he was on the '07 team. Breslow is probably just terrified of replacing him with a personality that will destroy the vibes.
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Jul 24, 2024 14:38:30 GMT -5
Fantastic move! Happy to hear it! Definitely lifts a black cloud off the season.
Cora and Francona are the best Red Sox managers I've seen in my 45 years of Red Sox fandom. Well done Craig Breslow!
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Jul 24, 2024 14:40:31 GMT -5
I do wonder if Bloom had remained would Cora have stayed? Can only speculate but I get the sense the working relationship between Breslow and Cora is much better than the chemistry between Cora and Bloom.
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Post by dirtywaterinla on Jul 24, 2024 14:41:05 GMT -5
I am so mad. Incompetent in game and a cheater, but everyone looks past that because he's a nice guy, people like him, and he was on the '07 team. Breslow is probably just terrified of replacing him with a personality that will destroy the vibes. I don’t understand the Cora hate. Sure, he makes some questionable in-game moves in the regular season, but he’s elite if the team gets to the playoffs.
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Post by nelledouville on Jul 24, 2024 14:41:31 GMT -5
I am so mad. Incompetent in game and a cheater, but everyone looks past that because he's a nice guy, people like him, and he was on the '07 team. Breslow is probably just terrified of replacing him with a personality that will destroy the vibes. He's redeemed himself. We want people to move forward in positive ways. He has serious skill, and is the second best manager of this team over my 55 plus years of watching it. Glad to see he is staying.
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Post by pedromartinez1999 on Jul 24, 2024 14:42:53 GMT -5
Made my day and let's hope they're aggressive at the trade deadline.
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Post by oldfaithful2019 on Jul 24, 2024 15:05:41 GMT -5
Cora was terrible last season and I do think he let his poor relationship with Bloom affect his attitude and performance. This season I have not felt the same overwhelming negative feeling about him, but would not have been upset to see the team go in another direction.
He is our guy now so I'm going to start focusing on the positive aspects of his manager performance. There is likely more there that I have been blind to !!!
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Post by finaliz3d on Jul 24, 2024 15:06:45 GMT -5
I don't really like Cora, the problem is there aren't a lot of options out there you can point to and say that guy is available and better. Francona? Try out Varitek?
I don't think Cora should have a job in baseball period, but he's begrudgingly one of the better managers in the game, despite his frustrating moments.
All that said, I probably would have rolled the dice on someone else more aligned and let Breslow pick his guy, but I get why they decided not to.
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Post by notstarboard on Jul 24, 2024 15:08:08 GMT -5
I am so mad. Incompetent in game and a cheater, but everyone looks past that because he's a nice guy, people like him, and he was on the '07 team. Breslow is probably just terrified of replacing him with a personality that will destroy the vibes. I donât understand the Cora hate. Sure, he makes some questionable in-game moves in the regular season, but heâs elite if the team gets to the playoffs. He constantly makes pants-on-head decisions. The lineups almost every day, for example, are poorly optimized. I know the impact isn't massive, but it's real, and there is no reason not to pick up those free extra runs. For example, why has David Hamilton had more ABs in the 2 hole than any other slot this year? 2 is where your best hitter goes. I don't care that Hamilton is fast and Duran is also fast. Cora is giving Hamilton, or his PH, extra ABs late in the game that should be going to Devers. If you want to keep the speed guys together, it would be much smarter to hit Hamilton 8th than 2nd.
For years he has been destroying bullpens to the point of piling up injuries by hooking guys too quickly and overusing some guys while underusing others. I'm still ticked about the Barraclough game and haven't forgotten about him overusing guys, like Matt Barnes in his All Star year, until they fall apart. His hook has mercifully been a bit slower this year, but his choice of relievers has been as brutal as ever. He doesn't seem to think about the countermoves that other managers will make when he makes changes either, both in terms of relievers and pinch hitters. His brain goes, "Oooh, a RH reliever! I have a lefty on the bench!", while the other manager goes "I'll counter with a LH reliever, keep him in for the next few favorable matchups, and then send a thank you note to Cora for degrading his defense for no good reason".
Remember him playing Kiké Hernandez at SS for way, way too long last year, even though there were usually healthy alternatives like Chang and Reyes on the bench? It's like he's applying the logic of sticking with a slumping hitter to a fielder... it doesn't work like that in the field. Guys can improve with reps, but it takes a long time to make a meaningful improvement and Kiké was always a stop gap there. Kiké was also already 31, so good luck with him suddenly becoming a competent SS.
I don't think his decisions in the playoffs have been any better. He just happened to be at the helm in 2018 and was carried to a WS by probably the most elite Sox team of all time. There's only so much a manager can do to mess that up.
I have heard that players like to play for him, which is fine and all, but that is a very low bar to clear. Cora would legitimately do better if he just focused on the interpersonal aspects of the job and outsourced the decision making to the OOTP AI.
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Post by notstarboard on Jul 24, 2024 15:16:25 GMT -5
I am so mad. Incompetent in game and a cheater, but everyone looks past that because he's a nice guy, people like him, and he was on the '07 team. Breslow is probably just terrified of replacing him with a personality that will destroy the vibes. He's redeemed himself. We want people to move forward in positive ways. He has serious skill, and is the second best manager of this team over my 55 plus years of watching it. Glad to see he is staying. How? By being employed without being caught cheating? Oh wait, the Sox were caught cheating in 2018 with Cora at the helm. No, it was not as egregious as in Houston, but I don't want to have to defend their title in 2018. I want them to play by the rules.
He can move forward in positive ways without having a job as a major league manager.
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asm18
Veteran
Posts: 2,524
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Post by asm18 on Jul 24, 2024 15:20:09 GMT -5
I think it’s only reasonable to assume that Craig Breslow, after countless hours of firsthand assessment of Cora as a manager and employee behind the scenes, is choosing to reward him with the second highest MLB manager salary merely for PR reasons and/or has otherwise been hoodwinked
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Post by awalkinthepark on Jul 24, 2024 15:21:43 GMT -5
Extending Cora was the missing piece for this org to be set up real well to compete over the next 3 years, he is exceptional. You've got Devers and Cora locked up, Duran/Houck/Crawford/Casas/Rafaela/Bello/Abreu/Grissom under control for the next 4+ years, the payroll is pretty clean and the farm system is stacked with both high end talent and depth. Definitely bullish on the team going forward.
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Post by ortiz on Jul 24, 2024 15:36:25 GMT -5
I always wondered why everyone assumes that it was the Red Sox that wanted to wait to offer him a contract. I think it is just as likely if not more that it was all on AC or it was at least mutual. I don't think AC wanted to continue managing a rebuilding team without a concrete timeline and he is only signing because he sees a light at the end of the tunnel (a light that's not a train).
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jimoh
Veteran
Posts: 4,111
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Post by jimoh on Jul 24, 2024 15:39:27 GMT -5
No one has mentioned Cora’s apparent role in nursing Duran and in a way that is still in progress Rafaela into being major leaguers, with one already a star and one apparently on the road to stardom. I like the idea of him being in charge when the big three + come up.
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Jul 24, 2024 15:41:51 GMT -5
I think it's clear that Breslow and Cora's vision for this year and the next few years align, which is a good thing as PoBOs and managers arent always on the same page.
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Post by benogliviesbrother on Jul 24, 2024 15:44:48 GMT -5
I am so mad. Incompetent in game and a cheater, but everyone looks past that because he's a nice guy, people like him, and he was on the '07 team. Breslow is probably just terrified of replacing him with a personality that will destroy the vibes. In no particular order: -- If you're not cheating you're not trying; -- Let he who is without cast ...' -- "incompetent" is the sort of label that when a non-professional attempts to affix it to a professional, it somehow ends up on the affixer rather than the affixee. -- Breslow is likely NOT terrified; -- But if he is, surely I'd have no idea; --Hiring a few more lads off the 07 team would be cool.
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Post by notstarboard on Jul 24, 2024 16:41:04 GMT -5
I am so mad. Incompetent in game and a cheater, but everyone looks past that because he's a nice guy, people like him, and he was on the '07 team. Breslow is probably just terrified of replacing him with a personality that will destroy the vibes. In no particular order: -- If you're not cheating you're not trying; -- Let he who is without cast ...' -- "incompetent" is the sort of label that when a non-professional attempts to affix it to a professional, it somehow ends up on the affixer rather than the affixee. -- Breslow is likely NOT terrified; -- But if he is, surely I'd have no idea; --Hiring a few more lads off the 07 team would be cool. -- Only cheaters say that. -- The vast majority of MLB managers have not been caught cheating ever. It's not hard. -- Then respond to my comment detailing some of the specifics. -- Terrified is the wrong word, but I definitely see not wanting to upset the apple cart in his first year here as a big factor. -- Like Varitek? Sign me up.
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Post by bmoneyproblemz on Jul 24, 2024 16:53:28 GMT -5
I donâÂÂt understand the Cora hate. Sure, he makes some questionable in-game moves in the regular season, but heâÂÂs elite if the team gets to the playoffs. He constantly makes pants-on-head decisions. The lineups almost every day, for example, are poorly optimized. I know the impact isn't massive, but it's real, and there is no reason not to pick up those free extra runs. For example, why has David Hamilton had more ABs in the 2 hole than any other slot this year? 2 is where your best hitter goes. I don't care that Hamilton is fast and Duran is also fast. Cora is giving Hamilton, or his PH, extra ABs late in the game that should be going to Devers. If you want to keep the speed guys together, it would be much smarter to hit Hamilton 8th than 2nd.
For years he has been destroying bullpens to the point of piling up injuries by hooking guys too quickly and overusing some guys while underusing others. I'm still ticked about the Barraclough game and haven't forgotten about him overusing guys, like Matt Barnes in his All Star year, until they fall apart. His hook has mercifully been a bit slower this year, but his choice of relievers has been as brutal as ever. He doesn't seem to think about the countermoves that other managers will make when he makes changes either, both in terms of relievers and pinch hitters. His brain goes, "Oooh, a RH reliever! I have a lefty on the bench!", while the other manager goes "I'll counter with a LH reliever, keep him in for the next few favorable matchups, and then send a thank you note to Cora for degrading his defense for no good reason".
Remember him playing Kiké Hernandez at SS for way, way too long last year, even though there were usually healthy alternatives like Chang and Reyes on the bench? It's like he's applying the logic of sticking with a slumping hitter to a fielder... it doesn't work like that in the field. Guys can improve with reps, but it takes a long time to make a meaningful improvement and Kiké was always a stop gap there. Kiké was also already 31, so good luck with him suddenly becoming a competent SS.
I don't think his decisions in the playoffs have been any better. He just happened to be at the helm in 2018 and was carried to a WS by probably the most elite Sox team of all time. There's only so much a manager can do to mess that up.
I have heard that players like to play for him, which is fine and all, but that is a very low bar to clear. Cora would legitimately do better if he just focused on the interpersonal aspects of the job and outsourced the decision making to the OOTP AI.
"Poorly optimized" man I hate the way we talk baseball now. The 2 hitter is historically a good contact and/or on-base guy, with the ability to get runners over and/or sacrifce themselves (I will not even mention the B word or else I may start a legit baseball civil war). I actually like Devers in the cleanup spot or 3 hole, I'm much more worried about not having great protection around him. Also, if Hamilton is batting 8th, who are we putting 4th? O'Neill is a better 5 hitter and Casas needs to get healthy. Seeing as how Rafaela has to hit 9th (literally has to), I am fine with Hammy there. He played Kiké at shortstop because the other shortstop that could have played was... David Hamilton. Who until 2024 couldn't hit at all. The starting pitching I actually agree players should go deeper but the problem with this is if anyone goes over 100 pitches or goes third time through the lineup, baseball ops gets all mad. And with professional coaching/management being at least 50% people management, which he is great at, I think that alone is my reason for him to stay. If players love playing for him and work harder to play better for him, thats a major plus. Finally, if he is re-signing, that means he has been promised by Management (most likely Henry and Werner here in addition to Breslow) that reinforcements for this year are coming. If he gets in some more bullpen arms, a right hand masher and maybe a starter, I think he can easily get these guys to the playoffs.
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Post by nelledouville on Jul 24, 2024 16:58:00 GMT -5
He's redeemed himself. We want people to move forward in positive ways. He has serious skill, and is the second best manager of this team over my 55 plus years of watching it. Glad to see he is staying. How? By being employed without being caught cheating? Oh wait, the Sox were caught cheating in 2018 with Cora at the helm. No, it was not as egregious as in Houston, but I don't want to have to defend their title in 2018. I want them to play by the rules.
He can move forward in positive ways without having a job as a major league manager.
He admitted his role in the Astros' scheme. Major League Baseball imposed a penalty, a severe one. Cora accepted it and lost a year for what he had done. It's over. There is no evidence he has done anythng of the sort since. I get that some just can't let go, cannot see their way to someone getting a second chance. Sox executives are obviously fond of him and do believe in second chances. I can't speak to what they see and say privately. That's for them to say. For me, it's over and all about his management of field operations. Just my view, and differing opinions make baseball interesting to discuss. Enjoy your day.
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Post by grandsalami on Jul 24, 2024 17:30:31 GMT -5
offfical
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